Interested teachers for all of the positions can go here to apply: http://www.applitrack.com/wps/onlineapp/default.aspx.  They can also email NVWP Co-Director Mary Tedrow at mary.tedrow@verizon.net if they have questions about the school, student population and so forth.

Note: On May 8, 2012 Karin Tooze delivered the alumni address at the George Mason University English department awards ceremony.  Below is the full text of her speech.

Allow me to be among the first to congratulate you on your award this evening and on your imminent graduation from George Mason University.  However, before you walk across the stage in May, I bet you have had a conversation that went something like this with a loved one, a friend, or even a co-worker.

You are getting an English degree?

In an economic downturn like this?

What are you going to do with that?

While I am not here today to offer you a job, sadly we don’t have any English openings at my high school, allow me a moment to offer you further reflection on the practicality versus beauty debate of an English degree.

As a high school English teacher, this question of practicality of literature or of writing is one I get frequently from my 17-year-old students.  Usually my answer is the same riff of an old theme.  I generally say, “If you are looking for practicality, you have come to the wrong class.”  The student will often smirk as if to say, “I knew it” and turn to walk to his seat maybe with an eye roll.    But I continue, “However, if you are looking to learn how to appreciate beauty, interpret the world around you, and think more deeply, you will find this here.”  The student, still deeply skeptical, will return to his seat mulling over what I just said or text his friend, “OMG, my Eng teacher is CRAZY.”

While it comes as no surprise to you or me.  The New York Times recently published an article in March of 2012 about a new scientific study that concluded “individuals who frequently read fiction seem to be better able to understand other people, empathize with them and see the world from their perspective.”  Fiction makes you more empathic.  Listing “empathy” on a job resume with your newly minted degree, may not be what your future employer is actively seeking, but shouldn’t they be?

Allow me a moment to offer you a few suggestions to that friend, parent, or colleague who questioned the practicality of an English degree. No matter your degree speciality in English, there are common “skills” or maybe more appropriately termed “appreciations” that a GMU English grad is well versed in.

First, is your ability to appreciate the subtlety and the beauty of language.   This goes beyond reading for fun.  Reading, even reading critically, was presumably something you knew how to do before attending GMU.   However, you didn’t read it in this way or catch the passion for an author that a professor may have had.  You may not have even had the experience of age to help guide you through your reading of the same text even ten years prior. To be honest, I don’t know if I would have made it through the title page “This is not for you.” in Mark Danielewski’s House of Leaves if it would not have been for Professor Sample’s enthusiasm for the novel in my Post-Modern literature class.  His passion for this work made me want to read more, and  actively seek to interpret, to engage, to uncover not only the story but the structure of this novel.   Reading between the lines is something I often speak of in my classroom.  At the start of every year, I always have one student who says, “I don’t understand, there isn’t anything between the lines.”  Interpretation of any texts is a critical life skill.   Could you even imagine a world where life was taken literally?  Jon Stewart’s The Daily Show would struggle to have an audience. The Simpsons would be a violent abusive show certainly banned from the air.  Thankfully, we understand the world around us through interpretation, decoding, inferences.  How else could I appreciate Joyce’s lines in “Araby” when he seductively describes his feelings for Mangan’s sister, “But my body was like a harp and her words and gestures were like fingers running upon the wires” (21) than if I had taken Allen Cheuse’s World Short Story class?  Or rather how about listening carefully to Dr. Weinberger’s accent archive and being able to identify an interdental fricative to a stop in a Sudanese male?  What employer wouldn’t want his or her applicant to be able to decode the tone in an email, the cry for help in a student paper, or the subtle differences in a linguistical pattern? These are small examples and memories of mine that could be substituted with your own.  More than anything, as a GMU grad I walked away with an appreciation for the complexity and nuances of the written word.

