UPDATE FALL-WINTER 2009
OUR MISSION The mission of the Philadelphia Writing Project is to enhance the teaching of writing as a critical tool for learning in Philadelphia schools. Further, our mission is to support and provide high quality professional development based on current literacy research while encouraging inquiry and leadership in and across classrooms and schools.
In this issue… 2
Upcoming Events Projects at Masterman, University City
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Summer Institute I Fellows Coming Into the Light
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How to Mentor New Teachers Thanks for New Camera Book Review Project Write Celebrating Writing, Literacy Going Green Text and Literacy NWP Presenters
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VOLUME 22 ISSUE1
IMPROVING THE TEACHING OF WRITING SINCE 1986
NWP, NCTE Educators Convene in Philadelphia While 2009 might be most remembered for a record snowfall, this past year was also a memorable one as the city of Philadelphia hosted the National Writing Project Annual Meeting and the National Council of Teachers of English National Conference. Educators made the pilgrimage to our city this past November and engaged with one another in efforts to improve the teaching and learning of writing in classrooms across the country. PhilWP Director, Vanessa Brown, extended welcoming remarks on behalf of the local host site, PhilWP, to more than 1100 attendees of the NWP Annual Meeting General Session. Members of the Philadelphia Writing Project hosted sessions, sat on panels, led writing marathons, and greeted visitors at an information table. Thank you to all of those who contributed to the conferences. On Friday, PhilWP’s own Loretta Solomon and Diane Waff presented “Closing the Gap Between Professional Development and Student Achievement” as part of the NCTE conference. Dear friend Bob Fecho presented “The Literacy of Human Existence: The Real ‘Basics’ of Humane Education.” For notes on some of the week’s topics and for a list of PhilWP presenters at the NWP annual meeting, see page 6.
Upcoming Events Leadership Meetings
Extended Leadership Team Meeting | Jan 25, Mar 22, May 24 5:30-6:00 (dinner and networking) | 6:00-8:00 (working team meetings) 8:00-8:30 (optional networking) Marci Resnick Teacher Fund Awards | June 7 Site Development Meeting | Feb 22, Apr 26, June 7 5:30-6:00 (dinner and networking) | 6:00-8:00 (business meeting) 8:00-8:30 (optional networking) Annual Leadership Retreat | Aug 7 | All site leaders are invited to attend and other TCs may be invited depending on the theme of the retreat.
Continuity Programs Struggles and Strategies | Feb 6, Mar 6, Apr 10, May 1 Summer Institute II | Feb 13 Leadership Inquiry Seminar | Feb 20, Mar 20 PA Writing Project Network | Feb 20, May 1
> E-Connections
Conferences
Join PhilWP Techlit Listserve Receive email updates about what is going on in Philadelphia schools and the Philadelphia Writing Project. E-mail the PhilWP office (philwp@gse.upenn.edu) and request to be added as a collaborator.
NWP Urban Sites Conference | Apr 23-25 |Portland, Oregon
Join NWP Interactive (NWPI) Visit www.writingproject.org to take part in online community of educators and to share tools and resources.
NWP Spring Meeting | Mar 25-26 | Washington, DC
Summer Invitational Institute Summer Institute Selections | Apr 17 Facilitated Conversations | Apr 28-29 Summer Invitation Institute | Aug 2-20
Literature Circle Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout | Feb 6 | 2:00-5:00 4000 Gypsy Lane Unit 324
Projects at Masterman, University City TC AnnMarie Marranzini and her ninth grade English students at Masterman, participated in the National Writing Project’s Letters To The Next President initiative, and are currently writing This I Believe essays. The essays are based on the 1950’s radio program which encourages writers to discuss the core values that guide their daily lives. Writing also provided connections, as students maintained Italian pen pals, collected from the epals website. In addition, TC Lisa Kelly and AnnMarie Marranzini are continuing the second year of a reading and writing collaboration. In the first year, students from University City
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and Masterman read Patricia Mccormack's SOLD. After reading, the students wrote letters describing their reactions and met twice to create service projects based on the novel. Some students chose to educate their peers about the horrors of human trafficking. Others traveled into the community collecting books and donating them. The focus of the collaborating shifts this September, as Lisa and AnnMarie are mentoring student teachers. The TCs journal daily, capturing snapshots of the day, and share these reflections through emails. They hope to publish their stories and present at upcoming conferences. You can view Masterman students’ writings on the NCTE website gallery at http://www.galleryofwriting.org/galleries/94992.
