Metro Mobile Reading Association's Young Authors' Conference

The MMRA Young Authors' Conference was well attended and well supported by MBWP. Arthur Dorros was an informative, interesting, and entertaining author and illustrator.

Writing

Testing

Web Resource: Read * Write * Think

There's so much on the web these days that it is difficult to sort out the useful resources from the junk. At ReadWriteThink (resources for reading and language arts), the International Reading Association (IRA) and National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) do the quality control for us. If you haven't surfed this site lately, I think it is worth a look. The lessons, web resources, and student materials may add some inspiration to tired lessons or refresh strategies needing a new twist.

http://www.readwritethink.org/index.asp

Putting the "Author" in "Authority"

I think this would be a great way to promote writing with our secondary students. Check out the full article.

Putting the “Author” in “Authority”
Publication: Eureka Reporter Date: November 2, 2007

Summary: In this issue of his monthly column for the Eureka Reporter, Bob Sizoo of the Redwood Writing Project tells how he inspires students by revealing that they can gain authority over their lives through writing.

While pointing out that the words “author” and “authority” come from the same root, Sizoo quotes George Orwell to his students: “If you can not write well, you can not think well, and if you can not think well, others will do your thinking for you.” He then explains to students how their writing skills will be critical to their college experience.
Sizoo codirected the Redwood Writing Project at Humboldt State University (HSU) in Northern California for 20 years. He is now Writing Programs Codirector for the site, coordinating their annual writing retreat each summer. For the last three years, he has been the Early Assessment Program Coordinator at the university, working with high school students and their teachers to reduce the need for remediation in college. He also teaches education classes to prospective elementary teachers at HSU, and supervises student teachers. With the goal of encouraging a more “college-going culture” among local youth, he writes a monthly column for the local newspaper, the Eureka Reporter, entitled On College Going.
Read the full article in the Eureka Reporter.

http://eurekareporter.com/node/93722

Getting It Just Write

On January 20, 2008, The Washington Times published an article of interest quoting our own National Writing Project executive director emeritus. It is worth reading.

Summary: In an age of high-tech communications and declining newspaper sales, it may seem as if good writing is a thing of the past. But Richard Sterling, executive director emeritus of the National Writing Project, says cutting-edge technology—contrary to what some might think—has only improved writing.

Excerpt from Article:
If anything, [Sterling] says, the general state of writing has only improved since more and more people are going to school: In the 1950s, just 50 percent of children graduated from high school; now close to 90 percent do. Also in the 1950s, just 15 percent of the population went on to higher education; now that number is close to 70 percent.
"I think the idea that writing used to be better is pure nostalgia," Mr. Sterling says.

Read the Full Article
Read "Getting It Just Write" in The Washington Times.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/article/20080120/FAMILY/355878473/1016

Busy MBWP Fellows in 2008

The New Year has kicked off with more MBWP professional development facilitated by Dr. Mary Beth Culp. Mary Beth assisted as I presented Integrating Art and Writing: A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words at Orchard Elementary School in Mobile; Sondra Thomas and Shana Collins presented Tone and Voice at Baker High School; and Maryetta Holcomb presented The Multi-Genre Research Paper at Baker High School.

In December, Tracy Davis presented Relax, Relate, and Write at Orchard Elementary School: couldn't we all use that?

November Professional Development

November was a busy month for MBWP Fellows: Janet Bridges presented Integrating Science, Math, and Writing at Maryvale Elementary; Bonita Harris presented Using Trade Books and Writing at Maryvale Elementary; and Jackie Wesson presented Teaching Vocabulary, Grammar, and Usage at J.E. Turner.

Mary Beth Culp and I attended the County Lead Writing Teachers' Meeting at Dodge Elementary School to share MBWP news with all who were there.

In Baldwin County, Angie Crawford presented Where We're From: Creating a Community of Writers, Collecting Authentic Voices at Rosinton Elementary School while Regina Dosset presented Where We're From: Creating a Community of Writers, Collecting Authentic Voices at Delta Elementary School.

