UPDATE | October 2010 IN THIS ISSUE • Dates to Remember • Register for the Celebration of Writing and Literacy • Scholastic Art & Writing Awards • Writers Support Group • Apply to the Leadership Inquiry Seminar • Submit Your Writing to the PhilWP Journal • Struggles and Strategies • National Day on Writing • NWP Annual Meeting • PhilWP Celebrations DATES TO REMEMBER Ongoing Scholastic Art & Writing Awards

Ongoing Register for Celebration of Writing and Literacy

6 Oct Writers Support Group, 6:00-8:00pm

7 Oct National After School Matters Roundtable, 9:30am-1:30pm

8 Oct Leadership Inquiry Seminar Letters of Interest Due

8 Oct Deadline for PhilWP Journal Submissions

19 Oct Struggles and Strategies, 4:30-6:00pm

20 Oct National Day on Writing

21 Oct Family Literacy Meeting, 4:00-6:00pm

22-23 Oct Pennsylvania Council of Teachers of English Language Arts Annual Meeting

6 Nov Celebration of Writing and Literacy, 8:30am-2:00pm

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

13 Nov Leadership Inquiry Seminar First Meeting, 8:30am-1:30pm

13 Nov Literature Circle, 2:00-5:00pm

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

18-20 Nov NWP Annual Meeting, Orlando, FL

19-22 Nov NCTE Annual Conference, Orlando, FL

REGISTER FOR CELEBRATION OF WRITING AND LITERACY Educators throughout the region will be gathering on Saturday, November 6, from 8:30am to 2:00pm at the University of Pennsylvania's Graduate School of Education, 3700 Walnut St, to celebrate our promising practices in Writing & Literacy. This day, hosted by Philadelphia Writing Project, will be filled with hands-on workshops that will provide educators with traditional and digital activities for use immediately in classrooms. Read the attached flyer to learn how you can join fellow teachers to collaborate on and discuss what's working best in our classrooms throughout the city. RSVP by October 29. For more information or to register, send and email to philwpcowl@gmail.com. SCHOLASTIC ART AND WRITING AWARDS Students in grades 7-12 can submit artwork and writing to win a Scholastic Art & Writing Award. The competition is sponsored nationally by the Alliance for Young Artists & Writer and locally by the Philadelphia Writing Project and the Philadelphia Arts in Education Partnership. Students may have their work read or displayed at a local library. Students who become regional and national winners will qualify for financial support to participate in local and national summer programs as well as college scholarships. Submissions are due December 6. Visit http://www.artandwriting.org/Affiliate/PA001W for more information. You may also contact PhilWP at philwp@gse.upenn.edu or 215-898-1919. WRITERS SUPPORT GROUP The first meeting of the PhilWP Writers Support Group will be Wednesday, October 6, 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. NATIONAL AFTER SCHOOL MATTERS INITIATIVE PRACTITIONER FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM RESEARCH ROUNDTABLE National After School Matters Initiative Practitioner Fellowship Program Research Roundtable will take place on Thursday, October 7, 9:30am-1:30pm at the University of Pennsylvania, Claudia Cohen Hall, 249 S. 36th St., Terrace Room. Research participants will present their findings regarding youth development and out-of-school time. Light lunch will be provided after the session. APPLY TO THE LEADERSHIP INQUIRY SEMINAR Looking for a way to deepen your PhilWP connection and meet with other TCs committed to on-going inquiry and reflection? Interested in delving into the topic of leadership with fellow TCs who will be exploring how leaders evolve, engage with others and exercise leadership in various contexts? Wondering about your own leadership capacity and seeking ways to analyze and enhance your leadership skills? If so, then the Leadership Inquiry Seminar may be just the place for you! This seminar is open to all Philadelphia educators, regardless of whether or not you are seeking a “formal” leadership position. We believe that we are all leaders in a perpetual state of becoming better, so we invite all to consider participating. See the attached flier. To apply by October 8, send a letter of interest stating why you would like to participate to the office of the Philadelphia Writing Project, 4201 Spruce St., Bldg 1921, Philadelphia, PA 19104, Attention: Miriam Harris. You may also contact PhilWP at philwp@gse.upenn.edu or 215-898-1919.

SUBMIT A PIECE TO THE PHILWP JOURNAL With the onset of a new school year, we have retooled our committee and our vision for PhilWP publications so that we might showcase and share our collective and individual collegial experiences in a more streamlined manner. The JOURNAL will include articles, artifacts, and commentaries depicting best practices and experiences that address a theme. For the fall issue of the JOURNAL, we wish to highlight lesson ideas that incorporate technology. For instance, one TC is submitting a piece that discusses the use of Wikis in the classroom. We also want reflections about technology and society. A TC has submitted a piece that addresses the technology access gap. We are looking for other pieces, lesson ideas, artifacts from your classroom, essays, and reviews of texts, resources, and videos that address technology, education, and practice. We can't wait to see what you come up with! We need your submissions by October 8! All of the correspondence and submissions should be emailed directly to philwpupdate@gmail.com. Always include any photos or links with your submission. 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 (9:00-11:00am) and third Tuesday (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 Tuesday, October 19 at 4:30pm for our next meeting and Saturday, November 6 for a special meeting held at the Graduate School of Education during the Celebration of Writing and Literacy. NATIONAL DAY ON WRITING On October 20, 2010, the National Writing Project will have a chance to make loud and clear the message that is at the core of its existence: Writing and writing competence are essential to the way we live. It is on that date that NWP will join the National Council of Teachers of English and other organizations in celebrating the second National Day on Writing. On that day, Americans are asked to recognize themselves as writers, be they poets, bloggers, text messagers, or office email communicators. At the core of the National Day on Writing, just as last year, is the National Gallery of Writing, a digital archive of compositions accessible to all through a free, searchable website: http://www.ncte.org/dayonwriting. To share what you are doing on this day in your own classroom with the National Writing Project, go to http://www.nwp.org/cs/public/print/events/494. NWP ANNUAL MEETING Join others from the Philadelphia Writing Project at the National Writing Project Annual Meeting in Orlando November 18-20. The NWP Annual Meeting provides an opportunity for teachers and site leaders from Writing Project sites around the country to gather for writing, thinking, and conversation, and includes interactive workshops, information sessions, and lively discussion. All Annual Meeting sessions are conducted by Writing Project directors, site leaders, and teacher-consultants. Receptions, reunions, meetings, and other social events are also a vital part of the Annual Meeting. For more information, visit http://www.nwp.org/cs/public/print/doc/10am/home.csp.

PHILWP CELEBRATIONS PhilWP TC Robert Rivera-Amezola, a fourth grade teacher at Frances E. Willard Elementary School in Philadelphia, spoke at a Capitol Hill briefing about his innovative uses of digital media tools in teaching writing. Rivera-Amezola serves on the leadership team of the National Writing Project’s English Language Learners network and leads local and national teacher workshops through the Philadelphia Writing Project. Read more about the briefing on the NWP website (http://www.nwp.org/cs/public/print/resource/3274) and the UPenn GSE website (http://www.gse.upenn.edu/node/1764).

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