UPDATE | February 2011 IN THIS ISSUE • Dates to Remember • New Year, Renewed Efforts • Struggles and Strategies • Scholastic Art & Writing Awards Ceremony • Submit Your Writing to the PhilWP Journal • Writers Support Group • Applications Available for Summer Invitational Institute • Teacher Profiles Needed for PhilWP Website • Literature Circle • Urban Sites Network Conference • PhilWP Celebrations DATES TO REMEMBER Ongoing Submit application for Summer Invitational Institute

Ongoing Register to attend Urban Sites Network Conference

15 Feb Struggles and Strategies, 4:30-6:00pm

20 Feb Scholastic Art & Writing Awards Ceremony and Reception, 1:00pm

3 March Writers Support Group, 6:00-8:00pm

4 March End of early registration period for Urban Sites Network Conference

5 March Struggles and Strategies, 8:30-11:00am

8 March Leadership Team Meeting, 5:30-8:00pm

11 March Deadline for PhilWP Journal submissions

12 March Leadership Inquiry Seminar, 8:30am-2:00pm

12 March Literature Circle, 2:00-5:00pm

11-12 March PFT Health & Welfare Fund Educational Conference (PhilWP Workshops)

16 March Struggles and Strategies, 4:30-6:00pm

31 March Applications due for Summer Invitational Institute

31 Mar-1 April NWP Spring Meeting, Washington, DC

7 April Last day to register for Urban Sites Network Conference

29-30 April Urban Sites Network Conference, Boston, MA

NEW YEAR, RENEWED EFFORTS The opening months of 2011 have been busy for the PhilWP network. Despite the challenges brought by snow and ice, our groups—Leadership Inquiry Seminar, Struggles and Strategies, Writers Support Group, Literature Circle, and Extended Leadership Team—met to continue their important work. Additionally, our teacher consultants have completed the judging of the Scholastic Arts and Writing Awards. The recruitment team has hosted sessions to invite teachers to join our next cohort of teacher consultants. And our teacher consultants have been busy publishing their work. Check out the updates and announcements below to find out what’s been happening and to keep track of upcoming events.

Teachers convene to judge submissions to the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards contest.

The Recruitment team introduces potential applicants to PhilWP.

STRUGGLES AND STRATEGIES Struggles and Strategies is a collaborative teacher inquiry group open to ALL Philadelphia teachers. We meet twice monthly, on the first Saturday (8:30-11:00am) and third Wednesday (4:30-6:00pm) of each month at the Philadelphia Writing Project office (42nd and Locust). Our Saturday discussions focus on the anchor text What Keeps Teachers Going by Sonia Nieto and our Tuesday sessions focus on sharing student work and discussing teacher practice. Join us Saturday, March 5, at 8:30am for our next meeting. We will also meet on Wednesday, March 16.

SCHOLASTIC ART AND WRITING AWARDS The Philadelphia Writing Project partnered with the Philadelphia Arts in Education Partnership (PAEP) to administer the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards servicing the counties of Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery and Philadelphia. Over 50 Philadelphia students were among the young authors recognized for their writing skill and creativity in the 2011 regional competition. An awards ceremony and reception was held to honor the recipients on Sunday, February 20, 2011 in Levitt Auditorium at the University of the Arts, 401 South Broad Street, at 1:00pm. We congratulate the following TCs whose students were among the winners. Joan Asprakis, 1998 TC, Lincoln High School • 2 Silver Key winners • 4 honorable mentions Susan Chast, 2002 TC, Franklin Learning Center • 3 Silver Key winners • 3 honorable mentions Peggy Kaplan, 2008 TC, Christopher Columbus Charter School • 1 honorable mention Christine MacArthur, 2000 TC, Central High School • 4 Silver Key winners • 8 honorable mentions Molly Thacker, 2008 TC, Benjamin Rush Arts Academy • 1 Silver Key winner Essie Abrams-Goldberg, Kohelet Yeshiva High School • 1 honorable mention SUBMIT WRITING TO THE PHILWP JOURNAL Celebrating Our Voices: A Call for Teacher Writing Teachers spend a lot of time speaking: guiding students in the classroom; chatting in the lounge; calling home to students’ families; presenting at conferences; processing the day’s events with a colleague or friend; collaborating in meetings; reading district-mandated scripts; participating in pre- and post-observation meetings with a principal; reviewing test prep strategies with students; developing behavioral interventions; wrestling with the uncertainties of school takeovers and conversions; discussing a CSAP, an IEP, or a PD during CPT; interacting with students in the hallway; modeling; inspiring; performing; and encouraging. For 25 years, the Philadelphia Writing Project has served as a space for teachers to share their voices on important issues in the field and collaborate to improve teaching and learning in our schools. In this tradition, we invite you to write. Share your thoughts, concerns, successes, and creative work with our network. We are looking for: • poetry • creative writing • book/movie reviews • essays • sample lessons • student work • resource reviews • reflections • policy suggestions The writing that your share may be published in our March 2011 PhilWP Journal. Please submit your work or questions to philwpupdate@gmail.com. The deadline for submissions is March 11. We look forward to hearing from you.

