Create+a+Course+for+English+Teachers

The middle school and high school teachers in my district want to design a best practice/best resources course for this summer. They've had workshops in 6-traits and writing on demand, and they've shared the ways they've adapted literacy circles and writer's workshops. So, we've dabbled here and there. About half of the teachers are relatively new to teaching (about 12), and the rest are experienced. The district has two middle schools and one high school. I know they'd want graduate credit, so we have to have 36.5 contact hours. I wonder if they should research some best practice or resource and present it to their peers on the last day or class? Might they create "centers" or museums, or something using technology? Should we backchannel? Blog? What course or workshop have you taken or given that made a real difference in your classroom? Thank you in advance. Deb Reply by [|Pat K] on March 3, 2010 at 9:45pm The National Writing Project Summer Institute is one of the best learning experiences I ever had for best practice. Model lessons demonstrations, read alouds, discussion of professional books, and writer's workshop were all important elements. There is a NWP forum here where you might post your question.  [|Permalink] Reply by [|Tim Dewar] on March 4, 2010 at 10:12am I'll second the previous reply. Connect with the nearest National Writng Project site. I'm not sure which is closer to you, but here is the contact info:

Western Massachusetts Writing Project

UMass Amherst Department of English 258 Bartlett Hall, 130 Hicks Way Amherst, Massachusetts 01003-9269

Phone: 413-545-5466 Fax: 413-545-3880 Email: wmwp@english.umass.edu Website: @http://www.umass.edu/wmwp

Boston Writing Project

UMass Boston Graduate College of Education 100 Morrissey Blvd, Wheatley Hall 4-171 Boston, Massachusetts 02125

Phone: 617-287-7665 Fax: 617-287-7664 Email: bwp@umb.edu Website: @http://www.bostonwritingproject.org/ I would suggest digging in to any one of Kelly Gallagher's works. Our English department is currently reading Deeper Reading and seeing a lot of success with his ideas. Even for veteran teachers, he provides great strategies and specific classroom examples for both reading and writing. Teachers could plan lessons that incorporate these strategies. Who doesn't love coming away with something they can use in their classroom? I'm not sure what kind of budget you have, but Corwin has also worked with Kelly to produce videos that go along with the books.