advocating for writing
In order to make changes at a school in writing instruction, one must be an advocate for the power of student writing. This semester, I decided that I wanted to help lead teachers with their writing endeavors during our Teachers as Leaders course. To do this, I coached a beginning teacher who was looking for help in providing feedback to students when writing. I was able to help him come up with research based strategies and tools he could use in his classroom to strengthen his writing instruction within the coaching cycle. To champion change and shift mindsets about writing instruction, I will continue to work with teachers in my building as they seek help on their practices. Ultimately, I would like to help teachers infuse writing and technology as I found it to be a powerful strategy for writing growth.
Professional Development
To enhance my understanding as a professional, I attended the National Reading Conference whereI left feeling inspired by presenters, teachers around NC, and colleagues I attended the conference with. A big focus I had for workshops I attended during break-out sessions centered around my compelling question for my creative synthesis project. I was able to listen to various presentations about the craft of writing and how to get students to engage with writing to make it an invigorating experience. I learned more about how to connect writing in various content areas, how to analyze and read like an author, and more on the topic of writing conferences. I then took back these ideas to my PLT team and shared my vision in how we can transform our writing practices in the classroom for our grade level. Moving into the new school-year, I will be working closely with my IRT to plan some professional development opportunities for the staff centered around writing instruction. This year while a member on the SIP team, we identified that writing was an area of concern at our school and are looking to improve it before the 2017-2018 school year.