Last full day of work at the PLWP SI 07. Today’s daily log was done in the format of a digital story using MovieMaker. Stacia was the producer of this movie. The demo was an inquiry of writers workshop. I am looking forward to the fall meeting to see how this idea works out in Ruth’s 5th grade classroom.
With July 4th exploding in the middle of the week, PLWP started the PLWP SI on July 9th. Really this is not the start. These SI fellows have been meeting for three Saturdays before their regular teaching assignments were completed. They met in April, May, and June. The usual 4 day week has been extended to include a half day on Friday. Boy these teachers are committed. At the moment they are in the lab reading and responding to National Writing Project E-anthology pieces. It is very quiet for having 22 teachers in the same room. I just wanted to update the writing community that sometimes reads this blog. We had a great demonstration by 5th grade teacher Ann. It was titled Writing In All the Content Areas. She did a great job. Her demo PowerPoint is posted on PLWP’s closed web board which is only working part time today. Because Writing Matters is one of the books being used in this institute. Tom Romano’s Writing With Passion is another book being used. Participants first assignment is to write an In the Trenches piece. There are a number of good pieces posted on NWP E-anthology. Good job all you writers out there. As the TL, my job is to take pictures of what is going on each day. I will then help put together the anthology for the PLWP site. I have great fun reading all the work of the SI fellows. Mary
For those of you who have this site on RSS our blog site for this instititue is http://mistyblue.edublogs.org. Come join us as we learn to blog, reflect on our learning, do digital storytelling using moviemaker, explore podcasting, graphic novels/comic books, and resources for interactive whiteboard activities such as graphic organizers online. Mary
Getting to campus took many turns. There is much construction around campus.
One of the things we did this morning was write a real name poem. Mine follows.
Mary’s Real Name Poem
In the open air my name is Sizzling Pink Frosting.
Pink Frosting skips through the mystical light of morning.
Fads fast as the sun melts the excitment of the day.
Meandering by the lakeshore at sunset my name will be Misty Blue.
June 8-10 Conception Abbey, Conception, MO Sixteen writers and one consultant spent time in this rural peaceful setting writing, sharing, and rewriting pieces. Some wrote with the idea of publishing, while others were continuing a work-in-progress piece. Some just took the time to reflect and write. Since I live within the shadow of the Abbey, I get to be the meet-and-greet person. I also get to go take pictures of the event which will be archieved on the PLWP web site. I did fill another position when the laptop and printer refused to communicate. I rebooted, reinserted a few wires and presto it worked. It is good to feel useful. Tomorrow is the big day. I am teaching an Advanced Writing With Technology open institute. It is a four all day event. We are doing a little digital storytelling along with introducing the group to blogging. By evening I hope that all 15 participants plus my director Dr. Jane Frick, who is auditing the class, will have a blog on edublogs. I will add them to this blog roll. So watch for posts. I am sure they would be excited to hear from anyone. Mary in Missouri
I have tried to upload a pciture of the group at PLWP without success. Mary
I wanted to say that the blogs I posted were only bits and pieces of the work we did at Nebraska City May 18 and 19th. We all came away with a sense of direction. There are still more questions, but we do have a focus and some direction. Also I have opened this blog to some of my fellow participants of the revisioning retreat. Some of them wanted to try blogging and I thought this might be a place to start. I have a picture, but I am going to have to edit it because it is a bigger file. Mary
Final session: After looking at many sites we are looking at multiple sites. Discussion established what would be good for a PLWP site presence. A committee will be looking into how to celebrate PLWP site’s 20th anniversary. Mary
Satrday May19 afternoon session. We are exploring the Wiki of NWP sites with a web presence that “Bud” put together. http://webpresence07.pbwiki.com/WP%20Web%20Presence%20Portal%20Page PLWP core values: Writing, sense of community of writers and learners, network of people, support, content cycled back through with reflection, and reframing the teaching of writing. Writing–personal, professional, PLWP.
Audiences: TCs, TC alums, Teachers, Preservice teachers, administrators, parents, professionals, business and community, youth, and students. Now is the time to do web exploration for looking at web sites to showcase PLWP’s core values and audience. Mary
PD at PLWP how does this information get out to the schools? Who should get this information?
Looking ahead to the future. PLWP Graduate Certificate in teaching of writing. Youth writing camps are maxed out with an overload of applicants.
Institute report– Third writing is weak and there is a need to try to improve that situation. TCs gain confidence, and began to believe they are writers therefore taking that back to their classrooms. Inquiry demonstration–how is this lesson being learned by our students.
Continuity and teacher leadership–how to stay connected to with the TCs. Mentors visit the TC in their classroom. This should be at the invitation of the TC on thier time. High school writing day invite businesses to show how writing is used in their work on a daily basis. Communication take a more causal tone. Use a survey to help PLWP to understand what schools needed. Can we take our seminars on the road?
Metaphor for teachers. What is PLWP? Does it do with we expect it to do? What do we do next? 12:10 pm it is time for lunch. Core values and coherance????? Mary
