Write on: Teachers, profs to focus on teaching writing at Rowan
Write on: Teachers, profs to focus on teaching writing at Rowan
December 20, 2006
More than 100 to attend National Writing Project's winter conference
Teachers and professors from throughout South Jersey will learn new skills to engage their students in reading and writing Jan. 9 during the 2007 winter conference presented by the National Writing Project (NWP) at Rowan University.
Approximately 100 teachers, plus Rowan professors and graduate students, will come together for the annual conference, which will run from 9 a.m-2:30 p.m. in the Eynon Ballroom of the Chamberlain Student Center, 201 Mullica Hill Road.
Keynote speaker Jeff Wilhelm, author or co-author of a dozen texts on literacy teaching, will kick off the conference with his talk, "Inquiring Minds Learn to Read and Write: Promoting Engagement and Achievement through Questioning "
A classroom teacher for 15 years, Wilhelm is an associate professor at Boise State University. He teaches in middle and high schools each spring and is the founding director of both the Maine Writing Project and the Boise State Writing Project.
Among his books are You Gotta BE the Book and Reading Don't Fix No Chevys.
The conference also will include presentations from local high school teachers and Rowan faculty.
"Jeff Wilhelm is one of the premier literacy educators in the country," says writing arts professor Diane Penrod, site director of the national Writing Project at Rowan. "In the workshops, our local teachers and Rowan faculty will demonstrate how many of Jeff's ideas become enacted in the classroom."
Rowan reading professor Valarie G. Lee will discuss "Adolescent Boys and Reading: Bridging the Gap between Home and School," while adjunct instructor Dean Johnson, an English teacher at the Camden Academy Charter High School, will present "Iron Maiden in the Polka Rack," which will focus on ways to teach real writing techniques within the constraints of five-paragraph essays.
Two Pitman High School teachers, Rebecca Brill Moody and Chris Wilson, will also lead discussions at the conference. Moody will discuss "Writing Conferences: Talking to Students about their HSPA Scores," while Wilson, who also is an instructor at Atlantic Cape Community College, will discuss "Hook, Line and Sinker: Teaching Great Opening Lines and More." The session is targeted to elementary school teachers.
Registration for the conference is $80 and includes breakfast, the keynote speech, a question-and-answer session with Wilhelm, the workshops and lunch. Teachers who participate will receive a certificate of professional development for 6.5 hours.
The National Writing Project will accept registrations from teachers who wish to attend the conference through Jan. 5. For information, contact Rachael Tucker at tucker36@students.rowan.edu or 856-256-4163.
Established at Rowan in 2002, the National Writing Project at Rowan works with educators from kindergarten through to the college level to focus on and develop ways to best reach--and teach--students about writing.
Founded in 1974, the National Writing Project boasts nearly 200 sites at colleges and universities around the country and serves over 141,000 educators annually, according to its website. Rowan's site was the first National Writing Project to be located in South Jersey.
Teachers and professors from throughout South Jersey will learn new skills to engage their students in reading and writing Jan. 9 during the 2007 winter conference presented by the National Writing Project (NWP) at Rowan University.
Approximately 100 teachers, plus Rowan professors and graduate students, will come together for the annual conference, which will run from 9 a.m-2:30 p.m. in the Eynon Ballroom of the Chamberlain Student Center, 201 Mullica Hill Road.
Keynote speaker Jeff Wilhelm, author or co-author of a dozen texts on literacy teaching, will kick off the conference with his talk, "Inquiring Minds Learn to Read and Write: Promoting Engagement and Achievement through Questioning "
A classroom teacher for 15 years, Wilhelm is an associate professor at Boise State University. He teaches in middle and high schools each spring and is the founding director of both the Maine Writing Project and the Boise State Writing Project.
Among his books are You Gotta BE the Book and Reading Don't Fix No Chevys.
The conference also will include presentations from local high school teachers and Rowan faculty.
"Jeff Wilhelm is one of the premier literacy educators in the country," says writing arts professor Diane Penrod, site director of the national Writing Project at Rowan. "In the workshops, our local teachers and Rowan faculty will demonstrate how many of Jeff's ideas become enacted in the classroom."
Rowan reading professor Valarie G. Lee will discuss "Adolescent Boys and Reading: Bridging the Gap between Home and School," while adjunct instructor Dean Johnson, an English teacher at the Camden Academy Charter High School, will present "Iron Maiden in the Polka Rack," which will focus on ways to teach real writing techniques within the constraints of five-paragraph essays.
Two Pitman High School teachers, Rebecca Brill Moody and Chris Wilson, will also lead discussions at the conference. Moody will discuss "Writing Conferences: Talking to Students about their HSPA Scores," while Wilson, who also is an instructor at Atlantic Cape Community College, will discuss "Hook, Line and Sinker: Teaching Great Opening Lines and More." The session is targeted to elementary school teachers.
Registration for the conference is $80 and includes breakfast, the keynote speech, a question-and-answer session with Wilhelm, the workshops and lunch. Teachers who participate will receive a certificate of professional development for 6.5 hours.
The National Writing Project will accept registrations from teachers who wish to attend the conference through Jan. 5. For information, contact Rachael Tucker at tucker36@students.rowan.edu or 856-256-4163.
Established at Rowan in 2002, the National Writing Project at Rowan works with educators from kindergarten through to the college level to focus on and develop ways to best reach--and teach--students about writing.
Founded in 1974, the National Writing Project boasts nearly 200 sites at colleges and universities around the country and serves over 141,000 educators annually, according to its website. Rowan's site was the first National Writing Project to be located in South Jersey.