Reading, Writing, and Social Change in the Urban Classroom
Date: May 2008
Summary: Educators at the 2008 Urban Sites Network Conference explored how reading and writing lead to understanding and social change in urban classrooms.
Urban educators from across the country traveled to Denver, Colorado, April 25–26 for the 2008 Urban Sites Network Conference, where they explored how reading and writing lead to understanding and social change in urban classrooms. The two-day conference was hosted by the Denver Writing Project (DWP) at the University of Colorado at Denver and the university's Health Sciences Center.
Friday's highlights included local school visits, a writing marathon, and an interactive facilitated conversation with Dr. Louann Reid on writing for publication.
Dr. Reid directs the English Education Program at Colorado State University and has been the editor of English Journal for the past five years. During the first three years under her editorship, English Journal included a column on urban education. Dr. Reid has coauthored or coedited nine books for NCTE and Heinemann, and has taught high school English and drama for 19 years.
An evening reception and dinner with entertainment followed Friday's events. Participants also met with colleagues and friends at "DWP After Hours," an after-dinner gathering.
The bulk of the conference content kicked off Saturday morning with keynote speaker Richard Sterling. Sterling is executive director emeritus of the National Writing Project and adjunct professor at the University of California, Berkeley, in the Graduate School of Education. He organized the first Urban Sites Network meeting of writing project sites in 1987, and has been a strong advocate for improving urban education since founding and directing the Institute for Literacy Studies at Lehman College, City University of New York, and cofounding and directing the New York City Writing Project.
Three rounds of workshops focusing on the theme of the conference, Reading and Writing for Understanding and Social Change in the Urban Classroom, followed the keynote speech. Workshop proposals, which had been gathered from around the country, represented the diversity of the Urban Sites Network.