Resource Topics

Professional Development - NWP Model - Summer Institute

Project Outreach at the Connecticut Writing Project-Fairfield: Change the Readings, Change the Site

May 2008
Connecticut Writing Project-Fairfield asked itself whether its philosophy and methods made clear, practical sense to teachers of urban students in its service area. In response to the question, the site changed its summer institute readings to explicitly introduce topics of race, culture, and language. More ›

Resources for Selecting Readings and Research for the Summer Institute

October 2008
This resource outlines some of the criteria for selecting summer institute readings and describes bibliographies that include readings that address the social issues affecting a local site's communities. More ›

The E-Anthology Helps Create a Space for Access, Relevance, and Diversity

March 2008
The 2007 E-Anthology gave members of the Blackfeet tribe in Montana a venue for telling their stories—which sparked an empowering dialogue among sites across the NWP network. More ›

The E-Anthology Says "Bienvenidos" to Spanish Posts

2008
Spanish wove its way into the E-Anthology in a significant way for the first time in 2008. Perhaps inspired by an audio welcome in Spanish, participants posted a notable number of their writings en español. More ›

Summer Institute and E-Anthology Make a Comfortable Fit

July 2007
Sally Crisp and Shari Williams, director and co-director of the Little Rock Writing Project, introduced a technology component at the site's pre-institute sessions and granted participants the technology units required by the state—preparing fellows to plunge right in to the E-Anthology and making the summer institute even more attractive to teachers. More ›

A Work in Progress: The Benefits of Early Recruitment for the Summer Institute

National Writing Project at Work, 2006
Anne-Marie Hall, Roger Shanley, Flory Simon
More ›

A Writing Teacher Writes—Big Time

The Voice, 2006
Valerie Hobbs, well-known author of teen fiction—and one adult novel—had her start in a summer institute 25 years ago and went on to succeed as a writer while continuing to deepen her practice as a teacher. More ›

Developing Citizen-Teachers Through Performance Arts in the Summer Institute

National Writing Project at Work, 2006
Nancy Mellin McCracken, Anthony Manna
The authors describe their integration of the arts, particularly process drama, into the summer institute as a vehicle for providing equity, supporting educational reform, and promoting the concept of the citizen-teacher. More ›

Enabling Communities and Collaborative Responses to Teaching Demonstrations

National Writing Project at Work, 2006
Janet A. Swenson
The authors created a summer institute protocol for responding collaboratively to the teacher demonstrations in the form of letters. This innovation elicited perceptive and thorough responses. More ›

The First BAWP Summer Institute

The Voice, 2006
James Gray
In this excerpt from his memoir Teachers at the Center, writing project founder Jim Gray recounts the triumphs and missteps of the first summer institute, where he and the participants began to bring together the key elements of the writing project model. More ›

The Philadelphia Writing Project Process: Reflections from a Newly Minted Teacher Consultant

The Voice, 2005
Jose-Manuel Navarro
In his address at the 2003 welcoming ceremony for members of the Philadelphia Writing Project's invitational summer institute, Dr. Navarro reflects on what it is that gives the summer institutes its ineffable efficacy... More ›

Beyond I Am

The Voice, 2004
Michael Taylor
Taylor shares how a summer institute community-building activity turned into a before-and-after example of how participants become better writers in the institute. More ›

Digging Deeper: Teacher Inquiry in the Summer Institute Demonstration

The Voice, 2004
Art Peterson
Peterson explores writing project summer institute teacher demonstrations as a form of teacher inquiry at the Northern California Writing and the Red Cedar Writing Project. More ›

Inside the E-Anthology Team

The Voice, 2004
Larry Barton
Sharing behind the scene observations of E-Team members at work, Barton describes how the E-Anthology allows summer institute participants to share writing with colleagues across the country. More ›

Keith's Question

The Voice, 2004
Bill Connolly
Prompted by a student-writer's question, high school teacher Bill Connolly reflects on why writing groups in the summer institute are so powerful. More ›

Reading in the Summer Institute: How, Why, and What

The Voice, 2004
Nick Coles, Richard Louth
Coles and Louth, seasoned writing project directors, share not only what was read in their sites' institutes, but also discuss why and how institute participants read these selections. More ›

The E-Anthology, A Summer Institute Perspective

The Voice, 2004
Maggie Herrick
A technology liaison describes how her site's use of the NWP E-Anthology gave teachers technology experience and a new forum for publishing their work. More ›

Empowering Teachers Through the Summer Institute

The Voice, May-June 2003
Beth Halbert
Building teacher leadership is an important component of the NWP model, but Beth Halbert of the West Tennessee Writing Project got a crash course when she was asked to facilitate the beginning of the 2002 summer institute. By relying on the proven writing project strategy of "teachers teaching teachers" she was able to launch the institute. More ›

Integrating Author Visits into the Summer Institute

The Voice, March-April 2003
Samuel Totten
Having professional writers visit during a summer institute can allow for an in-depth discussion about the profession and craft of writing, but it can also create a situation that minimizes the expertise of teacher participants. Samuel Totten, director of the Northwest Arkansas Writing Project outlines some steps his site takes to ensure that the exchange is rich and collegial. More ›

Poetry, the World Book, and the Summer Institute

The Voice, May-June 2003
Lee Hudson
Hudson had given up the idea of teaching poetry to her elementary students until she attended a summer institute. Hearing how other teachers taught it inspired her to integrate poetry into her teaching. More ›

Teaching After the Summer Institute

The Voice, May-June 2003
Nick Maneno
After attending a summer institute, Maneno meets with his school administrators to share the potency of the NWP model. He recounts the successes and challenges he faces as he shares what he learned. More ›

