Leading Professional Learning

A Weekend of Writing Isn’t a Weekend of Work

Author: Cheryl North-Coleman Summary: This article describes ideas for recruiting for professional writing retreats, shaping the retreat events, and providing necessary equipment and materials. Most of all, it reminds retreat planners and facilitators of the importance and centrality of time to write.

Curating a Writing Museum: A Protocol

Summary: This protocol introduces an activity professional development facilitators can use to guide participants in creating a “museum gallery walk” to study their students’ writing. The activity would work well after participants have experimented with new writing instruction in their classrooms and are ready for a collegial review of student...

“Save the Last Word for Me” Protocol

Author: Patricia Averette Summary: This protocol is designed for participants to clarify and deepen thinking about readings groups may engage with as part of an institute, teacher study group, or professional meeting. It provides a structure that enables group participants to engage in close reading and share their thinking in...

Professional Development in the Digital Age: A Virtual Conference on Digital Literacy

Summary: This short article on the 4T Virtual Conference on Writing could be the perfect starting point for sites/leaders looking to integrate online learning into a program or those ready to make the jump to a fully online conference/professional development experience. Key to the success of the 4T annual online...

Strategic Planning for Program Development

Summary: This resource outlines a guided inquiry for NWP site leaders interested in designing a new or revitalizing an existing site program. It is designed to capture the process and thinking involved in determining site capacity and priorities and organizing a revenue-generating program at any local site. As a series,...

The Professional Leadership Development Project: Building Writing Project and School-Site Teacher Leadership in Urban Schools

Author: Zsa Boykin, Jennifer Scrivner, and Sarah Robbins Summary: Motivated by a desire to have opportunities for professional development for their teaching colleagues similar to those they had experienced as participants in the Kennesaw Mountain Writing Project, teacher-consultants created a structure for building a school-based professional leadership development project. The...

“Let’s Talk”: Building a Bridge Between Home and School

Author: Catherine Humphrey Summary: How do we create opportunities for both our students and their parents to be involved in assignments that generate a sense that the writing being done is “real”? The author of this piece provides a window into an initial essay assignment that prompted her high school...

Wobbling in Public: Supporting New and Experienced Teachers

Author: Antero Garcia and Cindy O’Donnell-Allen Summary: Who is an expert teacher? Who is a novice? This article will be of interest to teacher educators and to experienced teachers working with colleagues who are new to the profession. The authors describe the ways in which teachers who appear “expert” to...

Resources for Teacher Inquiry Communities: An Annotated Bibliography

Author: Ann Dobie Summary:  Compiled by NWP’s Teacher Inquiry Community, this annotated bibliography of approximately 50 books offers a wealth of important designs, guides, case studies, and much more. It provides a rich resource for individual teacher researchers and those planning on leading teacher inquiry projects and professional development.

Tapping the Potential: Building Teacher Leadership While Rethinking Your Site

Author: Ellen Brinkley and Anne-Marie Hall Summary: Considering a leadership retreat? This article frames the experience of two site directors who used an NWP directors’ retreat as an opportunity to explore ways to invite new teacher leadership for the site. As they addressed site leader strengths, roles, and burnout, they...