Tar River Writing Project

On June 26, fifteen teachers from around Eastern North Carolina began their adventure as part of the 2008 Invitational Summer Institute.  The TRWP is excited about the knowledge, expertise, and excitement that these folks have brought into the project!

Participants for the 2008 Invitational Summer Institute include the following:

• Catherine Allen (The Oakwood School)
• Trela Anderson (Fayetteville State U)
• Mahalia Breen (Rose High School)
• Joanne Dunn (East Carolina University)
• Shannon Gorka (Pactolus School)
• Carleen Lewis (Ayden Middle School)
• Randall Martoccia (East Carolina University)
• Melissa Morlock (Williamston High School)
• Natasha Simmons (Green Early College)
• Jennifer Smyth (Hertford County High School)
• John Suralik (Havelock High School)
• Sharon Sweeley (Nash Central High School)
• Terri Van Sickle (West Craven High School)
• Delane Weathersby (Northwest Elementary School)
• Betsey White (Greene County Middle School)

The Summer Institute is again being facilitated by Professors Will Banks and Todd Finley, though this year Associate Director Jennifer Sharpe-Salter and Technology Liaison Jonathan Bartels have joined the leadership team and are taking an active role in designing and implementing the Institute.

The Tar River Writing Project is pleased to announce that applications are  now being accepted for participation in  the 2008 Invitational Summer Institute. 

The 2008 Invitational Summer Institute will run Monday - Friday, June 26 - July 25, 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.  Participants can expect four weeks of rich and  purposeful interaction with other teachers as they take time to  write and explore together. 

Just look what previous Summer Institute participants have said about the experience:

One of the best things I experienced as part of the Summer Writing Institute was the effect of a nurturing and supportive environment on the development of writers. Students with this type of experience will write willingly. During the institute we supported, praised, encouraged and provided meaningful feedback on our writing pieces and every activity. We felt free to share our pieces in this type of an environment.
-- Veronica Roberson

I loved the sharing and the process that unfolded. The Institute brought in so many teacher consultants that were inspiring and full of concrete ideas to use in the classroom. The articles selected for our readings guided me intensely in my research, the exercises stretched my mind; I played with new ideas, and muddled through the chaos that we were warned about as part of the writing process.
-- Jane Gardner

The Tar River Writing Project steeped me in a writing community that continues even now that my summer institute experience has ended.  This community sustains my writing and teaching life by inspiring me, encouraging me, giving me feedback on my writing, and sharing their writing and teaching journeys with me.
-- Jennifer Sharpe-Salter

This year's fall NCETA (North Carolina English Teachers Association) fall meeting will  see two sessions conducted by TRWP Teacher Consultants!

Jonathan Bartels, Mica Pierson, and Jennifer Sharpe-Salter  will present "Twitterific: Web 2.0 Technologies for Better Communication" on Friday, November 2 @ 10:30 a.m.  This session demonstrates why a lot of teachers  (and students) are getting "twitterpated" with  Twitter, Pownce, and other Web 2.0 technologies. Not to be missed if you're going to NCETA!

At 1:30 p.m., Mike Flinchbaugh will share his writing demonstration "Writing to Believe".  This demonstration takes advantage of NPR's "This I Believe" segment and encourages the writers in  the audience to think through their own "beliefs" and how they would write micro-essays modeled after the ones found on  NPR.

On Saturday, November 3, Jonathan Bartels will offer an 8:00 a.m. session on "The Social Student".  Jonathan will explore the ways that students in rural settings make use of social networking technologies and will offer teachers pragmatic methods for incorporating such  technologies in their classes.

If you missed the Tar River Writing Project orientation meeting for the Teacher Research Institute (TRI) on Saturday October 20th, 2007, it's not too late. Come reconnect with your SI2007 colleagues for an exciting time as we look together at our teaching and research the work we're doing in our classrooms.

The Teacher Research Institute is designed for those teacher consultants (TCs) who wanted to continue their classroom research projects with the support of their TC colleagues. Technically, you would register for Spring 2008 CEUs or graduate credit. However, our TRI experience will feature both online support and face-to-face meetings from 9:00 am - 1:00pm on the following (tentative) dates:

• Orientation: Saturday, October 20th, 2007, from 9:00 AM - 1:00 PM, Mendenhall Rm 15.
• Meeting: Saturday, January 12th, 2008, from 9:00 AM - 1:00 PM, location TBA.
• Meeting: Saturday, March 1, 2008, from 9:00 AM - 1:00 PM, location TBA.
• Meeting: Saturday, April 19th, 2008, from 9:00 AM - 1:00 PM, location TBA.

TRWP Teaching Consultant Jonathan Bartels (Washington HS) has recently been named "Education Ambassador" for Wetpaint, a free wiki website-creation tool.  Though Wetpaint was initially established to foster general online collaboration, Bartels uses his Wetpaint site for educational purposes, specifically, as he says, "to improve my communication with parents and guardians, student publication, and peer review."

Breaking news!  The participants for the 2007 TRWP Summer Invitational Institute have been selected and we're ready to host our first Pre-Institute for prospective participants to meet and learn more about what's in store this summer in the writing project.

• When?
  Saturday, June 2, 2007

• Time?
  9:00 am – 2:00 pm

• Where?
  ECU Bate Bldg, Rm 2015

At the Pre-Institute, participants will receive books and materials related to the Summer Institute, will learn about the Summer Institute itself, and will experience a teaching demonstration. A light deli lunch will be provided.

Welcome to the first TRWP newsletter! Each month, we will report on TRWP events, classroom happenings, new literacy-related technology tools, and announcement of events.

In the coming weeks and months, this publication will be written by TRWP members for TRWP members. We are very proud of the leadership that is developing in our community and the enthusiasm for making a difference.

Stay tuned!

The Tar River Writing Project is part of a national network of sites located in universities around the United States. Each site conducts a Summer Institute and sponsors Professional Development Workshops during the school year. Sites also design programs that address local issues and the particular needs of schools, teachers, and students in their communities.

Recent independent research has found that, on average, 98 percent of participating teachers believe that NWP Summer Institutes are the best professional development experiences they have had. Likewise, an independent national scoring of student writing shows that student improvement in NWP teachers' classrooms outpaced those of students in carefully constructed comparison programs.

Any teacher, kindergarten to college, will find a rewarding experience at the TRWP Summer Institute! In fact, most effective institutes are those that have a diverse group of teachers from across the various subject areas. Do students write in your classes? Do you care about student writing and improving as a writing teacher? Do you want to develop even better writing assignments? Then you should apply to the TRWP Summer Invitational Institute!