September+2009

Upper Peninsula Writing Project September 2009 Newsletter

Congratulations to Our Newest Teacher Consultants: Kara Graci, Debbie Goldsworthy, Chandra Ziegler, Colleen Martin, Michelle Bradley, Marcia Inglese, Jaime Sayen, Kristin Marczak, JoeyLynn Paquette, Allison Marlowe, Sarah Davidson, Sabina Carlson, Tracy Feliz

Leadership Team Changes   As the June newsletter stated, Suzanne Standerford retired from the UPWP on August 2. She will continue to be involved but has handed over the directorship (and the paperwork) to Mark and Jan. Other changes include our two tech liaisons. Both Sara Beauchamp-Hicks and Joe Routhier stepped down after this summer's institute. As with Suzanne, they both want to stay in touch though. We are lucky to have both Kara Graci  ('09) kara.graci@gmail.com and  Briana Bancroft  ('08) bancroftbriana@yahoo.com join our team. They will be working on updating the website and helping the wiki become a more professional-looking web presence. If you have suggests or comments regarding technology, please let them know.

Saturday Sessions & Writing Marathon   Just in time for the start of the school year, you can schedule some time for yourself. The Saturday Session dates are September 12, October 10, November 14, and December 12.  Remember this is a time for writing, sharing and venting. The October 10 session is our annual Writing Marathon with visiting author Uma Krishniswami <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 130%; color: rgb(0, 128, 0);">. Tentative plans call for the November date to be held somewhere near Houghton. Watch for an email from Mark about a week prior to each. To register click here Writing Marathon, and for questions contact Heather Hollands <span style="color: rgb(6, 162, 6); font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">hholland@gwinn.k12.mi.us

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 216%; color: rgb(255, 255, 0); background-color: rgb(0, 128, 0); text-align: center; display: block;">Presentation Tips <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 130%; color: rgb(0, 128, 0);">For those of you preparing a presentation, there is a new page on the wiki. Presentation Tips includes a template for handout covers and a guideline giving suggested times/activities. If you are presenting, please remember to promote the UPWP and contact Mark or Jan. Our site can use your presentation as an example of UPWP professional development. This helps when we write our Continued Funding Grant for next year. If you'd like to see more information on the Presentation Tips page, please let Paula know pdiedrich@mapsnet.org

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 216%; color: rgb(255, 255, 0); background-color: rgb(0, 128, 0); text-align: center; display: block;">UPRA and MARESA Fall Conference <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 130%; color: rgb(0, 128, 0);"> Friday, October 9, is the annual Educator's Fall Conference and UP Reading Association's Conference. Be on the lookout for UPWP TCs presenting. Past mini-grant winners, new TCs, and some familiar TCs will be presenting. To find out more about UPRA's conference visit [|www.upreadingassociation.org] and for MARESA's conference [|www.maresa.org]. For those of you presenting, be sure to let Mark know how many participants were in your presentation. These numbers are used in our annual report to NWP.

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 216%; color: rgb(255, 255, 0); background-color: rgb(0, 128, 0); text-align: center; display: block;">A Note from NWP <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 130%; color: rgb(0, 128, 0);"> START THE SCHOOL YEAR WITH A MESSAGE TO YOUR LEGISLATORS –– This summer's outreach effort has generated letters to more than 50 members of Congress, at least two site visits by congressional staffers, and responses from legislators honoring the work of writing project sites. With the new school year beginning, please consider letting your legislators know about the new ideas and approaches you will bring to the classroom and how the writing project has helped your teaching practice. Send questions and responses to publicaffairs@nwp.org.