Author: Rebecca Feldbusch Summary: How often do we tell our students (or ourselves) that making personal connections will strengthen their writing, and yet when it comes to academic writing warn against employing the evil “I”? In this essay, Rebecca Feldbusch pushes back against the strong admonitions of teachers across the...
Author: JoBeth Allen and Lois Alexander Summary: This sample book chapter explains what teacher-led critical inquiry means in a social justice context. Useful in planning inquiry groups with a social justice focus, it also includes excellent content to help teachers to bring a social justice focus to their individual inquiry...
Author: Deborah Dean, Melissa Heaton, Sarah Orme, Gary Woodward Summary: Four teacher-consultants explore how their involvement in the Writing Project fundamentally shifted how they approached writing, both their own and their students’. They each detail how it demystified the apparent magic that produces good writing, drawing them wholeheartedly into the...
Guests: Natalie Franzi, Steve Figurelli, Paul Oh, and Claire Rivero Summary: In this webinar representatives from the NWP, the Teaching Channel, and Student Achievement Partners discuss effective uses of digital literacy tools, arguing that our vision must evolve to incorporate a new approach to literacy instruction, one in which technology...
Authors: Christina Puntel and Carol Rose Summary: Created by Philadelphia Writing Project teacher-consultants, this Facilitator’s Handbook and related resources invite emergent leaders to consider how they might plan, lead, and facilitate a specific professional development series. Included are facilitation scenarios (e.g., planning a PD series on Writing Workshop and Conferencing...
Author: Nancy Mohr and Alan Dichter Summary: Teams are a powerful way to organize site or school leadership, but building a community capable of transforming teaching and learning can be a bumpy process. Drawing on research findings and their own experiences, Nancy Mohr and Alan Dicther offer advice on navigating common...
Author: Barbara Heenan and Nina Houghton Summary: Where do teachers newer to the profession fit into the NWP equation? How do we help new teachers survive and thrive in the early years of their careers? If you are grappling with how to engage early career educators in your site’s programs,...
Author: Chris Tsang Summary: When faced with difficult conversations and scenarios involving heated subjects such as race, class, gender, or language, role-playing can be used as a facilitation technique to create an entry point for dialogue and disruption. The author illustrates the experience of teachers in a workshop and discusses...
Author: Joe Check Summary: How should teachers pro-actively respond to school reforms mandated from above? This article advocates for teachers to take the lead in determining how these reforms are best implemented at the school and classroom level through reflective inquiry practices. Specifically, the article covers three main lines of...
Author: Ann Lieberman and Linda Friedrich Summary: How do teacher leaders work for change within their own schools? What can we learn from writing project teachers’ vignettes that describe challenges as well as features of success? This article, illuminating findings from the NWP Vignette Study, could be useful to read...