2008 NWP Annual Meeting 2008 NWP Annual Meeting

AM 18 - Writing in a Digital AgeAM 18 - Writing in a Digital Age

Thursday, November 20, 20089:00am - 12:00pm

Grand Hyatt San Antonio4th Floor, Salon D - Texas Ballroom

San Antonio, TX

Welcome and Overview

•Felicia George, NYC Writing Project•Sarah Hunt-Barron, Upstate Writing Project•Rebecca Kaminski, Upstate Writing Project

•Seth Mitchell, Maine Writing Project•Jason Shiroff, Denver Writing Project

•Laura Stokes, Inverness Research

Time to Write

What are the implications for writing in a digital age?

Dimension #1 On the discipline: The Nature of Literacy in 21st

Century

Laura Stokes, Inverness ResearchRebecca Kaminski, Upstate Writing Project

Felicia George, NYC Writing Project

Building NWP Capacity to Strengthen the Teaching of Writing in the Digital Age:

A Framework

Laura Stokes and Katherine Ramage Inverness Research

Inverness Research studied the NWP’s technology initiative

• Tracked growth in numbers of NWP programs that include attention to teaching writing with technology

• Documented sites’ strategies for developing the capacities

they need to provide more professional development on the teaching of writing with technology

Data on growth in NWP programs that include approaches to teaching with technology

1,4861,764

1,944

-

500

1,000

1,500

2,000

2,500

2004-2005 2005-2006 2006-2007

# P

rog

ram

s

T

Number of all NWP programs

168 177 192

-

100

200

300

2004-2005 2005-2006 2006-2007

# P

rog

ram

s

Number of invitational summer institutes

572677 731

-

400

800

1,200

2004-2005 2005-2006 2006-2007

# P

rog

ram

s

Number of continuity programs

Data on growth in NWP programs, continued

608717

838

-

400

800

1,200

2004-2005 2005-2006 2006-2007

# P

rog

ram

s

32,94438,987 43,031

-

20,000

40,000

60,000

2004-2005 2005-2006 2006-2007# E

du

cato

r p

arti

cip

ants

Number of inservice programs Number of teachers participating

Building site capacity demands “R&D” work along several dimensions

• Knowledge of the discipline—writing in the digital age• Effective approaches to teaching the discipline—classroom

practice • Designs for teacher development—effective inservice

programs in real contexts• Strategies for developing teacher leadership (TCs)—the

engine of all NWP work

Notes • There is overlap…teacher-leadership is central and generative of all

A framework for examining site capacity-building

NWP SITE—DIMENSIONS OF CAPACITY

KNOWLEDGE OFDISCIPLINE

NEW LITERACIES

LEARNING GOALSFOR STUDENTS

PD DESIGNS

*FOR TCs

*FOR Ts IN SERVICE AREA

RANGE OF TEACHING CONTEXTS

PRIORITIES?

TECHNOLOGY INFRA -STRUCTURE?

OUTCOME

INSERVICE PROGRAMS

(CONTENT AND DESIGN)

TC LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT

EFFECTIVECLASSROOM TEACHING APPROACHES

SERVICE AREA—DISTRICTS AND SCHOOLS

TO SUPPORT TEACHER LEARNING IN CONTEXT

Building Teacher Leadership to Strengthen the Teaching of Writing in the Digital Age:

One TC’s Story

Rebecca KaminskiDirector, Upstate Writing Project

Clemson University

Dimension TwoRefining Classroom

Practices

Dimension ThreeBuilding Site Capacity

Dimension FourEvolving Teacher

Leadership

Before SI During 2008 SI Following 2008 SI Continuing

Earned a B.A. in English with a concentration in Poli.Sci. from Boston College. Worked as a business consultant, assistant to the president at a college, and then marketing director for local school.

Earned M.A. in Education from Furman University.

Taught Middle School ELA for 3 years.

Began using word processing technology in classroom and a laptop initiative at school enabled her to expand her scope.

