One middle school teacher who attended her state’s NWP summer institute remarked that the
institute “provided an outlet for me to meet many exceptional teachers with a wealth of expertise to
provide new strategies to implement into my own literacy environment.”
Activity #10: Actively participate in a professional organization that promotes the teaching of writing.
Participating in a professional organization that promotes excellence in writing instruction will
provide a teacher with an additional resource for continuing to develop her teaching skills. Participating in
professional organizations that seek to improve the writing skills of students allows teachers to broaden
their awareness of what is new in the field (Graves, 1994). International and national organizations such as
the International Reading Association (www.reading.org) and the National Council for Teachers of English
(www.ncte.org) and regional and state organizations such as the Missouri State Council of the International
Reading Association (www.missourireading.org) offer members a variety of benefits, including
subscriptions to the organizations’ scholarly journals, information about upcoming conferences on writing
instruction, the opportunity to network with other professionals in the field, and discounts on books and
other materials.
Summary
While writing is a difficult skill to master, teachers who regularly participate in writing activities will
be more proficient in their writing and more comfortable teaching writing to their students. “We cannot
building a nation of educated people who can communicate effectively without teachers…who value,
understand, and practice writing themselves” (National Writing Project & Nagin, 2006, p. 60). The ten
activities described provide the opportunities for teachers to gain confidence and expertise in writing and
become more effective teachers of writing in the classroom.
References
Anderson, C. (2000). How’s it going? A practical guide to conferring with student writers. Portsmouth, NH:
Heinemann.
Birchak, B., Connor, C., Crawford, K. M., Kahn, L. H., Kaser, S., Turner, S., & Short, K. G. (1998). Teacher
study groups: Building community through dialogue and reflection. Urbana, IL: National Council of
Teachers of English.
Calkins, L. M. (1994). The art of teaching writing. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Culham, R. (2003). 6+1 Traits of Writing: The complete guide grades 3 and up. New York: Scholastic.
Dobie, A. (2004). Tips for publishing: Bringing classroom practices, reflections, and research to print
(Teacher Inquiry Communities Network resource). Berkeley, CA: National Writing Project. Retrieved
January 24, 2008, from National Writing Project Web site: http://www.nwp.org/cs/public/print/
resource/1949
Dugan, M. M. (1995). Write a technology grant for your whole language classroom. The Reading Teacher,
48(8), 729-730.
23