Second, is your ability to think creatively.  Creativity is one of those abstract nouns that is often difficult to define, but easily recognizable.  Frequently the telling of a story or perspective in a poem is described as creative.  Sometimes we even hear the word inventive as synonymous with creative.  As a teacher, I often wonder if creativity is something you can teach?  Can I truly instruct a student on how to offer up a novel approach to a text, or construct a metaphor that has something new to say? When I grade essays, it is certainly something I look forward to and am encouraged to see.  However, I don’t think I can take any credit for explicitly teaching this skill (or is it an art?) to a student.  Rather, I think I can take credit for offering up opportunities and a safe environment for students to be able to think creatively.  Haven’t you been offered the same thing at Mason’s English department?  How many times has a professor said, prepare a piece of writing for class next week?  Or create a lesson plan over a poem of your choosing?  Or bring in a speech or editorial to analyze the rhetoric found in it for next class?   My list could continue, but you get the idea.  Creativity may not be able to be taught, but instead allowed to flourish through offering it opportunities to grow.  No employer wants someone who needs step-by-step instructions.  No employer wants someone who is unable to problem solve.  No employer wants someone who is dull.  Instead, an employer wants someone who has the ability to think creatively and GMU has offered you this.

Lastly, Mason’s English department has given you the ability to write proficiently and artistically.  Since I continued to teach full-time and go to school in the evenings, I frequently returned to my own classroom discussing what I was writing or reading at the time.  More often than not, I would tell my class about some trouble I was having with my writing.  For example, I would confess to struggle with concluding a paper over Jhumpa Lahiri’s short story “Interpreter of Maladies.”  Or coming up with challenge for my protagonist to encounter in another piece of writing.  At first my students seemed a little stunned that I would admit something like this to them.  I knew the thought was burning in their heads, Isn’t she the English teacher?  To my surprise, instead of blowing me off, they began to ask questions.  Eager to know the specifics of the short story I was writing. I decided to make photocopies of my work and bring it to the next workshop we had in class.  They treated my own work in the exact same way they would treat their own.  What about establishing a flaw in the girl earlier in the story?  I didn’t find it believable when she did this?  Could she encounter an intellectual challenge instead of a physical one?  All of the previous questions were ones that I heard from my students.  It may sound funny, but I took their advice and wove it into my own writing.

This idea of creating writer’s workshops and conferencing with students is something I learned in my own Mason classes.  Not only was it modeled by my professors, but also through the Northern Virginia Writing Project.  The Summer Institute’s motto is Teachers Teaching Teachers.  Each day of the Summer Institute, I heard presentations over teacher’s best practices in writing.  Each day I wrote and developed my own voice.  It was here that I learned the importance of modeling.  When my students write, I should do the same.  When they share their writing, I should do the same.  I also found this to be true in my other GMU classes.  My professors were not only assigning writing, but doing their own.  I will always remember Professor Anderson sharing a recent submission of his paper to MLA in my 701 Research in English Studies class.  I hope I am not embarrassing him by saying this, but it was returned to him littered with marginalia and corrections.  His goal in showing this to us was two fold:  he was explaining the process and procedure for submitting an academic paper and very humbling sharing that even a professor receives papers returned with corrections.  It was at this moment that I felt like we–both students and teachers–were all in this process together.  We were all learning to write, to edit, to have something new to say.  We were all thinking deeply about how we said it.  Again, I can’t think of a better quality to have in a job applicant.

No matter the amount of coursework at GMU or elsewhere, nothing can quite prepare you for the excitement and challenges that working with hormonal, impulsive, and curious 17 year-old students each day can bring. No degree will tell you what to do when a young woman returns to class in tears after exchanging words with her peers at lunch about who is wearing her EXACT SAME dress to prom.  No one tells you what to do (let alone how to grade it!) when a student writes about being homeless in his personal essay for English class.  No one tells you how to ignite excitement for Shakespeare’s Othello to a room full of 25 students whose attention is captivated by a screen, a video game, Facebook, sports, or friends.  In actuality, GMU did prepare me well for these encounters with students.  I read lots of fiction and saw the world through the eyes of people in situations, times and places radically different from my own.  Both fiction and GMU’s English department did exactly what I needed.  It taught me how to empathize with students.  It taught me how to empathize with you as you search for a job in a struggling economy.  Your enthusiasm for the arts, your ability to interpret words, and your ability to think creatively is something that your future employer should value.  It is also something that no one can ever take away from you.  And something you will use for a lifetime.  Therefore, the next time someone asks you what you are going to do with your degree, you should be able to answer and answer confidently, “Anything I want to.”

Summer Writing Workshops Announced in the Shenandoah Valley on June 28th and 29th.

REGISTER NOW

The Northern Virginia Writing Project in the Shenandoah Valley has scheduled two workshops this summer at Shenandoah University in Henkel Hall that offer a new experience for our young writers. This summer, students get to work with a published author in the morning and then attend genre sessions in the afternoon. The students get to choose from a list of genres for their afternoon session where they will work with teacher consultants of the NVWP.  We welcome interested students and motivated writers in grades 5-12.  Workshops run from 9am to 3pm.