UPDATE | Fall-Winter 2009
SUMMER INSTITUTE I Coming Into the Light Tamara Anderson I finished 2009 Summer Institute with much joy only to arrive at school and an emergency meeting about Corrective Reading and Corrective Math. Feeling threatened, I ran home and cried. Undaunted, I returned the next morning equipped with sample “Where I’m From” poems. I got rid of the straight rows of chairs and created a community circle. In this way, I quickly learned the student names and held conversations about expectations of students and teachers. Many of the students leaped right into writing poems about themselves, but others were a little hesitant. As I wrote along with them, they were encouraged. When we did a text rendering of some of the finished poems, everyone’s voice was heard and more and more students began to participate. Then I modeled giving non-evaluative feedback to writing with post-its, using first a “praise” and then asking questions. Even the ELL students shared despite their language and accent barriers. It was then that I realized that everything that I learned during the three weeks at PHILWP actually could work. A smile spread slowly across my face. All of the poems I have read so far are really beautiful and unique.
Congratulations to the 2009 Fellows Tamara Anderson Lincoln High School
Joanne Bailey Jones Middle School
Sarah Bower-Grieco Olney Elementary
Janice Francis Kelly Elementary School
Yvette Gimenez Esperanza College of Eastern University
Francine Lee-Kim Folk Arts Cultural Treasure Charter School
Andrea Gray Smedley School
Megan Greevy Olney Elementary
Karynn Henry Folk Arts Cultural Treasure Charter School
Melissa Hogg Arts Academy at Benjamin Rush
Delicita Johnson-Gore McDaniel School
Ramona Lewis Jones Middle School
Lauren McGlinchey Freire Charter School
George McDermott Gratz High School
Kathleen Melville Constitution High School
Brian Shevory Freire Charter School
Trey Smith Morrison Elementary
Dai To Webster Elementary
Hannah Tran Academy at Palumbo
Joyce Umble Moffet Elementary
Leah Vodila Columbus Charter School
Jason Watson Gratz High School Kwanita Williams Franklin Learning Center
Create an image with words like this one (left) featured on the Institute I t-shirt by visiting www.wordle.net.
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UPDATE | Fall-Winter 2009
Book Review: The Hour I First Believed Joyce Millman In his new novel Wally Lamb’s main character, Littleton, Colorado High School English teacher Caelum Quirk, deals with the aftermath of the Columbine High School shooting. Caleum encounters frustration and challenges within the landscape of the events following Columbine including the Iraq War, Hurricane Katrina and his wife’s addiction to Xanax. Caelum’s anger, his conflicts, his commitment to his marriage and troubling family memories are woven into his story. The descriptions of students and classrooms, in both high school classes and Caleum’s college English Composition classes were very believable. Clearly, these parts of the book have been informed by Wally Lamb’s experience as a writing teacher. I was emotionally involved in parts of the story that dramatically describe the Columbine High shootings and the aftermath and I was especially affected by the parts of the story involving Caelum’s wife. As you read the quirky voice of Caelum tell the story, you might smile, but it is just as likely that you will be a bit depressed.
Say, “Cheese” …and Thank You Fellows participating in the
23rd Summer Invitational Institute asked PhilWP to
prepare a small wish list. Then, they selected an item from our list that the group would secure for us. The fellows presented PhilWP with a beautiful new digital camera and 3‐gigabyte memory card. The camera takes stills and videos. Go, teachers! You are the best. 4
How to Mentor New Teachers George Cross Mentoring new teachers may be the weakest link in the entire teaching and learning process. Much of the professional development that occurs in school districts tends to cater to the learning style of veteran teachers, members of the “Baby Boomers” (1946-1964) or “Generation X” (1977-1996.) The newest teachers are members of “Generation Y” (or Why?) These younger teachers possess entirely different learning styles from the other two groups. For instance, Generation Y tends to ask more questions than the other groups, who were taught not to question authority. Generation Y, however, is post Internet; they view authority as being more flawed than the other groups. They are not entirely wrong. We should not mentor Generation Y new teachers in the traditional authoritarian way, with the veteran teacher playing the role of Socrates and the new teacher acting in the role of his pupil, Plato. Instead, the seasoned teacher can take an inquiry stance towards the new teacher. The following is an excerpt of an email sent from a new teacher in Philadelphia: “This week has been a struggle,
and I was wondering if I could get some advice from you? I am having trouble finding the balance between being strict and being mean. Some of my students think I’m mean because I require that they raise their hands. If not, I give detention. I’m asking you because you talked about the importance of not threatening and remaining cool. I was wondering how to do that while maintaining the attention of the class?” My response took an inquiry stance: “Will raising hands create a more productive learning environment? Have you told your students your story? If you became less ‘mean’ would it improve your teaching? “Are you willing to destroy their present learning culture in order to replace it with your own idea of classroom culture?”
