English Language Learners Network Meets in Milwaukee

By: Lisa Ummel-Ingram
Publication: The Voice, Vol. 6, No. 1
Date: January-February 2001

Summary: A summary of ELL Network events in Milwaukee, upcoming events and meetings, and a list of the network's goals.

The English Language Learners (ELL) Network held their leadership team meeting in conjunction with the 23rd National Writing Project Annual Meeting and the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) Convention, which ran concurrently in Milwaukee in November. During the early morning meeting on November 18, the team met to introduce its new members, reflect on NWP sessions involving ELL issues, and envision vehicles to further the goals of the network. The current leadership team includes Norma Molta-Altman, the network chair and associate director of the UCLA WP; Teresa Alvarez, Philadelphia WP; Dana Dusibiber, Area 3 WP (California); Olga Frechon, Boston WP; Eva Guillot, National WP of Acadiana (Louisiana); Margaret Kania, Chicago Area WP; Greta Vollmer, Bay Area WP; Noreen Winkler, Central California WP; and Lisa Ummel-Ingram, Oklahoma State University WP.

The network, which is a year old this year, has as its mission "to bring education, awareness, and advocacy of English language learners' issues to the forefront of the writing project's work in the teaching of writing." The goals of the network are:

• to help teachers gain awareness of equity issues regarding race, class, gender, language and culture
• to educate learning communities about second language acquisition and the teaching of writing
• to support and advocate for teachers of English language learners at all academic levels (kindergarten–university) in their efforts to improve learning and the teaching of writing
• to promote discourse and understanding of the social and political issues involved in the teaching of English language learners.

Furthering the goal of providing education and understanding of ELL issues, the network brought three sessions to this year's annual meeting. "Metacognition: Students Thinking about How They Learn" (C. Lynn Jacobs, Northern California WP); "Writing and English Language Learners" (Greta Vollmer, Bay Area WP); and "Networks: What Can They Do for Me and My Site?" (Richard Louth, Southeastern Louisiana WP; Josie Bourdon, Alaska State Writing Consortium; Dana Dusbiber, Area 3 WP; Nancy Mintz, New York City WP; and Marsha Tolbert, Coastal Georgia WP). The team began efforts to seek out and develop ELL sessions for future conferences, including the Rural Sites Conference, March 2–4, 2001, in Orange Beach, Alabama, and the Urban Sites Conference April 27–28, 2001, in Las Vegas.

Christina Cantrill, NWP program associate, spent time with the group introducing them to an exciting new facet of the writing project's Web site, NWP Interactive (NWPi). This networking opportunity provides an online community of writing project members with whom to share resources and strategies. The new Web site provides a public discussion arena for NWP's main networks and programs, including the English Language Learners Network.

The leadership team left the meeting eager to take the network's mission of education and awareness to their sites and beyond. The ELL Network will meet again June 22–24, 2001. In the meantime, we encourage teacher-consultants to begin or continue voicing questions and concerns about ELL issues with members of the ELL Network and with your sites. Information about joining the ELL Network can be found at www.nwp.org.

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