IWP at NWP 2011 Spring Meeting

NWP Spring Meeting 2011
Indiana Network Representatives

(left to right) Jeri Tarvin (IWP), Tammy Taylor (IWP), Barb Miller (IWP), and Steve Fox (Hoosier Writing Project); not pictured Linda Hanson (IWP)

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The Tea Party wave, freshmen members of Congress, budget cuts, protests on the streets: The 2011 NWP Spring Meeting certainly had a much different mood from last year’s. But even so- perhaps because of these changing dynamics- our work on Capitol Hill this year felt more productive, and definitely more immediate.

After my first Spring Meeting in DC last year, I came away feeling the electricity that moves our legislative process. People in power who influence lawmakers had listened to my stories and testimony, and I left as satisfied as a champion debater who has crafted nine beautifully extemporaneous arguments. We spoke to assistants who were eager to hear about our work because they had teachers in their families, as well as those who were simply place holders for absentee education aides. But for each new audience, we altered our argument, emphasized a particular point, shared a special insight, and all in five minutes or less to allow others time to speak. It was a beautiful thing.

This year, our appointments gave me that same charge, but there was something more, something even better. This year, I felt that our words were not just a rhetorical exercise; they truly made a difference.

Perhaps it was because there are new people on the Hill to educate about NWP in general. Perhaps it was because there is more at stake, with funds already being slashed in the rush for fiscal responsibility. Perhaps it was because there are misconceptions about the nature of NWP and its classification as an earmark. Or perhaps it was because I know what to expect and am better able to pull my weight as a team member now.

Whatever the reasons, this year’s NWP Spring Meeting was an exceptionally energizing and rewarding opportunity to reflect on my work with IWP and students, and to share that enthusiasm and passion with a few people in our government who ultimately control education reform. And I think the others on the team felt the same.

This year’s five-person Indiana delegation was broad and deep. We represented site work in education both across levels K-18 and across program areas- from experienced teachers training classroom teachers, to new TCs integrating NWP principles in the classroom, to college faculty and TCs preparing future teachers, to writers sharing our findings with others across the country. Together, we made a strong impression on Indiana Members of Congress about how NWP already consists of exactly the kind of education that reformers are craving: It is innovative, accountable, transparent, and competitive.

This opportunity to share with legislators my understanding and appreciation for the work of NWP and its teachers gives me hope for our site, our network, and our national organization. With the support or interest of most Indiana Members of Congress, IWP will reorganize for the moment, and then move forward in new directions and with renewed momentum. I am honored to be part of that movement.

Submitted by Barb Miller, TC '09

Join Us for the Indiana Network Retreat in February

Make plans to attend the annual National Writing Project Indiana Network Retreat on Friday and Saturday, February 25-26, 2011 in Indianapolis.

Join friends from all six of Indiana's NWP sites at the Indiana Network Retreat. It will be a retreat that will invigorate you as a teacher-consultant, writer, and literacy leader.

The IWP site includes an online registration form and additional information about the retreat.

NWP 2010 Annual Meeting

Indiana Writing Project at 2010 NWP Annual Meeting

Back Row - Liz Ralfe, Shirley Thacker, Barb Miller, Linda Hanson, Tammy Taylor, Linda Walker, Matt Hartman, Alena Bogucki
Front Row - Robin Sowder, Heather Abernathy, Linda Valley, Joy Dewing, Jaime Ellis

The Indiana Writing Project was proud to send twelve of its teacher-consultants and leaders to participate in the National Writing Project’s Annual Meeting, which was held this year in Orlando, Florida from Thursday, November 18 through Friday, November 19. During the two-day conference, teachers took part in sessions on a wide range of topics, including digital literacies, working with primary source documents, games for education and social impact, and arenas to publish student writing. Visit the NWP website for photos, videos, and additional highlights of the Annual Meeting.

Reflecting on lessons from the NWP Annual Meeting, Joy Dewing (IWP TC '04) shares, "The sessions at this year’s NWP Annual Meeting in Orlando, Florida were ‘magical’ and gave me many ideas to bring back to our IWP site. TCs from the University of Illinois Writing Project shared their work with digital portfolios. Using flip cameras, each SI fellow creates a short (about 3 minutes) literacy autobiography video during the first week of SI. The videos are one of the artifacts posted on each fellow’s website. Writing completed during SI is also posted on the TC’s website. The digital portfolios make the fellow’s writing more visible to a wider audience. The presenters also shared other ideas for networking, including a “social network ice cream social” in which fellows learn about social networking sites, sign up for NWPi and the site’s facebook page, and meet TCs from other years while eating ice cream sundaes. They also suggested using itunesU to create podcasts of the demos or read alouds. To aid in collecting photos from the institute, they have a site Flikr site. When fellows take photos, they upload them to Flikr and tag them immediately. The Flikr site is linked to their Writing Project webpage so they have both a record of photos from previous summers and a constantly updating collection from the current year. A TC from the Spartanburg Writing Project shared how her site encouraged professional development through their use of technology. Instead of a daily log, the site uses a blog. She explained that the conversations that begin during the day continue into the evening during the Summer Institute. Their site also podcasts their author’s chair to share writing with a wider audience. A third idea this TC suggested was offering a Comp Camp focused on writing with technology for older students. She also shared the website pearltrees.com which helps to organize and link websites. I can envision our IWP site using Pearl Trees as a electronic “Wall of Begats”.

