Dear Friend of VWC,
“My teachers are great! “
“My teachers care so much about the kids they work with!”
“My teachers REALLY want to help their students become proficient writers!”
If you are a coach, or a curriculum coordinator, or a teacher leader in some capacity, chances are excellent that you have spoken these words more than once.
And chances are excellent that you have, on more than one occasion, said to yourself,
“Darn! If only I knew more about how to help these wonderful folks do the job they are trying so hard to do!”
OR,
“I can see that my kids need some help with writing, and I WISH I knew what to do to help!”
“HELP! I can see what my kids need – and I need some great resources to help them!”
If you’re a classroom teacher, chances are equally excellent that you’ve pondered this “how can I help my students write” challenge in the past few weeks. And you’d love some answers!
The Vermont Writing Collaborative’s new and expanded 2016 Summer Institute is for ALL of you. It will give you the ESSENTIAL tools you need to help your teachers, or to help your students – at all grade levels, without exception.
All students can become effective, thoughtful, proficient writers!
In this issue of the newsletter, we give you another tantalizing glimpse of what the new 2016 VWC Summer Institute holds – for you, as coaches and coordinators and administrators, and for you as classroom teachers.
We also want to introduce you to our new, improved (we like to think classy!) website. It’s been re-designed to make it easier for you to find materials you need.
The website will keep being improved and expanded – so click on it now and explore, and then keep checking back.
Please read on – we welcome your feedback!
“Aha!” Lightbulb Moments
“I couldn’t believe what my kids could do!”
If we had a nickel for every time we have heard a teacher say this after trying a Writing for Understanding sequence with his students….well, we would have LOTS of nickels!
Writing for Understanding works.
It works for lots of reasons, which mostly can be distilled to this:
In Writing for Understanding, teachers make sure that students know what they are talking about when they write….
… teachers make sure that students have the tools (structure, craft) to actually produce that writing…
… and teachers make sure that students have enough time and opportunity and direct instruction to really, truly learn.
At the 2016 Vermont Writing Collaborative Summer Institute, you will get the tools you need, as a coach or a coordinator, or a teacher, to help students to become proficient writers – at any grade level, in any subject.
Teachers deserve to get the tools they need. After all, they have one of the most important jobs in the world…. At the 2016 Summer Institute, we’ll give you those tools!
What will you take home from the 2016 Vermont Writing Collaborative Summer Institute?
2016 Vermont Writing Collaborative Summer Institute
Registration Extended until June 8
Vermont is beautiful, the lake is warming up, and the kayaks are waiting….
Please register now – we’ll be glad to see you!
The 2016 Vermont Writing Collaborative Summer Institute is all about tools and resources. It will give you what you need to make clear, thoughtful, proficient writing happen – for all teachers, to help all kids.
What will you leave the 2016 Summer Institute with?
In your head…
* a deep understanding of how integrating reading, writing and content can work in the classroom
* the energy to dig right in!
June 27 – July 1, 2016
Highlights of the Week
Lakeside Learning: Share ideas with colleagues in a beautiful, lakefront setting
Finally, a moment of gratitude.
This past week, we lost one of our great sources of inspiration, Harper Lee. Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird has been a friend to so many of us, and to our students. Atticus and Tom Robinson, Scout and Jem and Boo Radley – all have held places in our hearts for decades.
Thank you, Harper Lee, for making them real.
Vermont Writing Collaborative