Summer 2009 Open Institute

Sixteen educators searched for knowledge of writing instruction, treasure made known to each of them initially by the reading of Writing Workshop: The Essential Guide written by Ralph Fletcher and JoAnne Portalupi. Curiosity whet and the desire for more knowledge of the best practice in writing instruction propelled the group of teachers to dig deeper into the research based best practices of Nancy Atwell, Donald Graves, Lester Laminack, Katie Wood Ray, Carl Anderson, and Lucy Calkins. Professional discussions provided additional clues to making sense of the complicated and sometimes confusing concepts of mini lessons, craft, extended writing time, record keeping, sharing, and assessment, the jewels that make up the treasure chest of the Writing Workshop. Who were these treasure hunters? What were the steps the treasure hunters took in their five day quest? How were they guided, developed, and challenged? Did they encounter challenges along the way that previously help beliefs in writing instruction?

Each participant of the 2009 Open Institute brought with them a desire to improve the quality of the writing instruction they provided for their students. But the experience, knowledge base, and reasons for attending the Open Institute of each teacher varied greatly. Some teachers, who were riffed by their home schools due to funding cuts, were hoping to increase their marketability in addition to increasing their writing instruction knowledge; others had observed a colleague successfully navigate the complicated path of standards based writing instruction tied to the Writing Workshop and wanted to learn how to navigate the path themselves; still others understood there was a better way to teach writing, but had little idea how to do it. Experienced ranged from kindergarten teachers to a community college instructor. Despite the differences, the quest for knowledge united the group into collaborative treasure hunters.

The Open Institute participants discovered effective instruction does not need to involve lengthy lectures, skills taught in isolation, and process writing. The brilliance of this knowledge jewel grew brighter as the participants learned about the facets of the Writing Workshop: the use of mini-lessons, daily writing time, conferencing, and sharing. Participants then observed the Writing Workshop in action by spending time each day in the Composition Camp conducted by fellows of the Indiana Writing Project. They witnessed student responses to mini lesson instruction and observed the sustained writing time needed for students to produce quality writing. Then participants became students themselves and experienced the effectiveness of mini lesson instruction after creating a necklace of memories after hearing the mentor text, The Memory String written by Eve Bunting. Each participant then became a writer when asked to select a memory from her memory string to retell in written form and share the writing with peers. Discussions centered on the importance of the teacher being a writer and the vulnerability a writer feels when asked to share his/her writing. Techniques for conferencing were practiced and discussed, illuminating the necessity of positive comments as well as constructive attainable goals for students to work toward.

The jewels of knowledge glowed brighter and brighter and magically increased in number as the Open Institute focused the participants’ attention on the creation of mini lessons. Guided by the wisdom of Katie Wood Ray’s Wondrous Words, participants dove into novels and picture books, mining craft from the expertly written text and they discovered that teaching writers about craft improves the content of all writing through revision. One participant realized that revision is really the “re-vision” of a piece of writing. Another remarked that she never realized that it was actually craft that improved writing. Still others discovered that any well written text can be mined for craft and can be used to teach several different types of craft. What a plethora of discovered treasure!

Participants were asked daily to reflect upon the day’s content, instruction, and insights through the use of exit slips, allowing them to discover the power of student reflection to instruction. Personal comments by the co-facilitators written on exit slips addressed individual concerns and questions, complimented insights and practices, and questioned previously held concepts creating a model of written dialogue that can occur between instructors and their students.

As the Open Institute neared its end, participants realized that the treasure chest of the Writing Workshop was huge! The jewels were multifaceted and complex. A five day treasure hunt was not going to be enough to uncover all the knowledge, but more research and further study was necessary and the experts would need to be consulted and referenced again and again to solidify understanding. The Open Institute concluded with the presentation of research based mini-lessons by each participant. Participants self selected topics for developments and each participant were coached and conferenced into the creation of a meaningful mini lesson that was shared with the rest of the group. Each participant left the Open Institute with 16 research-based mini lessons and a desire to learn more.

This is the second year Susan Darling and Tammy Taylor have co-chaired the Open Institute and they felt that their instruction and coaching flowed extremely well, even better than last year. A missing jewel in the Open Institute seemed to be the modeling with students piece. Tying the Open Institute together with the Composition Camp enabled participants to see the Writing Workshop in action this year. This marriage of the Open Institute and Composition Camp shows great potential and collaborative planning is essential for the union to be most beneficial to all. Our personal and professional relationship grew stronger through working together in the Open Institute. Susan and Tammy both look forward to future partnerships benefiting the Indiana Writing Project and each participant.

Compiled by Susan Darling and Tammy Taylor