Wednesday, May 07, 2008
Demo Idea
Per Keri's request, I am posting my demo idea--or should I say ideas? One I am considering is what I call Conscious (or Integrated) and Rhetorical Grammar, a technique I developed in graduate school in 1981 and have been perfecting ever since. A second option is a demo the introduces writing centers to elementary, middle, and secondary schools. Even though promoting writing centers motivated me to join the OWP in the first place, grammar is something that also needs more emphasis, and it's FUN!
Tuesday, May 06, 2008
We are now an official "dot"!
Monday, May 05, 2008
2008 Pre-Institute Orientation
On Saturday, May 3, 19 Ozarks Writing Project Fellows met for the first time in preparation for the Summer Invitational Institute. It was a great day. In addition to the Fellows, we had some guests. Michael Frizell and Laura Burdette (TCs '08) attended. Kim Piddington, 1998 Teacher-Consultant of the UC-Irvine Writing Project, presented a demonstration on historical fiction. Hopefully, with Kim's permission, we'll get a copy of her demo on our website (see Teacher--Demonstrations).
We will be reading several books this summer, but for now, the Fellows received Breakthroughs and The Right to Write. In The Right to Write, Julia Cameron writes a short essay that ends with an "Initiation Tool." We attempted one of the initiations on Saturday. Casey passed out to each of us five postcards. We wrote one postcard to ourselves, and the other four we wrote to people we may not keep in touch with. This book will help us to focus on our writing and will help us "prime our writing pump."
Our Institute begins June 16 and ends July 11. I'll be emailing everyone, but we will not meet on Thursday, July 3, because of the holiday. (That's why we are meeting until Friday the 11th.)
Soon the '08 Fellows will be posting demo ideas and writing to the blog, so feel free to comment.
Thanks again for a great orientation. I'm looking forward to this summer!
We will be reading several books this summer, but for now, the Fellows received Breakthroughs and The Right to Write. In The Right to Write, Julia Cameron writes a short essay that ends with an "Initiation Tool." We attempted one of the initiations on Saturday. Casey passed out to each of us five postcards. We wrote one postcard to ourselves, and the other four we wrote to people we may not keep in touch with. This book will help us to focus on our writing and will help us "prime our writing pump."
Our Institute begins June 16 and ends July 11. I'll be emailing everyone, but we will not meet on Thursday, July 3, because of the holiday. (That's why we are meeting until Friday the 11th.)
Soon the '08 Fellows will be posting demo ideas and writing to the blog, so feel free to comment.
Thanks again for a great orientation. I'm looking forward to this summer!
Thursday, May 01, 2008
Denver, CO Urban Sites Conference
The sign of a good conference, you're in a fabulous city and realize that you've not been out of the hotel for two days. This was exactly where I was a week ago in Denver, CO while attending the Urban Sites Network National Conference.
I must admit, I was a little nervous about telling people that I was from the Ozarks. The Ozarks hardly seems like an urban setting when compared to Chicago, NYC, Denver, or even when compared to St. Louis and Kansas City. However, if a community feels that it is urban, the Urban Sites Network recognizes it as urban. I quickly realized that, with our increasing hispanic population and the increasing diversity in area schools, we faced many of the same issues as other sites.
I knew that I was in the right place when a speaker in one of the early sessions mentioned Paolo Friere's PEDEGOGY OF THE OPPRESSED, one of my favorite books, one that I've read several times. I started writing down other titles:
Laura Burdette
Library Media Specialist
I must admit, I was a little nervous about telling people that I was from the Ozarks. The Ozarks hardly seems like an urban setting when compared to Chicago, NYC, Denver, or even when compared to St. Louis and Kansas City. However, if a community feels that it is urban, the Urban Sites Network recognizes it as urban. I quickly realized that, with our increasing hispanic population and the increasing diversity in area schools, we faced many of the same issues as other sites.