GREAT WORK FELLOWS!

Kudos to Christa Stanley!

MBWP 2004 fellow Christa Stanley recently received the Partners in Education Liaison Award ~ 6 out of about 100 were chosen. She recruited 15 new partners for Semmes Middle School which had no partners before her involvement. Christa received a plaque and had her photo taken with Dr. Dodge at the annual Partners in Education breakfast at the Mobile Convention Center. Additionally, Christa has compiled binders of Character Education lessons for all 90 faculty members at Semmes Middle. This included some original lessons she wrote, in three different sets for 6th, 7th, and 8th grades.

Thank You Dr. Mary Beth Culp!

As we begin a New Year, I would like to thank Dr. Mary Beth Culp who has served as Mobile Bay Writing Project founder, director, adviser, advocate, and friend. Without Mary Beth, MBWP would not have been created and continued. I look forward to working with Mary Beth and all fellows & friends in 2008 toward the goals of teaching, learning, and enjoying through various forms of literacy.

I would like to wish all of our MBWP friends and families Happy Holidays. I hope you experience peace, joy, and rest :-) during this season and I look forward to a great 2008!

Lady Lester's "Write Group"

As I enter data in our inservice and continuity MBWP spreadsheet, I'm reminded of the great work our own Lady Lester does to encourage us to take time to write personally. If you have not attended a Write Group Meeting, you are missing a real treat! Lady facilitated an art themed meeting with Ron Polizzi sharing his ideas in September and had our MBWP founder and co-director Dr. Mary Beth Culp share the history of the project and "new beginnings" with fellows in October. Thank you Lady and all who attend. I'm looking forward to our next get-together!

NWP Tech Matters Reunion in NYC

I was able to catch up with my NWP Tech Friends at John's Pizzaria. The eggplant parmesean was delicious, but not surpassed by the fabulous company. These ahead-of-curve teachers from across the country are doing so much to promote the learning and teaching of writing with web 2.0 tools!

Alabama Writing Project State Network

Among the many wonderful events I participated in at the 2007 NWP Annual Meeting, I joined our state network at the Crowne Plaza Times Square Restaurant to catch up on the writing project happenings across the state of Alabama. Our state director Lisa Williams (sitting next to me on the right) is from Jacksonville State University Writing Project. This was a welcoming group from which I can learn a great deal. I'll be sharing the ideas and future events they presented as I learn more details

Preparing for our NWP Presentation

I've never had such a wonderful time preparing for a conference presentation. It could have been the flat in New York, quiche, sushi, wine & cheese; or maybe it was the great company! Cynthia, Tracy, Jason and I have spent over a year, since meeting in Chico, California, collaborating and supporting the technology and leadership endeavors we individually and collectively set as goals through our technology minigrant. As I experienced all year, the group came together with the whole being so much more than the sum of its parts. I'm looking forward to sharing our journey tomorrow with writing teachers from across the country.

http://commonthreadsnyc.blogspot.com/

Awards and Accolades

Read the latest Awards and Accolades at the National Writing Project Site. Mobile Bay is at the TOP.

Co-Director Angela Crawford's Wiki Wonderland

Angie Crawford, MBWP co-director, tech team member, and English teacher at Spanish Fort High School has taken our summer institute tech focus and run with it. In addition to using Google Docs, and finding a home for my Art Talk wiki, Angie has developed her own wiki, http://sfhsaplit.wetpaint.com/, which is fast becoming an integral part of her classroom. Angie claims that "her students love it" and she is constantly searching for ways to maximize its use.

Angie integrates art and music within this digital learning collaborative (and of course I also value these capabilitites). I agree with Angie who expressed "it's fun for me too." So Angie has definitely crossed over to the wonderful world of being a digital teacher/learner!

I'm really looking forward to Angie's research goal of surveying her students to see how much the wiki improved their engagement in the curriculum. Her anecdotal observations indicate that students enjoy"playing" on the wiki and may "accidentally" be more apt to do homework or engage with the curriculum because they ARE digital learners.