In another session called “Developing and Responding to Teaching Demos in ISI” TCs from Eastern Shore Writing Project shared how they’ve moved their demo lessons into inquiry lessons. IWP moved to this model a few years ago, so I was interested to hear ideas for how this idea was working at other sites. Our IWP site has used a team approach to coaching demo lessons for a few years. The TCs from Easter Shore bring back fellows from previous years as “thinking buddies”. These buddies work with 2-3 fellows and help them think about and develop their lessons. Using thinking buddies has freed up the SI co-directors and has improved their continuity. It has also given the fellows someone outside of the Institute to share ideas with and a connection to other TCs.
During a session called “Writing in ISI” I explored some of my “burning questions” about education and had the opportunity to write about education issues from different stances. The San Diego Area Writing Project TCs shared how they develop fellows for leadership through their fall and spring conferences. In the General Session Friday morning, Donalyn Miller, author of The Book Whisperer shared her own struggles in writing. She suggested that teachers need to “stop worrying about how to teach an essay and think about how [we] would write it” and reminded us that “we are writers because we write.” I’m looking forward to sharing her book with teachers in my school next semester. Friday evening ended with a social and appearances by Mickey, Minnie, Daisy Duck, and Goofy. Overall, this year’s NWP Annual Conference was a magical experience and left me refreshed and ready for another Writing Project summer!"

[Left] - IWP TC (2010) Jaime Ellis (second from right, in striped shirt) shares during a roundtable session at NWP.

Alena Bogucki, IWP TC '07, noted on her classroom blog that two of the biggest "Ah-ha" moments of the NWP Annual Meeting came during a roundtable session on digital literacies; she said, "I realized that perhaps 'new' literacy is something that has no official academic standard or assigned role in day to day life, but is an enrichment and illumination, a new means of being and communicating. It affects our lives and way of life before we know where the ripples will end or evolve into. New literacy is very personal and dependent on the user; it has not been canonized. As well, Bee Foster from the Area 3 Writing Project offered an astute observation that 'If it contains meaning, it's [an opportunity for] reading. If it requires a process to create, it's [an opportunity for] writing'; this informed my view of literacy in and out of the classroom." Bogucki added, "Attending and participating at the NWP Annual Meeting is such an uplifting, empowering experience; there is a tangible energy of purposeful action, collaboration, and collegiality at NWP."

"During the General Session one of the speakers said, 'It is not the harvest of writing that we celebrate, but the planting of seeds that will carry us on for years to come!' I have thought about that often since November," Shirley Thacker, IWP 2007 TC, reflected. She continued, "It isn't one piece of writing that is so important, but the excitement of the doing the work on perhaps a daily basis. We learned in SI that it isn't the writing that is so important, but giving our attention to the writer. Boosting their confidence, teaching them the craft, introducing them to wonderful mentor text that will inspire them to write. . . ultimately making that reading - writing connection. That will give them the power to believe that they are writers, they are authors, they are successful. . . to keep planting those seeds."

Looking ahead, IWP's Core Council is already making plans to get even more IWP TCs to next year's National Writing Project Annual Meeting, which will be held "in our backyard" - Chicago!

IWP at the 2010 NWP Spring Meeting

From Wednesday, March 24, through Friday, March 26, the Indiana Writing Project was represented at the 2010 National Writing Project Spring Meeting in Washington, D.C. by IWP Site Director Linda Hanson, IWP Co-Director Linda Walker, and local teachers Barbara Miller(TC 2009) of Cowan High School and Alena Bogucki (TC 2007) from Alexandria-Monroe High School. Once at the Spring Meeting, the IWP representatives were joined by Kristin Katsu, a Teacher Consultant from the Hoosier Writing Project and a Language Arts teacher at Noblesville High School.

One of the main objectives of the NWP Spring Meeting was to share with legislators the unique impact the National Writing Project has on teachers, students, and learning. On Thursday, March 25, the delegation from Indiana shared the accomplishments and efforts of the six Writing Project sites across Indiana in the offices of U.S. representatives Brad Ellsworth, Andre Carson, Joe Donnelly, Mark Souder, Mike Pence, Dan Burton, and U.S. senators Richard Lugar and Evan Bayh.

Pictured from left to right:
Alena Bogucki (IWP TC), Barbara Miller (IWP TC), Kristin Katsu (HWP TC),
Indiana 7th District Congressman Andre Carson,
Linda Hanson (IWP Site Director), and Linda Walker (IWP Co-Director)

During the Spring Meeting keynote on Friday, March 26, Katherine Schultz, professor at the University of Pennsylvania, shared the research behind her 2009 book Rethinking Classroom Participation: Listening to Silent Voices. The final day of the NWP Spring Meeting wrapped up with a selection of roundtable discussions focused on issues related to the classroom practice, core standards, partnerships between sites and schools, research, professional reading, and the history of the National Writing Project.

2010 NWP Indiana Network Retreat

During the last weekend of February, over forty representatives from the six Writing Project sites across Indiana gathered together in Indianapolis for the annual National Writing Project Indiana Network Retreat. Below, you will see a collection of photos featuring IWP Teacher Consultants involved in the weekend's activities.




Left - Tammy Taylor reads a mentor text while leading a teaching demonstration, which featured color-coding of feelings, dialogue, setting description, and action to guide revision.






Above - Shirley Thacker (TC 2007), Heather Poston (TC 2009), Jamie Stapleton (TC 2009), and IWP Co-Director Linda Walker compose letters and postcards to state representatives and senators to encourage support of IWP and NWP.


Right - Jenny Smithson (TC 2003) and Betsy Duckworth (TC 2008) work to set up the "National Writing Project Indiana Network" Community on The Learning Connection website.


Above - Jenny Smithson (TC 2003), Robin Sowder (TC 2002), and D'Anne Ettl (TC 2005) of the Indiana Writing Project participate in a breakout session on Saturday afternoon during the NWP Indiana Network Retreat.