MWP continuity programs
Teacher-consultants (TCs) continue their association with MWP/NWP as a way of building their collective knowledge. MWP is continually striving to create meaningful opportunities for our TCs to remain involved with our Project and to provide them with an ongoing community of professional colleagues who share a commitment to improving the teaching and learning of writing.
current continuity opportunities include:
- Second Friday Night Writes
- the Advisory Board
- the MWP Newsletter
- MWP listserv
- an interactive wiki (coming soon!)
- NWP Special Focus Networks. The NWP Special Focus Networks are especially valuable in a state as geographically diverse as ours. Being able to involve TCs in these special networks has been extremely helpful in developing stronger leadership in our site. By attending the national meetings scheduled for their networks, they discover the similarities across the network and come back enthused to share their findings. Currently MWP has representation in the English Language Learners’ Network, the Rural Sites Network, and the Urban Sites Network.
comments by special focus network participants:
English Language Learners Network
TC ‘02 Anne Lowe
National conferences are places to share ideas with a broader audience, so site representatives can go back home and share the information. Professionally, the conference helped me gain perspective on how we are doing with our ELL students in Minnesota, but on a personal level, I was able to talk to colleagues and hear their stories of their students and their lives. I connected with people who are physically from another part of the country, but philosophically in my own town: we are all trying to improve our students’ lives through writing.
Rural Sites Network
TC ’04 Jane Johnson
I was delighted to experience NWP's Rural Sites Network Retreat,"Teaching Writing in Rural Contexts," held March 11-13 in Folsom, CA. This seminar introduced me to NWP's Rural Sites Network (RSN) and greatly impacted me, a teacher from rural, southern Minnesota… I'm grateful to MWP for the opportunity to attend this conference; I left with a confident understanding of teaching in a rural school and with a sense of pride in teaching in rural America. Whether rural or urban, it is clear we educators strive to recognize and respect our students' unique voices, and the land, history, and culture that define them.
Urban Sites Network
TC ’05 Ann Lindsey
My work with the Minnesota Writing Project jettisoned me into a new and exciting mindset, radically transforming my educational interactions with students and administration alike. Far more than any other convention I attend, I leave each of the national Network conventions brimming with resources - empowering personal connections and dozens of rewarding, thought provoking experiences.