The Three Musketeers of

Staff Development for Writing

Presented by

Mary Boyer Shirley Hansen

Jackie Hurst

What we are Going to Cover?Staff Development ExerciseResources on Staff DevelopmentIcebreakerWriting the Perfect ParagraphResources on WritingSummary/Questions

Staff Development Plan Three - one hour sessions Sessions held once a month First session on how to teach adults

and how to Plan Second session will be a hands on

workshop Third Session will be assessing how

their development training day went.

Characteristics of Effective Staff Development - Partial List Involvement in planningTime for planning Involvement of PrincipalsDistrict administrative supportExpectationsOpportunity for sharingContinuityFollow-upOpportunity for practice

Bad Staff Development Sessions Typical staff

meeting Uncomfortable

chairs Difficult to write Topics not

appropriate to all

Good Staff Development Sessions Snacks and

comfortable chairs All members have

common goal or grade level

Good Staff Development Sessions Breaking into grade

levels and getting ready to plan

Willing to interact freely, think, and plan together

Interactive During the Initial Staff Development Session

1. Identify the elements of a good staff development plan

Acknowledge what we can do and by what we are inhibited.

Decide how we can minimize negative issues.

Staff Development Session

2. Brainstorm areas that this staff would like

to explore for staff development.

Write ideas on white board.

Seek input from those that ordinarily do

not contribute.

Give out sticky dots (2) and allow people

to prioritize their choices.

Staff Development Session

3. Make decision of what direction staff will take

Writing focus for the year.

Involving intermediate as well as

primary teachers.

When to separate and when to join together,

determined by relevancy of topic

Staff Development Session4. Discuss and come to consensus of how

to implement the staff development

Before school starts

At after school in-services

How often

How late

During teacher work days

Staff Development Session

5. Give opportunity to discuss how we can

use staff members’ expertise to provide

leadership for staff development

Staff members that have had writing training

will volunteer to lead.

Goal is to involve as many staff during the

year in leading some part.

Focus: Staff Development

Staff Development Teaching Tips

Guidebooks with staff development teaching tips

Quick links to specific topicsSpecific articles and citations given to

support assertions

Focus: Staff DevelopmentNational Staff Development Center

National Staff Development Center

Focus: Staff Development

Focus: Writing Site Six Traits of Writing

Reference website focusing on how to establish and write rubrics that address the writing standards.

Focus: Writing Site Step Up To Writing

State Standards and how implemented in writingExcellent reference site for teacher training in writing

Focus: Writing Site Owl Online Writing Lab Purdue has created a resource for students

and teachers of writing. Students can direct questions about their writing to a online tutoring service.

Focus: Writing SiteKim'sKorner in Language Arts A teacher developed site focusing on

teachers teaching writing. It has resources from a sentence to an essay.

Focus: Writing Site Paraadigm Online Writing

Excellent site with specific teacher or student information.

Specific lessons and examples for the teaching of different writing styles.

Multiple ways to address different writing styles

Supported Writing Skills

Discovering What to Write Organizing Your Writing Revising Your Writing Editing Your Writing Writing Informal Essays Writing Thesis/Support Essays Writing Argumentative Essays Documenting Your Sources

INTERACTIVE SESSIONS

Icebreaker: The Hat Trick

Each participant needs to write his or her name on a small piece of paper. Collect all the names in a hat.

Each person will pick a name out of the hat.

Each person will then turn to stand behind that person whose name he or she drew.

Icebreaker continued Give the following information to the

entire group: A hidden talent of the person The person’s secret vice The person’s expectations for the

session

The Perfect Paragraph

Perfect Paragraph for the Icebreaker

Color Coded Paragraph

Our Web Site

Effective Staff Development in Writing

QUESTIONS ??