Disciplinary Literacies Institute

by Cathy Fleischer

Once again this summer, we invite teachers from all disciplines to join EMU college faculty for three days of exploration into writing in the disciplines: learning together what it means to write in our various subject areas and how we can help students make smooth transitions from subject area to subject area and from middle and high school to college.  The past three years of institutes have been eye-opening for all participants:  College faculty coming to understand more clearly the demands of schools, testing, and curriculum along with middle and high school teachers learning what college faculty are really looking for in their students’ writing.  At the center of this work is a spirit of inquiry and collaboration as we try to figure out new ways of teaching that will support disciplinary expectations and to reimagine assignments and units we can use in our classrooms.

Join us for the three days:  June 28-30 on EMU campus.  This work is especially valuable for interdisciplinary teams across a school or district, but individuals are welcome as well.  Sign up at https://www.smore.com/uu6u1.

Read more!

Advocacy Workshop: Telling Our Stories/Raising Our Voice

By Cathy Fleischer

For the past two summers, committed teachers who are frustrated with the public narrative about teaching have spent three days learning to become Everyday Advocates: discovering ways to frame their stories, experiences, and knowledge into messages and actions that help change the minds of others.  These teachers have begun to shift the conversation in their schools and communities about the best ways to teach reading and writing, the problems inherent in mandated assessment, the structure of middle school curriculum, and more—and have done so in ways that are smart, safe, and savvy. 

This summer, we’ll continue the journey to make Everyday Advocacy a part of even more teachers’ lives as a new group will participate in another three day training:  July 26-28 on EMU’s campus.  We already have teachers from around the country joining us, and there are just a few more spaces left.  Contact Cathy Fleischer at cathy.fleischer@emich.edu for more information or check out the application form at http://www.emichwp.org/research-advocacy/advocacy.

And if you can’t make the workshop, but are interested in this new way of thinking about teacher professionalism, be sure to look at the new Everyday Advocacy website that Cathy is developing for NCTE.  (https://teachertoolkitblog.wordpress.com/) The website prominently  features  the work we’ve being doing, with examples from some of the amazing teachers who have participated over the past two years.

Read more!

Disciplinary Literacy: PD for the Up & Coming

by David Kangas

What is disciplinary literacy? On a recent wintry morning, a  group of students from Bill Tucker’s English 408 class, Cathy Fleischer, Michelle McLemore, Jeff Taylor and David Kangas, all  gathered together to explore  this very question. Disciplinary Literacy emphasizes that writing and being a writer in different disciplines requires that we let students in on the practices-- the ways of knowing and believing specific to the disciplines we teach.

Cathy Fleischer shared how EMU teachers from different disciplines were collaborating to explore writing within their disciplines; she also offered insight on the challenges students face in the transition from secondary writing to college. Disciplinary literacy emphasizes that teachers need to share with students how real world writers fashion genre and voice within their disciplines. For example, young scientists need to know what is implicit in composing a lab report, or how we communicate the knowledge we make in literary study using blogs.

Disciplinary literacy provides students with ways of connecting things, and Jeff Taylor presented to everyone how he supports middle school scientists with a writing project that explores how claims are made in scientific arguments. Michelle McLemore demonstrated how she engaged her students in an authentic writing experience by providing opportunities to write and research psychology and community problems. David Kangas shared his version of the literature workshop, and how he teaches both texts and student writers in studying literary texts. In each presentation, teachers shared what they found valuable when teaching writing and the ways of knowing, believing and action required by these values.  After these presentations everyone circulated to explore student artifacts and to describe what they found, leading to questions about the teaching of writing and learning. The morning was truly professional development for all. If anyone in the EMU community wants to learn more, Cathy Fleischer will be running a Disciplinary Institute again this summer.

Read more!

Positions filled for 2016-2017

For the 2016 Summer Leadership Institute (July 11-22, 2016) with one 

afternoon pre-institute meeting in May and five Continuity meetings in 
2016-2017.