I knew that I was in the right place when a speaker in one of the early sessions mentioned Paolo Friere's PEDEGOGY OF THE OPPRESSED, one of my favorite books, one that I've read several times. I started writing down other titles:
- A SHORT COURSE IN WRITING, CITY SCAPES (which I had also read...here is a link to a summary http://www.nwp.org/cs/public/print/resource/1996 ),
- OTHER PEOPLE'S CHILDREN: CULTURAL CONFLICT IN THE CLASSROOM (here's a link to a review of the book http://www.nwp.org/cs/public/download/nwp_file/839/Other_People.pdf?x-r=pcfile_d ),
- THE SKIN WE SPEAK: THOUGHTS ON LANGUAGE AND CULTURE IN THE CLASSROOM,
- THE LIGHT IN THEIR EYES: CREATING A MULTICULTURAL LEARNING COMMUNITIES, there were many more.
Laura Burdette
Library Media Specialist
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Senior Project Night at Willow Springs High School
Hi....I sent out this e-mail soliciting judges for Senior Project Night at Willow Springs High School. If any of you are interested, call, e-mail, or post a comment and I'll be in touch! :) (I had to mention the OWP in the e-mail, too. :)
Good Morning and Happy Spring!
In between baseball games, golf meets, music contests, track meets, prom dancing, tennis matches, and, well, a load of other spring school activities, our seniors here at Willow Springs High School will squeeze in their Senior Project Presentation.
Senior Showcase and Senior Project Night is Thursday, April 24, 2008.
This year studies abound. For the first time ever, we have students studying the Culinary Arts (and yes, I've had some tasty treats), as well as the environment (where I've personally been challenged to reduce my carbon footprint on the world.) Furthermore, I'm jealous of one students butterfly garden, I learned how to put "side skirts" on a car (who knew I could learn that in my lifetime), I now know what style of clothes best fit my body style thanks to one students in-depth research on the fashion industry, and I'm really anxious to read the results of how well a school bus ran on the renewable fuel one student made. If you can't tell: I'm inspired. And every year students amaze me with their topic choices and products they create.
With over 90 seniors this year, I'm looking for more judges than ever before. Last year, over 200 volunteered for this big event and this year, I hope all of you can spend some time with the seniors and their work at Senior Showcase, 3:30-5:00 in The Bears Den on campus, and then move into judging at least six presentations in the high school afterwards.
As usual, a delicious dinner and snacks will be provided in our hospitality room, so I encourage you to come, bring a colleague, and enjoy a night here at Willow Springs where we celebrate academic study.
This year a link has been created for judges to view presentation titles as well as choose the events you would like to judge. Please respond to this e-mail if you are interested in judging, and once you have committed, I will return your e-mail with this link. Some of you are on this list because you are "my old faithful" judges (thanks, Dad...and the Vokacs...and all my colleagues, board members, and admin at Willow Springs,) but many of you are on the list because you judged for the first time last year, you have attended a Senior Project presentation and wanted more information, you've requested to be present this year, you are associated with the Ozarks Writing Project, or someone has given me your e-mail address and asked me to include you on the opportunity to volunteer for one night of academic success at an area high school.
Please e-mail for further inquiry. Or call the numbers below if you would like to visit personally. With time flying, I haven't had the opportunity to write about my students this year, but you can visit this blog article from last year, and read my year end review of students and senior projects, published in the 2007 Graduation Edition of The Educator. If you click on the title "Learning is Like Breathing," at that site, you will also be directed to a school link that hosts pictures of last years event.
Thanks for all of your interest. Hope to hear from you soon.
Good Morning and Happy Spring!
In between baseball games, golf meets, music contests, track meets, prom dancing, tennis matches, and, well, a load of other spring school activities, our seniors here at Willow Springs High School will squeeze in their Senior Project Presentation.
Senior Showcase and Senior Project Night is Thursday, April 24, 2008.
This year studies abound. For the first time ever, we have students studying the Culinary Arts (and yes, I've had some tasty treats), as well as the environment (where I've personally been challenged to reduce my carbon footprint on the world.) Furthermore, I'm jealous of one students butterfly garden, I learned how to put "side skirts" on a car (who knew I could learn that in my lifetime), I now know what style of clothes best fit my body style thanks to one students in-depth research on the fashion industry, and I'm really anxious to read the results of how well a school bus ran on the renewable fuel one student made. If you can't tell: I'm inspired. And every year students amaze me with their topic choices and products they create.
