What can PLWP do for Teachers?
PLWP works with pre-service teachers and teachers of writing at all grade levels, primary through university, and in all subjects. During the calendar year ending August 31, 2006, PLWP sponsored seminars, institutes, and programs which involved over 1000 teachers. Our goals: improving student writing and learning, providing professional development, and expanding the professional roles of teachers.
PLWP Teacher Resource Wiki
Read and/or contribute to our Wiki about improving teaching: Educator Organizations, Revolutionary Books, Lesson Plans and Handouts, and Teacher Resource Links
Book a Teacher Consultant to Assist with Using TechKnowFiles
Looking for ways to use technology effectively in your classroom? Browse our TechKnowFiles—online “Best Practice” teaching templates for teachers who want to use a particular technology tool to improve learning. The templates were developed by PLWP Teacher Consultants (TCs) as a part of PLWP’s participation in the NWP’s national Seed Sites Technology Initiative, 2005-present. The TCs who created the TechKnowFiles are available to lead workshops or provide consultations at area schools for teachers wishing to implement the technology tools. To arrange for a TC to come to your school, contact Heidi Mick, (PLWP professional development director and TechKnowFile cadre coordinator).
Professional Learning Community
ENG/EDU 502 Professional Learning Community (PLC): Using Writing to Build Community in my Classroom (1 cedit.) Tuesdays, 2/26, 3/25, and 4/29: 5-8 pm, in MWSU’s Eder Hall 201, plus six hrs, arranged.
Dr. Melody Smith, St Joseph School District Superintendent and Prairie Lands Writing Project Advisory Board Member, facilitates this one-credit PLC. Participants will engage in a cycle of inquiry, reflection, and action related to successfully implementing a learning community in their classrooms. They will focus on several key tenets: acculturation and re-acculturation, dialog versus discussion, teacher as coach, and writing as a community building endeavor. Texts: James Flaherty’s Life Coaching: Evoking Excellence in Others and Georgia Heard’s Writing Toward Home.
Fee: $100 Includes access to texts, light meal, and one hour MWSU graduate tuition or 15-hour professional development certification.
Enrollment is limited to eight educators; pre-register online now.
Invitational Institute
Every National Writing Project site—including Prairie Lands Writing Project— offers experienced teachers the opportunity to apply and participate in an annual summer Invitational Institute. During the summer, these Teacher Scholars prepare for leadership roles by demonstrating their most effective practices, studying research, and improving their knowledge of writing by writing themselves. Upon succesful completion of the Invitational Institute, they receive NWP Teacher Consultant certification and join our TC cadre, putting their knowledge and leadership to work to improve student achievement. To learn about prior PLWP Invitational Institutes, browse our Institute Archives.
Scholastic Scoring Sessions
Since 2004, PLWP has served as a preliminary judging site for the Scholastic Writing Awards, the Alliance for Young Artists and Writers national, annual high school writing and art contest. In 2000, Thirty-seven area pre-service teachers and teachers and MWSU faculty members met at Missouri Western State University on Saturday, January 19, and/or Saturday, January 26, where they judged over 3000 student contest entries. The teachers scored dramatic scripts, poetry, personal essay/memoir, humor, journalism, novel, science fiction/fantasy, and portfolio pieces written by students, grades seven - 12, from throughout the country.
Graduate Certificate in the Teaching of Writing
Based on the National Writing Project’s core belief that teachers of writing must themselves be writers, the 18-hour graduate program provides opportunities for participants to write, revise, share feedback, and reflect on their own writing and teaching of writing as well as develop leadership skills. Click here for program details.