Presented “Using Blogs and Wikis for Meaningful Instruction” at local tech conference and at SCCTE.

Accepted for the UWP 2008 Summer Institute.

Accepted into PhD program at Clemson University.

Shared classroom practice of online communities during SI interview and coaching sessions.

Developed a teaching demonstration focusing on her work with Wikis.

Used her teaching demonstration as the focus of her SI research in order to write a professional piece for an educational journal.

Hired as UWP PhD Grad Assistant beginning August 08.

Collaborates with other 08 Summer Scholars to plan and host the Fall Back to School Special Writing Conference.

“Teaching for the Future: The Art of Collaboration through Wikis” article accepted for publication in South Carolina English Teacher.

Invited to join the UWP Middle School Inservice Team to plan year-long PD at area school.

Invited to join the UWP Tech Team and develop the Tech Thursday program.

Presents her wiki teaching demonstration as a session at the Fall Back to School Special Writing Conference.

Proposal was accepted to present session at SCCTE conference on “Bringing Research to the Big Screen (student documentaries).”

Plans and teaches model writing workshop lessons in MS classrooms for PD.

Shares Wikis development strategy during Tech Thursday sessions.

Invited by TLN LT to collaborate to develop a session for the NWP Annual Meeting in San Antonio.

Invited to participate in NWP NVIVO Retreat in Atlanta in October 2008.

Invited by Paul Oh to develop a resource on Wikis for NWP webpage.

Met with Dixie Goswami and Tharon Howard to discuss a cross-campus research project to investigate the impact of BreadNet, the Breadloaf online community.

One TC’s story

Building Site Capacity to Strengthen the Teaching of Writing in the Digital Age:

NYC WP Experience

Felicia GeorgeAssociate Director, NYC Writing Project

Lehman College-CUNY

Overview Of NYCWP’s Technology Program

Moderated listserv with more than 200 subscribers Nicenet or blackboard used in NYCWP sponsored courses

Summer Advanced Institutes: beginning in 2000 through 2008

School Year events:“First Saturdays” monthly technology “workshops”Technology Advisory Committee (TAC) – meetings 4 – 6 times a yearTechnology retreats – Friday evening and all day Saturday event once or twice a yearShoot and Write Flickr Marathons – an adapted writing marathon meeting periodically Technology Thursdays – monthly to bi-monthly meetings Teacher Teaching Teachers weekly webcast Teacher to Teacher annual site-sponsored conference featuring technology presentations Friday Teacher-Consultant Meetings

Teacher-consultants use Nicenet to extend classroom conversations

Example of teachers’ conversations about course readings

Teacher-consultants are introduced to Google docs and use of technology takes off

Exploring Google Groups to Extend Conversations beyond meeting times

We use a Ning to share our writing and stories during the 2008 Summer Invitational/Summer Tech Advanced Institutes

Dimension #2 On teaching the discipline: Integrating

Technology into the Teaching of Writing/Literacy

Sarah Hunt-Barron, Upstate Writing Project

Inquiry questions:• How can I engage diverse students who may

or may not want to be in my classroom?• How can I help all students become better

critical thinkers, researchers, and writers?

Online Writing Communities in the Online Writing Communities in the ClassroomClassroom

• Where was I?o Snapshot of Berea Middle

• Why did I start using online writing communities?o reluctant writerso students appeared to write moreo extend these benefits and see where online

writing could take us

A little background…A little background…

• Post-technology changeso More democratic classroomo Discussions were enrichedo Students were able to explore their own culture

and interestso Peer/ social groups were expandedo Community outside the classroom wallso Students were able to collaborate

ImpactImpact

Wikis: Online Writing Example Wikis: Online Writing Example

Blogs: Online Writing ExampleBlogs: Online Writing Example

The teacher becomes the student.The teacher becomes the student.