1. Institute Coach

    Assists director with planning, teaching and coaching the Summer 
   Leadership Institute and co-leads continuity meetings. Graduate credit 
   available, but tuition not included. 
   Stipend: $1,500. 

    Kristin Smith

2. Technology Assistant

    Supports technology integration in the Summer Leadership Institute 

    Stipend: $ 625.

by Karen Chichester

For the two summer writing camps, July 11-15, and 18-22, 2016

Director of Youth Programs

Plans summer writing camps for middle school and high school students, 
recruits and trains teachers,supervises camps, prepares financial and grant 
reports, recommends new programs supporting secondary writers. 
Stipend: $2,000

Aimee Eldon

For year-around sustaining of programs

4.  Website Manager: Keeps www emichwp.org updated and provides                     instruction for program leaders to update their own web pages.                             Stipend: $1,000

Karen Chichester

5. Youth and Family Programs Coordinator

Administers promotion and registration of Inkstains Writing Camp                                       and mentoring, deploying, and compensation of teacher consultants                                 in the Family Literacy Initiative.  
Stipend: $ 6-8,000, contingent on funding. 

Kim Pavlock

           

6. Media Editor

         Solicits and prepares articles and announcements for three online                                                newsletters and website.    

         Stipend: $700.

         Michelle McLemore

Read more!

Summer Camp Preview: EMWP's Inkstains Writing Camp

by Kimberly Pavlock, TC’92

Inkstains applications started coming in weeks ago, and, as always, we’re thrilled to see registrations from returning campers as well as new campers!  Young writers tell us why they value their week of writing time at EMU so much.  As one high school camper explained, “Inkstains offers opportunities that you wouldn't normally do on your own like listen to a song and use that as inspiration for your writing.  It pushes you to try new things, and you become a better writer because of it.  The adults in charge were more like older friends than instructors and I felt comfortable taking risks and sharing my writing.  My ideas and overall quality of my writing are better now.”

We still have spots available in both the middle and high school sessions of Inkstains.  The middle school session (for incoming grades 6-8) runs July 11–15, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.  The high school session (for incoming grades 9-12) runs July 18-22, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Students interested in applying should complete the following steps:

•        Fill out the application form included in the Inkstains 2016 brochure.  The brochure is available on the EMWP website.
•        Include a short piece of polished writing (1-4 pages in length).
•        Submit one letter of recommendation from a current or former teacher.  (Emails of support from teachers are also welcome.  Please email Kim Pavlock at kpavlock@emich.edu.)
•      Enclose a check for $225 for camp tuition made payable to the Eastern Michigan Writing Project. ($200 for each additional sibling). The tuition rate increases to $245 for applications postmarked after June 20.

·         Send completed application to

Eastern Michigan Writing Project

c/o Inkstains Writer’s Camp

612 Pray-Harrold

Eastern Michigan University

Ypsilanti, MI 48197

We hope all EMWP TCs will share this opportunity with their students.  If you have any questions, please contact Kim Pavlock at kpavlock@emich.edu.

Read more!

Welcome to the Winter 2016 EMWP Edition!

 Opportunities Unfolding &  Experiences Shared: 

EMWP Still Going Strong!

EMWP Summer Institute: Initiatives in Writing...July 11-22 

EMWP Summer Institute: Telling Our Stories... July 26-28 

Literacy Coaching Institutes  (Introductory & Advanced ) 

EdCamp 2015: A Camp Collage 

Digital Conferencing During the Writing Process 

Read more!

EdCamp 2015: A Collage

Registration

The Big Choice

EdCamp--EMWP 101

Getting the pitch: This will be awesome!

Gathering Freebees

Morning Session

Peddling Literacy

EdCamp Perpetrators

Read more!

Telling Our Stories/Raising Our Voices:

From Anecdote to Action

An Eastern Michigan Writing Project Summer Institute

                       July 26-28, 2016          9am – 3pm each day

McKenny Hall, Alumni and Tower Rooms, EMU Campus

Sadly, the ongoing conversation about school reform too often leaves out the voices of teachers—those who are most intimately acquainted with the day-to-day issues that impact students and their learning. We believe that these voices are essential ones for policy makers to hear, but we recognize as well the pressures on teachers to remain silent.

