Teachers Work On Their Skills At Writing Workshop

By Susan Coney

Newtown teachers as well as teachers from surrounding districts participated in a weeklong writing workshop to brush up their teaching skills. The workshop is sponsored by Education Connection, which is a nonprofit organization that provides staff development to 31 school districts throughout Connecticut. The organization brought in consultants from The Teachers College Reading and Writing Project at Columbia University. The goal of the project is to support expert literacy instruction within area schools through research, writing, and professional development of teachers and school leaders. The program caters to the particular needs of the individual school district.

Education Connection consultant Kathleen McClellan explained, “We provide multifaceted support to school districts depending on their specific needs. The needs of a school district such as Newtown are very different than that of the needs of a district like Bridgeport.” She went on to stress that the teachers attending the workshop offered at Newtown High School were very enthusiastic about the opportunity to learn more and perfect their craft. “They go to great lengths to be here. They give up a week of their vacation time and many pay out of pocket so that they can become better educators,” she said.

Assistant Superintendent Alice Jackson, director of curriculum for the Newtown school district, stopped by to check out the workshop. Familiar with the program, she was delighted that several of her veteran teachers admitted they were learning a great deal. “People don’t think we do anything in the summer, but my teachers are always working to improve their skills,” Ms Jackson said.

Teachers College consultants Maggie Moon and Laurie Pessah taught the workshop, which was broken into two sessions. The teachers were grouped according to the age levels they taught. Half listened in the lecture hall to Ms Pessah, as she taught effective strategies. The other half worked in small groups in a classroom setting under Ms Moon’s direction.

The teachers kept a journal and worked on narrative writing pieces of their own, which they continually edited and revised and ultimately celebrated by sharing their pieces within the small group setting. Ms Pessah said, “These teachers are incredibly dedicated and they do more than they have to. They come early and discuss ideas and are constantly thinking about ways to improve their teaching to benefit their students.”

Education Connection consultant Joyce DeAngelo said that the purpose of the workshop is to give teachers practical things that they can take with them and apply right away to their present teaching situation. “It’s intense but they come away with things they can use everyday in teaching. It is amazing how much they improve in their own writing from day one until day five,” she said.

During the workshop teachers are taught effective writing skills and go through the same process they will then teach to their students. They are given the tools and strategies to assist their students to become better writers. As part of the process teachers write along with their students, sharing their writing as a way of providing a model.

Michelle Vaccaro, a sixth grade teacher at Reed Intermediate School, was highly impressed with the workshop. “It was really powerful — one of the best uses of a week of my summer vacation. After this I wouldn’t think of teaching writing any other way. I can’t believe at this stage in my career I found something so helpful, useful, and easy to follow,” she said. Ms Vaccaro enthusiastically added, “I can’t wait to implement it with my new class this fall.”