Working Writing into a Comfortable Fit

The Voice, May-June 2003
Karon Henderson
Even though Karon Henderson thought of herself as a confident teacher of writing, it wasn't until she attended the Central Texas Writing Project Summer Institute that she considered herself a writer and experienced all the discomfort writing can entail. "For the first time, I understood how my students feel when they are asked to write and believe that they have nothing to say." More ›

An Intern's Summer Institute Experience

The Voice, May-June 2002
Beth Hammett
A recent graduate with no teaching experience, Beth Hammett shares what she learned—and contributed—at the Oklahoma Writing Project summer institute in the site's first internship position. More ›

Asking the Right Questions

The Voice, May-June 2002
Kenneth P. Farizo
A survey of teachers conducted by Kenneth Farizo of the Louisiana State University Writing Project shows that teachers feel a personal and professional connection to the writing project. More ›

Dipping into the 2002 Summer E-Anthology

The Voice, November-December 2002
Christina Cantrill
Read highlights from the 2002 E-Anthology, an online forum where teachers at summer institutes across the country share their writing and experiences. More ›

Treasure: A Summer Institute Reflection

The Voice, May-June 2002
Melanie J. Taormina
Melanie J. Taormina reflects on how the positive feedback she received at a summer institute helped her rediscover a love of writing. More ›

Compiling "Favorite Authors" List Proves No Easy Task

The Voice, May-June 2001
Joan Taylor
The results of an informal poll on favorite authors serve as food for thought in light of the upcoming summer institutes. More ›

New Jacket

The Voice, May-June 2001
Kathleen Ann Gonzalez
When asked to try on the role of summer institute co- director, author and teacher-consultant Kathleen Ann Gonzales finds the opportunity both a great fit and a chance for self-reflection. More ›

Two or Three Things I Know For Sure About Teaching Writing

The Voice, May-June 2001
Ashley Martin
A rich variety of reading during a summer institute becomes a creative catalyst for Ashley Martin to reflect on what she knows about teaching. More ›

An Intimate Exchange: First Voice

The Quarterly, Spring 2000
Ellen Newberry
More ›

An Intimate Exchange: Second Voice

The Quarterly, Spring 2000
Terri Frase
More ›

Coaching and the Invitational Summer Institute*

November 2000
Susan Bennett
A document presented at the 2000 NWP Annual Meeting by Susan Bennett, director of the Redwood Writing Project. Bennett's portion of the workshop was a discussion on coaching. Coaching is the process by which a summer institute director, site director, co-director, or experienced teacher-consultant helps a summer fellow prepare to share his or her best practice with institute colleagues. More ›

Finding Answers to the Summer Institute

The Voice, January-February 2000
Susan Bennett
NWP directors, co-directors, and teacher-consultants representing at least 40 states and three countries uncovered scores of solutions to "frequently asked questions" in Denver at the NWP Annual Meeting. More ›

Inspiring a Love for Reading, Writing, and Learning

The Voice, May-June 2000
Terri Sasaki
More ›

NWP's E-Anthology Generates Thoughtful Discussions

The Voice, November-December 2000
NWP's 2000 summer E-Anthology was enormously successful. Contributors talked about teaching and learning issues, and posted book reviews, memoirs, fiction, and poetry. More ›

Reflections on a Summer Institute

The Voice, May-June 2000
Emily Bradley, Stephanie Vanderslice
More ›

Taking Out the Furniture, or What's Obvious: Lessons from the Literature Institute for Teachers

The Quarterly, Winter 2000
Marjorie Roemer
More ›

Teachers at the Center: A Memoir of the Early Years of the National Writing Project

The Quarterly, Fall 2000
James Gray
An excerpt from Teachers at the Center by National Writing Project founder James Gray. More ›

The Key to Recruiting: Teachers Nominating Teachers

The Voice, January-February 2000
Carol Tateishi
Carol Tateishi, director of the Bay Area Writing Project, discusses strategies for summer institute recruitment. More ›

Well-Seasoned Teacher Thrives at Summer Institute

The Voice, November-December 2000
Carol A. Lafrance
A middle-school teacher for twenty-eight years, Carol A. Lafrance finds she can still be a learner when she attends the Third Coast Writing Project's summer institute. More ›

NWP: 25 Years of Excellent Readings: BAWP Then and Now

The Quarterly, Fall 1998
James Gray, Mary K. Healy, Carol Tateishi
The authors trace the history of reading selections explored at the summer institute, concluding that the selections have moved increasingly toward providing readings that look more like the communities from which our students come. More ›

NWP: 25 Years of Excellent Readings: NVWP Then and Now

The Quarterly, Fall 1998
Don Gallehr
More ›

Summer Institute Prompts Imaginative, 'Touching' Story

The Voice, Spring/Summer 1997
Angela Rose
More ›

The Truth About the Capital Area Writing Project, or, How I Became a Convert

The Voice, Spring/Summer 1997
Cheri Louise Ross
More ›

Taking Murray Personally

The Voice, Fall 1996
Paul Epstein, Fran Simone
More ›

Different Strokes: Composing in a Writing Group

The Quarterly, Spring 1995
Robert Burroughs
College teacher Robert Burroughs reflects on his experience with a writing group at a Writing Project Summer Institute. He reconstructs the process that he and the other members of his group went through in revising and editing his poem for the South Coast Writing Project's summer anthology, with reference to the literature on writing groups. He goes on to explore the difference between adult and student writing groups. More ›