A Possible Plan for Professional Development

In 2011-2012 school year, KES has a wonderful professional development opportunity.  A UMO implementation coach has volunteered to teach a year-long graduate level literacy course at our elementary school.  Our principal, the coach, and myself plan to work together to plan the outcomes of the course.  Writing will obviously be a big part of our learning.  I wanted to journal about my initial thoughts about what may work for our teachers.

The Nuts and Bolts:
12 classes on-site
2 in late August
1 class a month throughout the school year
3 hour classes = 36 credit hours

Big Nuggets:
The classroom environment: organizing for differentiated instruction
Workshop Framework for reading and writing
Reading Workshop: The essentials
Writing Workshop: The essentials

I have a pretty good idea of where we need to take the teachers in reading.  I'd like to explore what the writing piece may look like in the class.

Routine:
I'd think it would make sense to organize the class, so that when teachers come into "the classroom", there is an expectation (just like we'd have in our classrooms).  Teachers would be expected to get themselves a quick snack, and sit down and write in their writer's notebook.  This is how we would start every class--with a 10-20 minute free write.  Participants could then share the entry they are working on,  another entry, or a celebration from the teaching and learning in their classroom. (Participants would be expected to try on different prompts from Inside Notebooks  or try on different ideas from the Units of Study).

Writing texts to use:

www.readingmatters.net                                 

Our school uses Calkins Units of Study in our K-2 classrooms. Our goal is to implement the units of study in grades 4-6 as well.  The course will provide a great vehicle to explore and possibly pilot some of the lessons, especially from the first book: Launching the Writing Workshop.  We also have the accompany DVD that shoes the lessons in action.

leeapwordpress.com

I think this would be a great resource to refer to when talking about what the Writing Workshop is.  Perhaps we could use this to prepare a presentation of the writing workshop.

Notebook Know-How could be used as a working text throughout the course.  Participants would read a chapter and try on 1-2 prompts in their writer's notebook.  Participants would be expected to have at least 30 entries in their writer's notebook throughout the length of the course. (This seems do-able for a semester length class).  We also have the DVD accompany to this text as well.  Perhaps I could share my book talk at one of our first classes: Notebook Know How

Articles that will be important to share and discuss are:

The Neglected "R"

Writing: A Ticket to Work ... Or a Ticket Out

Websites that will be important to explore:

National Commission on Writing

The National Writing Project

Alliance for Young Artists and Writers

If I do not have a chance to share my writing plan with the whole staff, I think this class would be a great place to share my prezi: Teaching in the Know: Using Technology as a Tool in Our K-6 Classrooms

These are just a few of my ideas of how to share some of my new learning with my colleagues.  I'll keep adding as I come across new ideas.  I welcome any and all comments. :)