NVWP » Technology

Learning from Professional Community beyond the School

NVWP — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 18:14:49 +0000

The following is from Professional Learning in the Learning Profession: A Status Report on Teacher Development in the United States and Abroad

written by Ruth Chung Wei, Linda Darling-Hammond; Alethea Andress, Nikole Richardson, and Stelios Orphanos.

Published by the National Staff Development Council and the School Redesign Network at Stanford University, February 2009.

The excerpt is from page 21:

Learning from Professional Community beyond the School

Positive effects of professional communities that operate beyond the school level have been documented by a number of researchers (Darling-Hammond & McLaughlin, 1995; Fullan, 1991). These are often organized via networks that connect teachers around subject matter or other shared educational concerns. Lieberman and Wood (2002) reported on the work of the National Writing Project (NWP), one of the most successful teacher networks, to understand how teacher learning in a community can be a source of efficacy and confidence. The NWP first focuses on creating community amongst a small group of teachers during a five-week summer institute in which teachers engage in writing, share their work, and critique their peers. In the process of making their work public and critiquing others, teachers learn how to make implicit rules and expectations explicit,and how to give and receive constructive feedback for students.

In addition, the authors found that the institutes, which were designed to promote risk taking and collaboration, provided a foundation for ongoing learning for teachers once they left. Newsletters, annual conferences and opportunities to lead workshops were catalysts for the continuous engagement of those teachers with each other and with teachers in their home contexts, creating the intersection of professional learning communities within the school and across the profession.

Take a Peek: Emmet Rosenfeld’s Blog

NVWP — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 18:11:54 +0000

http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/eduholic/

NVWP on the National Writing Project Web site

NVWP — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 18:06:18 +0000

http://www.nwp.org/cs/public/print/resource/2803

Our Summer Institute was featured on the NWP website.

Emmet Rosenfeld Earns National Board Certification

NVWP — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 18:53:22 +0000

NVWP Teacher Consultant Emmet Rosenfeld has earned National Board Certification. Emmet chronicled his two years of portfolio assembly and self-evaluation that culminated in a day-long computerized test and a result that was disturbing, although not disheartening, in his two blogs, Certifiable? and the more recent Eduholic, and in the article “Teaching for the Test,” which appeared in the Washington Post Magazine on February 17, 2008. He triumphantly announced his certification in a blog entry on November 21.

Emmet is an English teacher and the Dean of Students at the Congressional Schools of Virginia in Falls Church, and one of fewer than 1,200 National Board Certified Teachers in Virginia. He has been an NVWP Teacher Consultant since 1997.

Congratulations, Emmet!

Kathy Smaltz Honored as National Teacher of Excellence

NVWP — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 18:49:07 +0000

NVWP Teacher Consultant Kathy Smaltz has recently been recognized by The National Council of Teachers of English as a National Teacher of Excellence. The award recognizes and celebrates high school classroom teachers at the national level for their excellent practices and outstanding classroom contributions.

Kathy is an English teacher at Brentwood High School in the Prince William County Public Schools. She has been an NVWP Teacher Consultant since 1998.

Congratulations, Kathy!

Email Discussion Group for TCs

NVWP — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 02:24:08 +0000

We’ve just added an email discussion group for Teacher Consultants. If you’re a TC, we hope you’ll join.

Why should I join?

Email discussion groups make it easy for busy teachers to stay in touch. By joining the group, you can maintain a conversation with other TCs without having to find the time to visit a site or remember contact information–the conversation comes to your inbox.

Through the group, you can …

share resources and experiences
discuss teaching ideas
announce events
ask for help
or just stay in touch with others who are passionate about writing and teaching

How do I join?

Joining is easy: just enter your email address in the form on the TC Community page.

You’ll receive a confirmation email asking you to verify your membership. Once you’ve confirmed your membership, you can start participating in the conversation right away.