Teaching Foreign Language in a Digital Era

Another example of MBWP TC's leading the way through literacy and technology...

Jessica Montalvo, 2005 Fellow and Team Leader, conducted a workshop for the UMS Foreign Language Department last month: Teaching Foreign Language in a Digital Era.

Jessica expressed that the participants were very receptive to learning about incorporating technology into the curriculum and particularly how to develop strategies for promoting writing in the target languages they teach (Spanish, French, Latin, Greek). Jessica found that the technology integration was for her, "the best part of MBWP."

Thanks for sharing this with us Jessica and keep up the good work!

National Writing Project Meeting in New York

I have the pleasure of traveling to one of my favorite cities to present with some of my favorite people. I will leave for New York Wednesday to attend the National Writing Project Annual Meeting and present with my friends, self-named "Common Threads." Cynthia Calvert, Alcorn Writing Project; Tracy Duckart, Redwood Writing Project; and Jason Shiroff, Denver Writing Project are fellow technology liaisons from across the Technology Liaisons Network who will join me in telling our leadership-building stories, from participation at the 2006 Technology Matters Institute in Chico to minigrant development and implementation. We will share our resources, such as tech institute agendas, and methods of communication and collaboration, including Skype conversations and Google Tools. I met Cynthia, Tracy, and Jason at Tech Matters in Chico, California during the advanced NWP tech institute summer of 2006. We had the good fortune of being grouped together for reasons still unknown to us (pictured above working on a podcast in Chico) and the rest of the story is history. We supported each other in the process of mini grant implementation throughout the year with the use of web 2.0 technology. Tracy has developed a BLOG (still under construction) to share our presentation resources which I will post here as well as highlights of what I learn during the NYC adventure. Stay tuned this week....Paige

2006 Voices From A Safe Harbor ~ Published!

VOICES FROM A SAFE HARBOR

Congratulations to Dr. Daphne Hubbard, editor and contributing authors:

Cindy Adams, Paige Baggett, Barbara Bateman, V. Battiste, Deanna Beck, Torrey H. Berry, Beth Burke, Leslie Carson, Gail Cates, Mary Beth Culp, Sylvia D. Cummins, sandy Davis, Tracy Davis, Kimberly Endt, Kelly Evans. Gail Filotei, Ardith Goodwin, Maureen Glavey Goodwin, Patsy Hamilton, Patsy Hamilton, Helen Hare, Adrienne Haynes, Linda Helton, Donna Hildreth, Shayna Hollowell, Barbara House, Daphne W. Hubbard, Sonja Hughes, Lady Lester, Stephen McClurg, Kathy McLeod, Angela Merrick, Marcelle Rathele Naman, Carly Marie Nelson, Diane Oliver, Teffine Petro, Luann Rice, Robin Rivers, Fran Roberts, Beverly Rossini, Sondra Thomas, Audrey P. Tucker, Debbie Tuggle, Molly Wagner , Kristy Weatherford, Jackie Wesson , Della White, and Jayne Yarbrough.

The anthology is a collection of poetry and prose written by fellows of the 2006 Mobile Bay Writing Project Summer Institute.

Although I take no credit, I know from first-hand experience the time and effort that went into developing the personal pieces, editing, and bringing this manuscript to publication. I applaud the WRITERS who participate in the National Writing Project Summer Institutes across the United States.

"Better writing and bold leadership are the core of local summer institutes, conducted each year by nearly 200 National Writing Project university-based sites. Participants in four-week institutes (accomplished, thoughtful teachers) prepare for leadership roles by demonstrating their most effective practices, studying research, and IMPROVING THEIR KNOWLEDGE OF WRITING BY WRITING THEMSELVES."
~from the National Writing Project 2006 Annual Report

I applaud the Mobile Bay Writing Project authors for the time and effort put into this publication.

Please contact Dr. Paige Baggett if you would like to purchase a copy of Voices From a Safe Harbor ($15.99 + tax) or order online at www.kyteflyte.com