WRITERS SUPPORT GROUP The next meeting of the PhilWP Writers Support Group will be Thursday, March 3, from 6:00 to 8:00pm at the PhilWP office (42nd and Locust). Whether you are interested in writing articles, research findings, poetry, or fiction, this group will serve as a space to check in and encourage publication. LITERATURE CIRCLE The next PhilWP Literature Circle meeting will be on Saturday, March 12, from 2:00 to 5:00pm at the PhilWP Office (4201 Locust St). Participants will be reading The Help, by Kathryn Stockett. Please consider joining, and if you do, bring a little food to share. The February discussion about Little Bee was really lively, and the next one promises to be the same. APPLICATIONS AVAILABLE FOR 2011 SUMMER INVITATIONAL INSTITUTE Applications are now being accepted for the 2011 Invitational Summer Institute. Please alert your colleagues and start to spread the word around your school. Participants will receive 3 credit units (9 continuing education credits ) from the Graduate School of Education at the University of Pennsylvania, upon successful completion of all course requirements. Participants who complete all fellowship requirements with a grade of passing become teacher consultants with the Philadelphia Writing Project, the Pennsylvania Writing Project Network and the National Writing Project. The course is free. Contact PhilWP at philwp@gse.upenn.edu or 215-898-1919 for the application materials. Application materials are due to the Philadelphia Writing Project no later than 5:00pm, March 31. TEACHER PROFILES NEEDED FOR WEBSITE The PhilWP web presence teams plans to include teacher profiles on the new website for the Philadelphia Writing Project. As part of a PhilWP tradition of "going public with our practice," teacher consultants can share thoughts on their work with the PhilWP network, reflections on teaching and learning as well as creative writing. We may then contact you about a photograph for the website. Access the form below to submit your profile for possible inclusion on the website: https://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?formkey=dGFhVFZrTFNNTWNtelliSjVxRlc5Vnc6MQ Profiles should be submitted by March 15. APPLICATIONS FOR MARCI RESNICK TEACHER FUND AWARD AND PROJECT WRITE FORTHCOMING Look for an email about the Marci Resnick Tech Fund Award in the coming weeks. Also, applications will soon be available for ProjectWRITE, PhilWP’s summer enrichment writing camp for students.

URBAN SITES NETWORK CONFERENCE Join others from the Philadelphia Writing Project at the Urban Sites Network (USN) Conference in Boston April 29-30. The USN conference provides an opportunity for teachers and site leaders from National Writing Project sites around the country to gather for writing, thinking, and conversation, as well as interactive workshops, information sessions, and lively discussion. The theme for this year’s conference is “Nurturing Student Writing: Navigating Urban Literacies.” The early conference registration deadline is March 4, and the standard registration deadline is April 7. For more information, contact PhilWP at philwp@gse.upenn.edu or 215-898-1919 and visit http://www.nwp.org/cs/public/print/events/496. PHILWP CELEBRATIONS Congratulations to PhilWP TC Dr. George Cross for the publication of his book, Coolposing: Secrets of Black Male Leadership in America. PhilWP TC Diane Santori published a piece entitled “‘Search for the answers’ or ‘Talk about the story’?: School-based Literacy Participation Structures” in the January 2011 issue of Language Arts, published by the National Council of Teachers of English. Subscribers can view it online here: http://www.ncte.org/journals/la/issues/v88-3. Artwork by TC Joyce Millman is currently on display through March 12 in the Moore Galleries at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts as part of an exhibit that celebrates teachers who are teaching the next generation of art educators. The exhibit is called “Art of Teaching Art Teachers: Highlighting Moore's Art Education Faculty.” This past January marked the 10th anniversary of Miriam Harris’s addition to our network as administrative assistant with the Philadelphia Writing Project and the University of Pennsylvania. She began her employment on January 3, 2001. Be sure to thank Miriam for her decade of service to Philadelphia teachers and students. Continue to follow TC Sam Reed’s blog on The Philadelphia Public School Notebook at http://www.thenotebook.org/blogs/samuel-reed-iii. Sam has recently posted a collaborative review of The New Teacher Book. PhilWP TC Tamara Anderson has been busy writing about Philadelphia education as a contributor to the online Examiner. You can read her work here: http://www.examiner.com/education-in-philadelphia/tamara-anderson. A number of PhilWP TCs teamed up to lead two different conversations at EduCon2.3, the third national conference hosted by teachers and students at the Science Leadership Academy. TCs Angela Chan, Andrea Gray, Peggy Kaplan, Kathryn May, Molly Thacker, and PhilWP Scholar Ted Domers led a session about the PhilWP teacher inquiry group, Struggles and Strategies. Ted, along with Abby Baker, Meenoo Rami, and Trey Smith presented on publishing student work using digital tools.

Is there something we should include in the next issue of the UPDATE? Email philwpupdate@gmail.com to share.

The UPDATE is a publication of the Philadelphia Writing Project. The Philadelphia Writing Project, located in the Graduate School of Education at the University of Pennsylvania, is a network of 700 teacher consultants and is a site of the National Writing Project. Philadelphia Writing Project

4201 Spruce Street, Building 1921 • Philadelphia, PA 19104-7499 Phone: 215-898-1919 • Fax: 215-746-1784 • Email: philwp@gse.upenn.edu