How can teachers safely enter the conversation?  In this workshop, we’ll help you become part of that conversation as you learn how to develop your personal stories into a more public narrative, starting from anecdotes and building toward an action plan.  By the end of day 3, you should have an action plan to take back to your classroom and school.

The workshop is facilitated by Dr. Cathy Fleischer, EMWP co-director and author of Teachers Organizing for Change.

Who can apply? To apply, please feel out the accompanying form by May 1, 2016.  If more than 25 apply, teachers will be selected based on three criteria: (1) commitment to the topic; (2) school and subject area representation (i.e., diversity in grade level; school location; school size, etc.); and (3) connection to the NWP network.

Is there a cost?  The Institute costs $75 for the three days and is limited to 25 participants.

Access the Registration Form

Read more!

In Medias Res: Meeting the Students Where & When They Need It

How to support young writers while they draft outside of class? A collaborative googledoc and chat stream can offer reassurance, immediate feedback, and collective empowerment. 

So what does it look like?  The first night students are assigned to draft,  advertise evening on-line hours and identify the Googledoc students should access. Across the top of the page will be an icon for each student as they access the page.  Once there, they can ask questions in the sidebar chat or post samples of their work on the page to workshop together. 

The "editing suggestion" button marks the teacher's suggestions in green while retaining the students' original phrasing. For others, you may choose to highlight a phrase and use the "comment" button which places the suggestions to the side of the document.

Anyone can quickly post links to specific resources or screencastify videos. You can even invite different students to share their thoughts on one student's question allowing you to not be the sage on the stage but just one of several "writers" in the group.

The first night tutoring session I was pleased to find 15-20 students checking in during the time period. What I hadn't anticipated was that multiple Google chats would spring up. Having the resources accessible online allowed for the students from different classes to bump into each other and strike up authentic talk about the directions, their topics, and craft.

I'm sure there may be other conferencing software out there to discover, but for now, Googledocs is where I'll be meeting to support my students when and where they need it.

For the full blog, visit 
Michelle McLemore is a 1997 EMWP TC. She currently teaches English and Social Studies at Onsted High School and recently taught online for Michigan Virtual University this fall.  Read more!

Do You Have a Budding Future as a Literacy Coach?

The Groundhog says it's going to be an early spring, and with that comes the fun in planning how the plants will grow and what summer adventures will surprise us. But there's no surprise that EMWP is running multiple cohorts of its Literacy Coaching Institutes for 2016. With the initiatives and funding allocated for training high-quality literacy coaches for Michigan's elementary (and secondary) schools, EMWP is taking its institutes center-stage to be a leader in providing coaching collaborations that center around literacy instruction and support for teachers.

1. As an introduction to understanding coaching mindsets and practices, the Basic Literacy Coaching Institutes will focus on basic knowledge of coaching to enhance learning in classrooms and in professional settings. Using research-based information and literacy-based protocols to engage participants, teachers, staff developers, school improvement teams, department chairs, coaches, and administrators will see how the features of coaching opportunities are at every corner of education. Participants will have time to practice coaching and reflective writing related to the beginning of their journey as highly-effective coach. This session is offered twice during the summer with a registration fee of $265/person, which also includes parking and morning refreshments. 

June 20 & 21 from 8:30 to 3:30 pm at McKenny Hall

August 3 & 4 from 8:30 to 3:30 pm at McKenny Hall

2. For the educator with some prior knowledge of coaching and seeking to Build a Sustainable Coaching Network at the District Level, participants can register for our new institute, which allows them to engage in a deeper understanding of adult learning, theories of change, and coaching principles that support these effective learning practices at the school level.