The cost is $65.00 per day, or $130 for both days, which includes a book autographed by that day’s featured writer(s).  The workshops are hosted by by NVWP Teacher Consultants, some of the best teachers in the Shenandoah Valley and Northern VA. Class size is small, with an average ratio of 10 students to one Teacher Consultant.

Registration deadline is Friday, June 15, 2012.

ONLINE: Click here to register online

MAIL: Complete and return this registration form along with a check made out to George Mason University

Questions? Please contact youngwriters-valley@hotmail.com

About our Featured Authors

Ralph Fletcher is a writer of children’s picture books, young-adult fiction, and poetry as well as an educational consultant who has also written books for both children and professional educators on the craft of writing. He will share with us his thoughts on writing of which one is; “Here’s the secret of writing: there is no secret.” 

Fred Bowen writes the weekly Washington Post sports column for kids and is the author of nine sports novels for kids. Winners Take All was a finalist for six statewide children’s choice awards. He’s been a guest speaker at the Smithsonian, The Baseball Hall of Fame, and hundreds of schools across the county. He has a degree in history from the University of Pennsylvania and a law degree from George Washington University. He lives in Maryland with his wife and daughter.

Phil Bildner is a full-time writer and has carved out a niche in the children’s and young adult writers’ market. Some of his picture books include Shoeless Joe & Black Betsy, The Shot Heard ‘Round the World, Twenty One Elephants, The Greatest Game Ever Played, Turkey Bowl, The Hallelujah Flight, and The Unforgettable Season. He also writes novels for teens, including Playing the Field and Busted, and, with Loren Long, a series of New York Times bestselling middle grade chapter books, Sluggers! Phil also visits schools frequently, holds writers camps, and has founded a non-profit organization called The NOLA Tree.

I don’t write poetry. My thoughts come more naturally in prose, and to write poetry is to cut. I’ve never felt comfortable with the process of constructing a poem, and more often than not, I feel like an imposter; I add some vague imagery that may or may not be symbolic, I splice my sentences at odd syntactic places to appear trendy, and ultimately I feel like what I’ve created is just severed prose. Needless to say, National Poetry Month has never been a source of festivity for me. This year, though, towards the end of March, an inexplicable force took hold of me: I would do the April Poem-A-Day Challenge. I would write thirty poems. Just the thought made me flinch, but at that point, my stubbornness wouldn’t let me back down. On April 1^st, my pen hovered hesitantly over an expectant blank page and I wrote my first poem. On April 30^th, with an odd twinge of sadness, I wrote my last poem—and over the course of that month, I rediscovered the importance of being a writing teacher who writes.

I rediscovered the messiness of the writing process. Some of the poems I wrote are pretty terrible. Most of them, I won’t ever visit again. Overall, there are only twelve that I really like, that I would consider revising. I think this is such an important message to convey to my students—that even as someone who writes constantly, I only really like 40% of what I wrote during the month of April.  You have to work your way through a lot of tangled ideas and clumsy phrases to get to some really profound stuff. That’s just the nature of writing.

I rediscovered what it feels like to be completely outside my comfort zone. I had a lot of insecurity about form and style, and at times I felt like a fraud, as if I were wearing a sandwich board that proclaimed “NOT A POET” in large bold letters. About halfway through the month, as I struggled with a particularly uncooperative poem, I had an important realization: This is how some of my students feel when they’re working on papers for my class. I think I forget this sometimes—that just because I’ve read The Great Gatsby 800 times and can write a literary analysis paper in my sleep doesn’t mean that my students feel that same level of comfort. They’re navigating unfamiliar waters too, and I think this realization made me a stronger teacher, and most importantly, a more empathetic one.

Finally, I rediscovered the powerful (and often unexpected) connection between writing and thinking. Giving up control was difficult for me, but I tried to start writing and just let the poem take me where it wanted to. You know, in a non-hippie way—because that previous sentence made it sound like I was lighting incense and eating Kashi during this whole process. But truly, there were moments over the course of the month where I finished a poem, sat back, and thought, “Wow. Where did that come from?” Far too often, students have this perception that writing is the process of taking a fully-formed thought and translating it onto paper. It’s important for them to recognize that writing itself is a means for thinking things through and figuring out what they really want to say.