With over 90 seniors this year, I'm looking for more judges than ever before. Last year, over 200 volunteered for this big event and this year, I hope all of you can spend some time with the seniors and their work at Senior Showcase, 3:30-5:00 in The Bears Den on campus, and then move into judging at least six presentations in the high school afterwards.
As usual, a delicious dinner and snacks will be provided in our hospitality room, so I encourage you to come, bring a colleague, and enjoy a night here at Willow Springs where we celebrate academic study.
This year a link has been created for judges to view presentation titles as well as choose the events you would like to judge. Please respond to this e-mail if you are interested in judging, and once you have committed, I will return your e-mail with this link. Some of you are on this list because you are "my old faithful" judges (thanks, Dad...and the Vokacs...and all my colleagues, board members, and admin at Willow Springs,) but many of you are on the list because you judged for the first time last year, you have attended a Senior Project presentation and wanted more information, you've requested to be present this year, you are associated with the Ozarks Writing Project, or someone has given me your e-mail address and asked me to include you on the opportunity to volunteer for one night of academic success at an area high school.
Please e-mail for further inquiry. Or call the numbers below if you would like to visit personally. With time flying, I haven't had the opportunity to write about my students this year, but you can visit this blog article from last year, and read my year end review of students and senior projects, published in the 2007 Graduation Edition of The Educator. If you click on the title "Learning is Like Breathing," at that site, you will also be directed to a school link that hosts pictures of last years event.
Thanks for all of your interest. Hope to hear from you soon.
Monday, March 17, 2008
Larry and Thomas chosen for NWP Holocaust Seminar
Keri sent the following e-mail out...but I also wanted to post it on the blog.
I have great news! Larry Neuburger, Miller High School, and Thomas Maerke, Pleasant View Middle School, both 2008 Ozarks Writing Project Teacher-Consultants, were selected to participate for this summer's National Writing Project Holocaust Seminar in Washington, D.C., led by Dr. Sondra Perl. The seminar is sponsored by the Memorial Library and by Lehman College and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. They will go to New York City from July 7–19, 2008.
The Holocaust Educators Network in partnership with the National Writing Project announces 20 fellowships for NWP teacher-consultants in the Rural Sites Network to attend the Memorial Library Summer Seminar on Holocaust Education in New York City.
From the website: "Using an inquiry-based approach, this program will encourage teachers to think creatively and collaboratively about methods and approaches to teaching the Holocaust. The seminar will consider how we engage students with difficult material such as hatred, prejudice, and state-sanctioned genocide, and how writing, dialogue, and inquiry can help us develop empathy and move us toward action. While the focus is on the Holocaust, attention will also be given to more recent genocides."
Larry and Thomas will return and present in-services for our site and for area schools.
This is an amazing opportunity for them, and it is an honor for teachers to be accepted into the program. This experience will benefit Thomas and Larry professionally, and it will benefit their future students, our site, and our community.
Please tell them congratulations when you see them.
I have great news! Larry Neuburger, Miller High School, and Thomas Maerke, Pleasant View Middle School, both 2008 Ozarks Writing Project Teacher-Consultants, were selected to participate for this summer's National Writing Project Holocaust Seminar in Washington, D.C., led by Dr. Sondra Perl. The seminar is sponsored by the Memorial Library and by Lehman College and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. They will go to New York City from July 7–19, 2008.
The Holocaust Educators Network in partnership with the National Writing Project announces 20 fellowships for NWP teacher-consultants in the Rural Sites Network to attend the Memorial Library Summer Seminar on Holocaust Education in New York City.
From the website: "Using an inquiry-based approach, this program will encourage teachers to think creatively and collaboratively about methods and approaches to teaching the Holocaust. The seminar will consider how we engage students with difficult material such as hatred, prejudice, and state-sanctioned genocide, and how writing, dialogue, and inquiry can help us develop empathy and move us toward action. While the focus is on the Holocaust, attention will also be given to more recent genocides."
Larry and Thomas will return and present in-services for our site and for area schools.
This is an amazing opportunity for them, and it is an honor for teachers to be accepted into the program. This experience will benefit Thomas and Larry professionally, and it will benefit their future students, our site, and our community.
Please tell them congratulations when you see them.
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