This institute will also address the accountability measures outlined for Michigan schools related to managing early literacy practices and assessments as well as protocols that build the longitudinal and horizontal supports for the district. Well-suited for coaches and administrators looking for collaborative insight into coaching networks that work and the multiple means of assessing professional learning, the two-day institute acknowledges the need for teachers, coaches, and administrators to be like-minded in practices and philosophies of high-quality job-embedded learning. 

Teacher leaders, administrators, coaches, and staff developers will practice coaching with other participants and engage in constructive dialogue about the positive culture, systematic approaches, and data-based outcomes that coaching offers educators and students. Time will be devoted to designing coaching plans, coaching evaluations, and coaching protocols. At $285/person, EMWP will offer reduced-rate coaching supports for the 2016-2017 academic year for schools who enroll in this institute. Parking is included as well as morning refreshments.

August 15 & 16 from 8:30 to 3:30 pm at McKenny Hall

For further information, please contact Julia Keider, Lead Instructional and Literacy Coach for the Institutes at juliakeider@gmail.com. 

Registration of the Institutes are available on the EMWP website at http://www.emichwp.org/professional-learning/coaching. 

Read more!

EMWP Summer Institute: Initiatives in Writing

Eastern Michigan University – Student Center 320;

 July 11 – 22, 2016, 9 a.m.–3 p.m., Monday- Friday

We invite all teachers of writing, pre-K-college to join us for two weeks of

• Writing, as well as responding to each other’s writing

• Reading and talking about current research in the teaching of writing

·   Exploring the possible roles of literacy leadership

• Developing research questions about teaching writing (wonderings about our contexts)

To bring our questions into our classrooms, we will schedule five Continuity Meetings during the school year, including a final showcase of teacher research.

Tuition and fees: $1,987.90 for three graduate credits. Other fees may apply.

[+ One credit for Continuity].

Non-credit participation is $500; all participants receive a $400 scholarship from the National Writing Project.  50 State Clock Hours available. 

Send (attached) pre-registration to Bill Tucker, facilitator, by March 1. Billing will follow.

Spread the word!

Access the Registration Form 

Read more!

Welcome to the 2015 fall edition of eMuse!

In this edition...

• Kevin English Honored in 30 under 30! 

• Grant Recipient: Carol Sliwka! 

• A Facelift for EMWP 

• EdCamp EMWP: Total Contact Literacy 

• Please remember: Teachers do inspire their students 

• It’s That Time of the Year Again! 

• Prolific Published Writers 

Read more!

Kevin English Honored in 30 under 30!

Recently, Literacy Today released their top 30 under the age of 30. TC Kevin English was one of those honored for his research on how to use literacy assessment.

For more information, check out the article at "ILA Unveils First Class of '30 Under 30.'" Read more!

Grant Recipient: Carol Sliwka!

Congratulations to 2007 TC, Carol Sliwka! This fall she received a $100 grant from the Meemic Foundation.

She plans to use the grant to purchase more books for her students. Great job, Carol!

Click here to read more about teacher grants from the Meemic Foundation. Read more!

A Facelift for EMWP

by Karen Chichester

Last spring our Advisory Board decided that it was time for our website and our brand to be reimagined. We really needed two sites, a clean, easy-to-navigate public face for EMWP and a community site. We also wanted a site that was collaborative and easy for our program leaders to edit, and why not throw in a new logo that would bring us into the digital age?

Bill Tucker, Nick Kalakailo, Kevin English, and Karen Chichester, Tech Liaison took on this redesign, drafting Shari Hales to design the new logo. After some discussion, the team decided that moving to Google Sites was our best option.

We are proud to announce that our new site is up and running on Google Sites. It can still be accessed from http://emichwp.orgor http://www.emichwp.org. Please check it out. You will find lots of information about our programs and links to upcoming events. The main updates include a clean, modern interface, increased ease of site navigation using a horizontal navigation bar, and a new logo. Community site features:

This site will feature links of interest to EMWP TCs and will host our program archives including pictures and notes. The links are active, but the archives are still in the works. The community site can be reached from the main site via the EMWP Tab or by going to http://community.emich.wp.org. Read more!