As I write this, it’s May 1^st, and (I never thought I would utter this phrase), I’m in poetry withdrawal. I still don’t consider myself “a poet,” but I do know two things for certain: everything I wrote in the last month has contributed to my identity as a writer. And everything I wrote in the last month has contributed to my identity as a writing teacher.

Our good friends at the Fall for the Book festival in partnership with George Mason University’s nationally ranked graduate writing program proposes an initiative called the Sally Merten Fellowship Program that will send trained graduate students into school classrooms to lead weekly creative writing enrichment classes and special-topic writing seminars on a regular basis.

Sally Merten, wife of George Mason University’s esteemed president, is a champion of the written word. This program, named with her support and in her honor, invites students in grades 3-12 to voluntarily participate in a project-based learning, creative writing curriculum that enhances the students’ comprehension and confidence while also teaching them some basic imagination-enhancing techniques of fiction, non-fiction, and poetry writing. No payment is required on the part of the school or the students. Fall for the Book and the Mason MFA program are raising private funding to support this new endeavor.

The school teachers who participate in this program will lend one class period a week to an MFA student or graduate who will design and lead the special writing curriculum. The MFA student or graduate is responsible for all program material, and will work with the school and teacher to meet the demands of the specific classroom.

The purpose of this communication is to gauge the level of interest at various schools as our friends at Fall for the Book plan the pilot for the new program.  We are inviting all TC and teachers in Northern Virginia to please, take a moment to answer these questions and then submit your responses by email (cut and paste the questions and your responses) to Amy Risher at Outreach@fallforthebook.org. Feel free to include comments, suggestions or questions in your responses.

Please answer the following questions with yes or no:                                                                                                                       

I would like to hear more about a writing in the schools program. ________

I would like to have my school or classroom considered for a writing in the schools program. ___________ 

If you answered yes to either of these questions, may we email you to get back in touch with you?___________   Best address to use? _________________________

Kylene Beers, author of When Kids Can’t Read/What Teachers Can Do (Heinemann, 2002), is interested in helping struggling readers. The Senior Reading Advisor to Secondary Schools for the Reading and Writing Project at Teachers College, Kylene has published numerous articles in state and national journals, served as editor of the national literacy journal, Voices from the Middle, and was the 2008-2009 President of the National Council of Teachers of English. She is an invited speaker at state, national, and international conventions and works with teachers in elementary, middle, and high schools across the US. You can follow Kylene on Twitter or Facebook or her blog at KyleneBeers.com. She is completing a new book, co-authored with Bob Probst, titled Notice and Note: Essential Strategies for Deepening Understanding of Literary Texts which will be published by Heinemann in 2012.

Robert E. Probst, author of Response and Analysis, (Heinemann, 2004) is a respected authority on the teaching of literature. Bob’s focus on engagement and literary analysis helps teachers learn the strategies to help readers approach a text with more confidence and greater skill.

Professor Emeritus of English Education at Georgia State University, Bob’s publications include numerous articles in English Journal, Voices from the Middle, and professional texts includingAdolescent Literacy: Turning Promise into Practice (Heinemann, 2007), and a forthcoming Heinemannfirsthand product, Notice and Note: Essential Strategies for Deepening Understanding of Literary Texts(with Kylene Beers). He presents at national conventions including the International Reading Association (IRA), the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE), the Association of Supervisors and Curriculum Developers (ASCD), and the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP). He has served NCTE in various leadership roles including the Conference on English Leadership Board of Directors, the Commission on Reading, column editor of the NCTE journal Voices from the Middle, and is the 2007 recipient of the CEL Outstanding Leadership Award.

For more information please contact us at contact@nvwp.org

Donalyn’s talk “Creating Classrooms Where Readers Flourish” truly captivated the audience who were eager to learn new ways to inspire their students to higher levels of engagement with reading and writing.  NVWP Teacher Consultant Chris Kervina remarked, “One of the things I love about Donalyn is that she’s real. Like every other teacher in America, she struggles to find ways to reach her students and challenge them. She realizes that our students are not widgets turned out by an educational system, but are unique.  By making her successes and struggles with students transparent she is the perfect example of what the Writing Project is all about: teachers teaching teachers.”

