This year, WNY Young Writers’ Studio writers and teachers have taken a deeper interest in blogging for personal or educational purposes. A handful of us have been blogging for a while, and others are eager to begin. In an effort to supplement what we do face-to-face and enable others who may not be a part of Studio to connect with our community a bit, I’ve decided to host a blogging boot camp right here on…
I’m sure I’m not the only one who has been plowed over by all that is June. This month saw the end of the 2009-2010 season of the WNY Young Writers’ Studio, highlighted by our Celebration of Writing and the publication of our first anthology (featuring 20 of this year’s 60 writers)! It’s also the end of our school year here in Western New York, which marks all sorts of endings and new beginnings. Earlier…
Just hopping online quickly to share the images captured at last week’s Celebration of Writing! Congratulations to the fellows of the WNY Young Writers’ Studio for a year AND a day well spent. Thanks for sharing all that you’ve learned and helping make the day a success. See you soon!
I’ve been offline a great deal over the last few weeks, wrapping up my school year and gearing up for the start of our new season at the WNY Young Writers’ Studio. We have some exciting things in the works, and I’m looking forward to meeting and working with a bunch of new writers and teachers this year! This Saturday, teachers and writers and parents and administrators from across our region will be gathering at…
Just a reminder….because June 5th is rapidly approaching! The WNY Young Writers’ Studio Celebration of Writing is a free event that is open to the public. Join us on June 5th as our fellows lead informal sessions on writing strategies, ideas, and technology tools. A few highlights from the draft of the day’s events: Teachers from Alden, Lockport, and Depew will be leading sessions on the use of writer’s notebooks in the classrooms, service-learning and…
The WNY Young Writers’ Studio is a community of writers and teachers of writing. We meet throughout the year to explore what good writing is and how to support one another as we work toward creating it. Fellows of our program come from different schools, universities, and organizations, and we meet throughout the year. Many of us have been a part of the community since it began in 2008. Teachers who join us may earn…
In recent weeks, I’ve been spending nearly as much time writing with kids as I have been working with teachers, and let me tell you–this is good for the soul. Particularly when I’m given the space and time to really get to know who these kids are and the gifts they bring. I’ve been teaching in some capacity for 18 years now. I can’t see myself ever giving this up, and some how, I’ve managed…
At NYSEC last week, I had the good fortune to drop into Jake Halpern and Peter Kujawinski’s session. Listening to these men speak to the joy they were able to reclaim for themselves as they worked on a project that made them feel 13 again was beyond inspiring. I took away something much more important though–I was provided some guidance around my own work with writers, based upon their varied experiences. As you might imagine,…
So…….as I was chatting with Alyssa and Sarah last weekend, they spoke to what many of us call authentic learning. Of course, they didn’t use that phraseology–they spoke in their native tongue, describing how some of what kids are asked to do in school is “boring” or “rushed” or “just for a grade”. They weren’t exactly giving their work with me great props either (just in case you thought I was getting off easy), and…
While I haven’t missed being tethered to the computer quite as much as I was during our school year, I have been missing the conversations that are unfolding within various networks here! My blog has also suffered some intentional neglect as I find myself filling up on the reading I’ve waited all winter to get to and planning for the WNY Young Writers’ Studio, which begins in two short weeks! On Sunday, I met with…