Lessons learnedo “Roadblocks” are opportunitieso Start small, be flexible

My work with wikis pushed me to:o Think about how technology can enhance practiceso Evaluate my definition of what it means to be a

literate, critical thinkero Yield my seat as an "expert" to my students o Share what I learned with others

What are the implications for the definition of writing in the digital age on the work of your site? For goals for literacy instruction?

Table TalkTable TalkTable TalkTable Talk

Take a short break….

Dimension #3 On teaching teachers:

Building Site Capacity

Seth Mitchell, Maine Writing Project

• People need to be given time to experiment. “Play is trial without the possibility of error.”

• Extended support from mentors or thinking partners encourages learners to move beyond comfort zones.

Work at MWP exposed two major themes:Work at MWP exposed two major themes:

What Doesn’t Work

The traditional hit-and-run approach to PD:

• Spending too much time discussing theory • Offering little room for experimentation• Providing one-shot opportunities for participants to

draw on presenters’ expertise• Focusing on specific content or tech projects

What Doesn’t WorkWhat Doesn’t Work

What Does Work

Meeting for “play” on the tech playground:

• Discussing enough theory to sell the technology• Offering wide range of models• Establishing formal and informal opportunities for

mentoring relationships• Supplying tools for a variety of content and the time to

consider application• Providing options (when possible)• Scheduling plenty of time to “play”

What Does WorkWhat Does Work

MWP Tech Capacity & PD DevelopmentMWP Tech Capacity & PD Development

What are the implications for the design of your site’s professional development programs with technology?

Table TalkTable Talk

Dimension #4 On developing teacher leadership:

The Tech Liaison

Jason Shiroff, Denver WP

No one is an island: The case for building teacher leadership

• 2004 – Very little technology in the DWP• How do we build new literacy skills among

teachers?• How do these skills get transmitted to

students?• My Goal: Build digital literacy skills by

building teacher leadership.

Building Teacher Leadership with a Technology Team

Building my skills

Improving technology support at DWP

•Exploring technology with my students

•How do I make technology as ordinary and invisible as a pencil?

•Big Goal: Give students lots of practice with technology so it becomes a natural part of learning.

•I’m a TL, now what?

•What does the site need?

•How do I help DWP use technology more, better, smarter?

Networking on a national level

•Attended Tech Matters

•Formed a national Network: Common Threads

•Networked, shared success, woes, and technology.

•Big Goal: Develop Teacher Leaders

•Formed a technology team. Now what?

•Technology needs assessment for the DWP

•Build our own skills and capacity as a team

Building Teacher Leadership with a Technology Team

•Clear leadership goals and roles•Practice what we preach in our own classrooms•Once our Leadership capacity is developed, reach out to the DWP community•SI sessions, offer advanced technology institutes, etc,•Big Goal:Share what we know with other teachers so it reaches more kids

Building my skills

Networking on a national level

Improving technology support at DWP

Building Teacher Leadership with a Technology Team

Success?

•Yes! Formed a very capable technology team

•Yes! The team is using technology in their own classrooms (grades 4 – college)

•Yes! Summer Institute technology integration

•Yes! Website redesign (twice…)

•No… Canceled advanced technology institute

•No… Feeling like our roles and goals are not so clear now

Success?

•Yes! Formed a very capable technology team

•Yes! The team is using technology in their own classrooms (grades 4 – college)

•Yes! Summer Institute technology integration

•Yes! Website redesign (twice…)

•No… Canceled advanced technology institute

•No… Feeling like our roles and goals are not so clear now

Lessons Learned?Lessons Learned?

• Connect all the resources– Networking locally, nationally– Learn your technology

• Have a clear role and purpose for Teacher Leaders

• Troubleshoot• Try again!

Table TalkTable Talk

What are the implications for developing technology leaders at your site?

o What are your technology leaders’ goals and roles within the project?

Planning for Our Sites

Reflect on what you have experienced during this session that you will take back to your site. How will it impact teacher knowledge, leadership, or site capacity related to writing in the digital age?

Consider:•Who would I talk to? •What resources would I need?•What do I do next? •What would my site do next?

Time toshare

Any questions?