Donalyn Miller with NVWP TCs Nick Maneno, Cathy Hailey, and Chris Kervina

Donalyn graciously stayed to sign copies of her enormously popular book “The Book Whisperer” for many of the conference participants, and she joined with NVWP TCs for dinner at Fairfax favorite Brion’s Grill.

Planning is already underway for the 2013 Language and Learning Conference. For more information and updates please sign up to receive our monthly newsletter or contact us a contact@nvwp.org

By: FCCPS Communication

Karin Tooze (center) is congratulated by George Mason High School Principal, Ty Byrd and Superintendent Toni Jones on winning the 2012 Agnes Meyer Teacher of the Year award for Falls Church.

FCCPS Photos/Marybeth Connelly

A nine-year veteran educator from George Mason High School (GMHS) is one of this year’s Agnes Meyer Outstanding Teacher Award recipients.  The Washington Post recognized English department chair and teacher Karin Tooze (right) as one of the finest teachers in the region by naming her the winner from Falls Church City.

“Karin Tooze represents the best in a profession filled with caring, talented, and dedicated women and men,” George Mason Principal Ty Byrd said. “Her exhaustive efforts on behalf of our most precious resource provide the template for what is required to successfully prepare children for the opportunities that await them in the global community of tomorrow.”

The annual award is presented by the Washington Post to one teacher from each of the 20 metro area public school divisions as well as one private school and one charter school.  The award’s namesake, Agnes Meyer, was a staunch supporter and defender of public education and the wife of Eugene Meyer, who purchased the Washington Post in 1933. The goals of the award are to recognize excellence in teaching and to encourage creative and quality instruction.

Her tenure with the Falls Church City Public Schools started in August, 2003.  In addition to teaching both general and International Baccalaureate level English classes, Tooze is also the Writing Lab instructor, Future Educators of America sponsor, the Rhetoric Club sponsor as well as a volunteer for the school in numerous events.

A group of GMHS students submitted the nomination, along with letters of support from colleagues and parents for Tooze’s Agnes Meyer Award nomination.

“When I see Karin ‘in action’ in the classroom, I am always amazed at her ability to engage all of her students in learning activities,” FCCPS English CIRT, Liz Rizzi wrote.

“There is no other teacher who displays as much effort and devotion to her students as Mrs. Tooze. It is very apparent that she takes on an enormous amount of work,” senior Matthew Abel added.

Tooze earned her bachelor’s degree in Secondary Education from Taylor University in Indiana. She holds a Master of Arts in English from George Mason University with a 4.0 GPA and was named Outstanding Graduate Student in Teaching of Writing and Literature in 2009. Her teaching career began in 2001 at Concord High School in Elkhart, Indiana.

Tooze is among seven Falls Church City public school teachers nominated for the award. She and all the nominees will be recognized by the school board at a reception on May 17, 2012 at 4:00 p.m. at Mary Ellen Henderson Middle School.

Tooze will also be recognized along with other winners from the region at a Washington Post reception.

Please contact our U.S. Senators requesting that they sign a Dear Colleague letter written to support increasing SEED competitive funding for NWP and other national non-profit organizations in the FY2013 federal budget.

Here is the background:

• In the next month, the Senate a will be moving forward with federal budget legislation.  It is important to encourage the Appropriations Committees to include a 10% reservation in Title II-A funds for the “Supporting Effective Educator Development” (SEED) grant program, so NWP and other national non-profits can continue to compete for federal funding.

• In both FY2011 and FY2012, NWP is eligible to compete for the SEED grant program funded by a Title II-A reservation of 1% and 1.5%, respectively.
  • NWP successfully competed in the FY2011 competition and was awarded a $11.3m grant on March 7.

Next steps:

• This week, please contact our senators and request that they sign the Senate letter.  View final copies of the letters posted at NWP Connect. The Senate letter is sponsored by Sens. Mikulski (MD), Cornyn (TX), and Landrieu (LA).

Our Senator’s contact information:

 Why This Matters

• Professional development for teachers must be a priority if we are to improve learning and instruction.  Teachers deserve it.  Students deserve it.  Not one cent of the money being spent on testing actually helps improve instruction for students.  NWP/NVWP Professional development works precisely in reverse. Every dollar spent improving a teacher’s practice represents improved learning opportunities for every student that teacher will ever teach.  The best way to ensure student success is to make sure students flourish is provide them with outstanding teachers.  Given that the Federal Government has a stake in the national improvement of learning, investing in professional development should be a top priority, not an afterthought.