“…new teachers are not broken items requiring fixing—they have answers and need to be given an opportunity to use them.” The reply from the new teacher was: “Your email helps me to better understand the situation and culture I am facing. Your suggestions for building confidence and sharing my story are so helpful. I’ll definitely use your suggestions in class this week.” Notice that the mentoring process that I followed didn’t involve giving advice—only asking questions. New teachers are not broken items requiring fixing—they have answers and need to be given an opportunity to use them.
UPDATE | Fall-Winter 2009
PROJECT WRITE Peggy Kaplan They came together from every section of the city—20 diverse teens, grades eight to eleven, all gifted students but tentative writers. Two weeks later each had found his or her voice and was writing more passionately and creatively and presenting work confidently. Such is the experience of Project Write Summer Youth Camp, sponsored by the Philadelphia Writing Project, now in its fourth year. A podcast and selections of campers’ writings can be found at blogger.com. Simply search for “Project Write Youth 2009.” Under the tutelage of extraordinarily skilled and committed facilitators, the 2010 camp will meet for two weeks in late July. Tuition is $185. If you know of students who need a chance, need encouragement, need direction, need polish, need an outlet for selfexpression, please call 215-898-1919.
Celebrating Writing & Literacy Teri Hines The 7th Annual Celebration of Writing and Literacy was held the first Saturday in October 2009. Like past Celebrations it was centered on teachers sharing practices and ideas for writing and literacy. This year the conference was opened with a Plenary Session featuring Carla P. Morales, a local author and playwright. Ms. Morales got the audience to look at writing through the lens of acting with some impromptu skits using audience members. The Celebration also featured students at the center of the work in four of the sessions, including Samuel Reeds III students and the Poetry Café; Peggy Kaplan and Project Youth Write Camp participants; AnnMarie Marranzini’s service project students, and Shannon White and her students demonstrating literary analysis as a way to improve student writing.
The conference also featured TCs Michelle Alcaraz Rogers sharing her summer’s experience of exploring the landscape of Ethiopia, its people and its text, and Suzzette Rink’s workshop on the whole body approach to improving teaching and learning. The Celebration closed with the annual town hall meeting and a common thread that was shared by students and teachers was how do we recognize, celebrate, and tap into students other ways of writing such as texting, social networks, and tweeter. The work for next year’s Celebration has already begun so if you are interested in being on the planning committee, presenting, or participating, please call the PhilWP office. Listed below are presentations at this year’s event.
7th Annual Celebration of Writing and Literacy Presentations A Whole Body Approach to Improving Teaching and Learning
Toluwalase Suzzette Rink
Write What you See: Visual and Verbal Literacy Project
Rita Sorrentino
There's Power in the Sentence
Geraldine Gary
Struggles and Strategies: Writing the World
Ted Domers
From Basics to Analysis: Improving Student Writing through Literary Analysis
Going Green This will be the last mass paper mailing of the PhilWP UPDATE. Individual TCs may purchase a 3-issue subscription for $10 to cover the costs of printing, postage, and handling. E-mail the PhilWP office (philwp@gse.upenn.edu) to request a paper subscription. PDF copies of the UPDATE will be emailed via the Techlit listserv and posted on our site, www.gse.upenn.edu/philwp.
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Building Community and Student Leadership through Service Voices in the Middle: Poetry Cafe for Young People Students Who Write Everybody has a story: Engaging Students in Memoir Writing
Summer Institute II
Shannon White
AnnMarie Marranzini Sam Reed, III Peggy Kaplan Susan Browne Betty Jean Thompson
Susan Browne
Summer Institute II participants Angela Crawford, Dolores Gmitter, Ken Hung, and Bernadette Kearney have been hard at work since August engaging in teacher research. Collectively their classroom inquiries speak to a theme of repurposing. Together we have asked: “What does it mean to do what we do?” and “How do we stay true to our core beliefs and values about teaching and learning?” In PhilWP form, meetings are spaces for venting, eating, laughing, weeping, digressing, and ultimately getting down to tough questions about teaching and learning. Our work toward scholarship and caring has allowed us to speak in voices of hope that enable us to learn from each other and depart from each other feeling like—yes, we can go on. The inquiries are gearing up for presentation at the Ethnography Forum on Saturday, February 27. The PhilWP community can attend a pre-conference mini presentation on Saturday, February 20, at 10:30.
