PhilWP UPDATE | Vol 22 Issue 1

UPDATE FALL-WINTER 2009 | VOLUME 22 ISSUE1

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.

NWP, NCTE Educators Convene in Philadelphia

Upcoming Events Projects at Masterman, University City

In this issue…

Summer Institute I Fellows Coming Into the Light

2

3

How to Mentor New Teachers Thanks for New Camera Book Review

Project Write Celebrating Writing, Literacy Going Green

4

5

Text and Literacy

NWP Presenters 6

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.

IMPROVING THE TEACHING OF WRITING SINCE 1986

2 UPDATE | Fall-Winter 2009

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

Conferences NWP Spring Meeting | Mar 25-26 | Washington, DC

NWP Urban Sites Conference | Apr 23-25 |Portland, Oregon

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

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

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.

Projects at Masterman, University City

> E-Connections 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 ([email protected]) and request to be added as a collaborator. Join NWP Interactive (NWPI) Visit www.writingproject.org to take part in online community of educators and to share tools and resources.


Congratulations to the 2009 Fellows Tamara Anderson Joanne Bailey Lincoln High School Jones Middle School Sarah Bower-Grieco Janice Francis Olney Elementary Kelly Elementary School Yvette Gimenez Francine Lee-Kim Esperanza College Folk Arts Cultural Treasure of Eastern University Charter School Andrea Gray Megan Greevy Smedley School Olney Elementary Karynn Henry Melissa Hogg Folk Arts Cultural Arts Academy at Treasure Charter School Benjamin Rush Delicita Johnson-Gore Ramona Lewis McDaniel School Jones Middle School Lauren McGlinchey George McDermott Freire Charter School Gratz High School Kathleen Melville Brian Shevory Constitution High School Freire Charter School Trey Smith Dai To Morrison Elementary Webster Elementary Hannah Tran Joyce Umble Academy at Palumbo Moffet Elementary Leah Vodila Jason Watson Columbus Charter School Gratz High School Kwanita Williams Franklin Learning Center

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.

SUMMER INSTITUTE I

Coming Into the Light Tamara Anderson

Create an image with words like this one (left) featured on the Institute I t-shirt by visiting www.wordle.net.


Say, “Cheese” …and Thank You

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?” 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.

“…new teachers are not broken items requiring

fixing—they have answers and need to be given an

opportunity to use them.”

How to Mentor New Teachers

George Cross

Fellowsparticipatinginthe23rdSummerInvitationalInstituteaskedPhilWPtoprepareasmallwishlist.Then,theyselectedanitemfromourlistthatthegroupwouldsecureforus.ThefellowspresentedPhilWPwithabeautifulnewdigitalcameraand3‐gigabytememorycard.Thecameratakesstillsandvideos.Go,teachers!Youarethebest.

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.


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.

Celebrating Writing & Literacy Teri Hines

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 Shannon White

Building Community and Student Leadership through Service AnnMarie Marranzini

Voices in the Middle: Poetry Cafe for Young People Sam Reed, III

Students Who Write Peggy Kaplan

Everybody has a story: Engaging Students in Memoir Writing Susan Browne Betty Jean Thompson

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 ([email protected]) 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.

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 self-expression, please call 215-898-1919.

Summer Institute II 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.


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 so-called 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,

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, Co-Learning, and Multimodal Writing,” “The Social Media Portfolio: Using Technology to Promote Meta-cognitive Skill Development,” “It is NOT what it

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.

Text and Literacy: A New Landscape Teri Hines Notes from NWP, NCTE Conferences

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!” Renee Hobbs

“Podcasting for Literacy” 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

“…literacy, like text, is not fixed but fluid.”


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.”

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.

RECENTLY PUBLISHED

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 | [email protected]

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 [email protected]


Philadelphia Writing Project

University of Pennsylvania 4201 Spruce Street Building 1921 Philadelphia PA 19104

www.gse.upenn.edu/philwp Phone (215) 898-1919 | Fax (215) 573-2109 | Email [email protected]

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 non-restricted 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.

Philadelphia Writing Project Launches New Advisory Board

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 engage-ment. 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

Documents

PhilWP UPDATE | Vol 22 Issue 1