At a quick glance, a second floor White Hall room is decorated to look like an elementary school classroom, but instead it is only occupied with adults. There is not a child to be found, but there are many colorful pieces of children's artwork and writing samples pinned on various cloth patterns draped on all four walls.
The 22 adults in the classroom are Northeast Ohio K-12 teachers and they are spending the next four weeks to study effective classroom writing practices as part of the National Writing Project (NWP) at Kent State University. The displays of artwork are personal pieces from the group that showcase each person's growth in writing over his or her lifetime.
The Kent campus has been a NWP site since 1997 and this year it is one of 200 summer nationwide institutions to study effective classroom practices to help students with writing at all grade levels.
The teachers learn from each other and guest speakers and also have the opportunity to practice their own skills through various types of writing, including poems, essays and professional copy. Returning to school this fall, these teachers will bring new insights and skills to their students, and to their colleagues, so that students in many classrooms may benefit.
This Curriculum and Instruction workshop is directed by Dr. Alexa Sandmann, a professor in the College of Education, Health, and Human Services; and co-directed by Dr. Deb DeBenedictis and doctoral candidate Judy Sewell. Jeff Harr, a high school English teacher at Roosevelt High School in Kent and an alumni of the project, serves as a co-facilitator for the course.
The participating students were selected by invitation, and the six-credit workshop tuition is paid for by the Ohio Board of Regents. For more information about this workshop, visit http://www.nwp-ksu.org or contact Dr. Alexa Sandmann at asandman@kent.edu.