UPDATE | Fall-Winter 2009
Notes from NWP, NCTE Conferences
Text and Literacy: A New Landscape When I think about writing I must confess to a stark cold fear of translating my ideas from head to paper. It has always felt like a solitary battle between the text I am trying to create and me. Any interaction with an audience would come much later when I could be distant from the word and its creation. But on November 18th I was fortunate enough to participate in the first annual (I hope) Digital Is… Convening in Philadelphia. I was absolutely floored to watch the shifting landscape of text and literacy. What I had grown up knowing as books, essays, research papers, words, authorship and literacy is now being pushed to a whole new level. And it is immediate; it is interactive; it is 24/7. David Ulin in the December 20th LA Times article, After a decade of fear, we're connected to writing in new ways…, writes “What has changed is
our sense of text as fixed, not fluid, as something solid to which we can return again and again. That's the influence of the Web, of course, where story has no end and no beginning, and readers are not passive but play a determining role. This is scary to a certain way of thinking, but I want to look in the opposite direction, to suggest that what is more compelling is how this opens up the possibilities.” Digital Is and the evening panel discussion Youth Voices showcased k-16 teachers taking this new sense of text and breaking rules, outpacing the socalled experts on best practices, and clearly demonstrating that literacy, like text, is not fixed but fluid. The National Writing Project in conjunction with the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation invited colleagues and practitioners involved in the Digital Media and Learning Initiative to come together to share work and practice,
Presentations Made by PhilWP Members at the NWP Annual Meeting
Thursday “Language and Dialect Diversity in the Writing Classroom”
George Cross
“Keeping the Focus on Writing in Upper Elementary, Middle Grades”
Mattie Davis
“Resiliency and Reform: Strange Bedfellows in an Era of High Stakes”
Vanessa Brown
“Developing Ourselves: Teacher Inquiry at Professional Development” Ted Domers, Dina Portnoy, and Trey Smith
Friday “Reading the Research: Inquiry as Stance, with Susan Lytle”
Susan Lytle
“A Close Look at Writing with Young Children” Gladys Navarro-Berríos and Lynne Strieb “Yes, You Can Use Copyrighted Materials!” “Podcasting for Literacy”
Renee Hobbs Robert Rivera-Amezola
“Researching Literacy and Learning in Afterschool/Out-of-School Time” Vanessa Brown, Brandi Jeter, Constance Major, Mike McEwan, and Cynthia Murray “Building Reflective Practice: Stories of Coaching, Facilitation in Large Urban Centers” Constance Major, Christina Puntel, and Susan Quinn “The Pedagogy of Facilitation: A Way of Thinking About Facilitation” Christina Puntel, Carol Rose, and Suzanne Simons “Teacher Retention in Tough Times: What NWP’s New-Teacher Initiative Has Taught Us” Dina Portnoy
Saturday “Integrating Writing with Reading to Make Meaning of Fiction and Nonfiction Text” Mattie Davis and Amelia Coleman-Brown
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Teri Hines
and think across a variety of learning environments about elements that support effective digital writing and learning for students. Session titles included “Creating an Environment for Engagement: Distributed Expertise, CoLearning, and Multimodal Writing,” “The Social Media Portfolio: Using Technology to Promote Meta-cognitive Skill Development,” “It is NOT what it
“…literacy, like text, is not fixed but fluid.” is: From Conscious Street Souljas to Critical Media ARTivists by Any Medium Necessary,” and “What is Assessment for? Creating Participatory Classrooms for Readers and Writers.” I was invited to be a recorder of a discussion on a descriptive review of a student’s podcast and to post the notes immediately to the conference Ning. As a group there came a moment where we decided we needed to “hear” the text as part of the process, that our review needed to include what we heard not just what we read. What a powerful way to look at student work. At several times during the day everyone gathered in the main conference room and you would look around to see a lush garden of laptops taking notes, posting blogs, and interacting with the conference format and content in ways that promise to keep the excitement and focus of the conference and panel discussion alive and well in the coming decades. I hope I am invited to the 2nd annual Digital is…Convening. For more about the conference, visit http://nwpdigitalis.ning.com/. I am most excited to think about the ramifications for Philadelphia students and teachers and how PhilWP can position itself to support this growing body of work. If you are interested in participating in a study group to look more closely at these new practices, to think about creating in-services to further these practices, or other ideas for connecting PhilWP to technology initiatives, please call the office and leave your name. UPDATE | Fall-Winter 2009
2010-2011
PhilWP Scholar Apply Now Graduate School of Education University of Pennsylvania > We are currently seeking K-12 applicants for an excellent opportunity to pursue your academic goals at a world-renowned university and to provide valuable leadership to the multi-faceted and exciting local and national work of the Philadelphia Writing Project. > Every year since PhilWP was founded at the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education, a Philadelphia teacher has taken a leave of absence for professional development or a sabbatical from the classroom to enroll as a full-time graduate student at Penn—most often in a doctoral program (Ed.D.). > You could be the next scholar to take advantage of this unique opportunity. PhilWP is the only writing project in the country to annually host a teacher on an Ivy League university campus as a full-time scholarship student. If you are up to the challenge and want to work more closely with the writing project’s leadership team, this is your chance. You will enjoy a comfortable, inspiring, and invigorating work and study environment. You will travel to National Writing Project conferences compliments of PhilWP and experience the inner working of this writing project site.