To send a message to the group, just compose an email from the address you registered and send it to: nvwp[at]googlegroups[dot]com

To reply to a message from the group, just hit “reply” and write your response. (But remember, your response will be sent to the group, not just the author of the message.)

That’s it! But before you rush over there and sign up, you might want to take a minute to decide which email address you want to use. Read through some of the more detailed directions below…

Because we’re using Google Groups to power this discussion group, you may want to have a Google Account associated with the email you use to join the group.

Do I need a Google Account?

No. Using a Google Account for this discussion group is completely optional. However, some group activities do require a Google Account. Consult the lists below and decide whether or not you want a Google Account for the email you use.

Activities that don’t require a Google Account:

Posting to the group via email
Receiving and replying to posts via email

Activities that do require a Google Account:

Posting to the group via the web interface
Reading and replying to posts via the web interface (or viewing the archives)
Changing your subscription settings
Viewing the other members in the group

Besides access to our group archive, a Google Account also provides an excellent online feed reader, access to Google Docs and Google Calendar, an optional GMail account, and other features. Learn more about what Google has to offer educators at our Google in Education page.

How do I get a Google Account?

You may already have a Google Account. If you use any of Google’s other account services–such as the Google Reader, Google Calendar, Google Docs, or Gmail–then you already have a Google Account. Just use the same login information for this group as you do for those other services.

You might want another Google Account. Even if you already have one Google Account, you may want to create another one associated with your professional email address. By doing this, you can keep track of work-related groups, calendar events, documents, etc. all in one place. If you’d like to do this, use your work email address to join our discussion group, then create a Google Account for that email address on the Google Accounts homepage.

You might want a new email address. If you’re in need of a new email address, you might consider registering for a GMail account. GMail is a powerful, flexible online email service with tons of storage space and a strong spam filter. Your GMail account is also a Google Account and will give you access to all of Google’s other online services. If you’d like to do this, create a new GMail account on the GMail account homepage. Then come back here and use your new GMail address to join our discussion group.

How do I participate?

Again, participating in the group is easy!

To send a message to the group, just write an email from your registered email address and send it to: nvwp[at]googlegroups[dot]com

To reply to a message, just hit reply to send your response to the other group members. Remember, though, your reply goes to the group, not just the author. (If you want to send a message only to the author, be sure to click on his/her email address, and then compose your message.)

To read the archives, or to send and reply to messages on the website, you’ll need to login to the group homepage and click “Discussions.” (This will require a Google Account.) Browse or search through past discussions. When you have something to say, just click the “+ New post” button to start a new discussion or “reply” near the bottom of an existing post to write your response. Your message will be sent to the group in the same way that email messages are sent.

To change your settings or view other members, you’ll need to login to the group homepage and click “Edit my membership.” (Again, this will require a Google Account.) From there, you can change how often you receive emails, change your display name, or leave the group.

Is it safe?

Google takes a strong stance against spam, so your email is safe in this group. Also, you can unsubscribe from this group at any time by clicking the “unsubscribe” link at the bottom of every email. Safe and worry free!

PLEASE NOTE: The purpose of this discussion list is to help TCs easily communicate with one another. Any “official” NVWP business should be directed to the proper channels that have been established. Posting to this discussion list does not guarantee that Project coordinators will be contacted.

Use these channels to communicate official Project business:

Project contact information: http://nvwp.org/contact/
General issues: contact[at]nvwp[dot]org
Young Writers issues: youngwriters[at]nvwp[dot]org
Update your official listing and contact information: http://nvwp.org/continuity/tcinfo/

Still have questions? If you have additional questions or concerns, or if you encounter any problems along the way, please send us an email and we’ll help you out!

Under Revision!

NVWP — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 16:25:11 +0000

Obviously, the site is under revision, but we’re close to completion. Over the next few days, more content and resources will be added, so keep checking back often. When the new site is fully functional, we’ll post a news item with details about the changes and services.

If you have questions in the meantime, please contact the office.