National Writing Project at Rutgers University

NWP Rutgers Teacher Consultants are invited to participate in the fifth writing retreat at the Kirkridge Retreat Center, July 9th - 12th 2009. The retreat includes a three-night stay, seven meals prepared on-site, and unlimited use of Retreat Center grounds. A non-refundable registration fee of $25 will reserve your place at the retreat. The balance of $250 is due by May 15th. Please download the brochure for registration and additional details.

The National Writing Project at Rutgers University held its annual Corned Beef ‘n Verbiage writing circle event today. We dined together and talked about our lives as readers.  In this podcast, Vera, Carmen, Kim, Patty, Pam, Frank, Gwen and Kristy share some suggestions for your bookshelf.
 
http://www.sarabauerpages.com/saras_site/podcasts/Entries/2009/3/7_TC_Re...

Participants in Sara Bauer's workshop session, Audio and Audience: Podcasting in the Language Arts Classroom, cooperated to record this podcast. Read her blog post for more about podcasting.

http://www.sarabauerpages.com/saras_site/podcasts/Entries/2009/2/8_NWP_M...

The National Writing Project at Rutgers University will be offering a series of interactive hands on workshops exploring the use of Web 2.0 tools in the classroom.  Workshops will provide both tutorial and time to “play” with the technology and explore the possibilities of use within your classroom.  Participants are encouraged to bring classroom materials  Laptops will be provided, but participants are welcome to bring their own personal laptops (with wireless access) if they choose.  Beginners to experienced users welcome.

Writing Our Families is a workshop designed to benefit not only the children we teach, but also their families, communities, & teachers who help them to engage, on a daily basis, in a variety of literacy practices. By collaborating with educators, Writing our Families empowers teachers to engage in activities that validate and strengthen these practices.

The National Writing Project at Rutgers Open Institute is a five-day professional development experience designed to move teachers through a process of self-awareness as a writer into self-awareness as a teacher of writing. Critical to this process is reflection on one’s own experience in the context of current theories about teaching writing. As a participant, you will read about topics relevant to the process of writing and the teaching of writing. Participants will write, frequently! Teachers from all disciplines and grade levels are welcome to participate.

By: Sara Bauer

Date: September 19, 2008

Summary: When her high school honors students were put off by contemporary poetry, the author found a way to engage them: have them analyze the poem as an "argument."

Having just earned my MFA in poetry, I was confident in my ability to "do poetry" with high school American Studies honors students. I was passionate about poetry and I expected my students to share that passion.

Our selection of Institute participants, known as National Writing Project Fellows, is guided by our primary interest in master teachers who wish to improve as writers and as writing teachers. We welcome applicants from all school districts, grade levels, and content areas. Above all, we are interested in applicants who are committed to supporting the improvement of writing and teaching in New Jersey schools, to assuming leadership responsibilities in our site, and to contributing their expertise to the select inservice partnerships we cultivate and maintain.

Saturday, February 7, 2009
9 am - 4 pm, registration begins at 8 am

Keynote Address:

Connective Writing: Building Learning Networks Through Links

byWill Richardson

Author of Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and other
Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms

Tiffany taught sixth grade language arts for four years in Skillman, New Jersey. She enjoys writing free-verse poetry and is inspired to write while traveling and spending time outdoors. Her poem “Paper Hearts” was written while teaching in Puerto Rico. This fall, Tiffany will continue her graduate work in literacy.

New Brunswick, NJ (September 16, 2008) – Rutgers Graduate School of Education (GSE) is pleased to announce that its Non-Degree Teaching of Writing Program has been honored as University Continuing Education Association (UCEA) Mid-Atlantic Region’s most effective and innovative credit program developed in 2007.

Selected from a field of 49 nominations in the Mid-Atlantic area, the GSE will receive the award at the UCEA Mid-Atlantic Region Annual Conference in Wilmington, DE this October.

The National Writing Project at Rutgers University is pleased to announce the addition of a workshop that will help school districts to strengthen the home-school literacy connection.

As a Teacher Consultant with the National Writing Project, you have made a commitment to pursue personalized writing goals. You have revolutionized your approach to the teaching of writing. During presentations to colleagues, you have affirmed the power of establishing a writing practice. Yet personal and professional obligations often interfere with our best intentions.

Writing retreats provide time to reestablish our identity as writers, share our works-in-progress, and receive helpful feedback – all in a relaxing environment away from our busy workplaces and households.

TIRED OF ONE-SHOT WORKSHOPS THAT DON’T REALLY MEET YOUR NEEDS?

The Invitational Summer Institute is a four-week professional development experience that prompts teachers to explore their own writing practices as a means of improving their writing instruction. Upon completion of the Institute, participants become Teacher Consultants who continue to grow as writers and teachers of writing through various site activities.

Every now and again I find the need to ground myself, and really come to terms with the Internet explosion. It seem incomprehensible to imagine a world without Google, Wikipedia, and MySpace. How did we ever live without Google!

Well, the growth of the www.nwprutgers.org website mirrors advances in new information communication technologies (ICT). One would only need to visit the Way Back Machine to take a peek at the NWP Rutgers website in its yesteryears.

Check it out: http://web.archive.org/web/*/nwprutgers.org

NWP @ RU 1.0 was hosted on Angelfire-- a free site. This website is lost to the Wayback Machine.

That was short lived, and NWP @ RU 2.0 was born out of it's ashes. The new NWP Rutgers website was constructed completely from scratch. Dr. Julie Cheville composted the content, and Tech Liaison Joe Conroy coded the HTML. The second incarnation utilized frames (which was cutting edge web design at that time), and was strictly text-based. No images whatsoever.

NWP @ RU 3.0 took the content of 2.0, and improved upon the aesthetics of the site. A new layout was introduced, and infused some graphics along the way. Talk about curb appeal! NWP RU 3.0 is perhaps the most recognizable, as this format is the longest standing... until now.

It is with great please that I can introduce NWP @ RU 4.0-- a site that I hope to combine the content of 2.0, the aesthetics of 3.0, with the functionality of Yahoo! Groups. Thanks to Web 2.0 technology, the new site is powered by Drupal-- an extremely powerful content management system.

Huzzah!