Contact Vanessa Brown to apply (215) 898-5681 | philwp@gse.upenn.edu More information about GSE programs www.upenn.edu/gse School District of Philadelphia policies on leave of absence for professional development www.philasd.org/offices/administration/policies/312.html Contact 2008-2009 PhilWP Scholar Annette Sample asample@gse.upenn.edu 7
RECENTLY PUBLISHED Teri Hines, Vanessa Brown, and Bruce Bowers recently published “The Philadelphia Writing Project’s Leadership Inquiry Seminar: Continuity Linked to Site Mission and Local Context” on October 22, 2009, as part of the NWP at Work series. The piece explores strategies and practices that define PhilWP's Leadership Inquiry Seminar, a yearlong institute designed to support urban educators in examining practices of leadership and their own growth as leaders. Order a free copy by going to www.nwp.org and searching Leadership Inquiry Seminar.
Movie Review: Julie and Julia Lana Gold I do not laugh aloud easily at most films. I had one wonderful laugh after another during this film. It was such a delight to go the movies and simply be entertained. The film is based on two books, Julie and Julia by Julie Powell and My Life In France by Julia Child written with Alex Prud'homme . I read both books about a year ago and found that Nora Ephron did a wonderful job of meshing the two stories for the screenplay. The film was very much in keeping with the books. The humor was definitely “Ephronesque.” Meryl Streep was at her best in this film. Streep is an incredible actress who truly becomes the character she is portraying. One of the unique characteristics of Julia Child was her voice and Meryl Streep captured it perfectly. Amy Adams, as Julie Powell, was excellent. Both women were well supported by Stanley Tucci and Chris Messina. While the film is entertaining it is also a picture of the similarities and differences of two women and marriages, separated by 50 years and cultures of two different continents. The juxtaposition of the marital relationships provides an extra layer of intrigue because of their similarities and differences. The way each of the women dealt with disappointment, frustration, and ennui provides numerous points of comparison and drives the movie forward. The film began to get a bit long about 20 minutes from the end. Aside from that, Julie and Julia is a film well worth seeing. By the way, despite what some might think, this is not one I would categorize as a “chick flick.”
UPDATE | Fall-Winter 2009
Philadelphia Writing Project Launches New Advisory Board After a year of planning and retooling, PhilWP recently launched a new Advisory Board. Former board member, Tyrone V. Edwards has agreed to serve as chair. The new board represents a cross section of the Philadelphia business, education, university, and school district communities. Directors Kathy Schultz and Vanessa Brown along with TC Diane Waff will represent PhilWP on the board and Founding Director Susan Lytle will assume Board Emeritus status. The board will meet the first Tuesday of every quarter at the PhilWP office. The board has identified subcommittees to address four essential focus areas. Focus areas include helping PhilWP raise its profile and improve our relationship with key
decision makers in the School District of Philadelphia as well as the political and business communities; developing and implementing new approaches to generating nonrestricted funds; and developing and maintaining financial planning and reporting procedures and processes. The fourth focus will insure that the writing project sustains a competent and committed cadre of board members. About the Chair Tyrone Edwards is president and CEO of Thompson Consulting Group and a professor of marketing at Cheyney University of Pennsylvania. He is also the former Senior Vice President of Sales and Operations of Merck & Co.
Under his leadership Merck introduced; six new products, a new commercial model, six sigma methodology against sales processes and deployed many industry leading innovations for customer engagement. He has been named Who’s Who in America, has been honored as one of the Black Achievers in Industry by Harlem YMCA, and has received Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Humanitarian Award. Tyrone Edwards, chair of PhilWP Advisory Board
Philadelphia Writing Project University of Pennsylvania 4201 Spruce Street Building 1921 Philadelphia PA 19104
Phone (215) 898-1919
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Fax (215) 573-2109
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Email philwp@gse.upenn.edu
www.gse.upenn.edu/philwp
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UPDATE | Fall-Winter 2009