Programs

Programs


Open Programs

Open Programs - Enrollment in these programs is open to individual teachers and teams of teachers from schools and districts. These programs are most often held regionally or on university campuses.

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Project Think Tank

Project Think Tank, a collaborative effort between Program of Research & Evaluation for Public Schools (PREPS) and the Mississippi Writing/Thinking Institute (MWTI) is a series aligned with the Mississippi Writing Assessment. The series provides teachers with a four-day professional development model and is accompanied by narrative and informative writing process lesson plans that help students succeed on the state writing assessment. During the interactive workshops, teachers work through narrative and informative instructional units, explore mini lessons to help students improve their writing, make plans for implementing the units, and analyze and develop writing prompts. Year after year, Project Think Tank continues to be a favorite with administrators and teachers. For information about dates and locations, contact Program of Research & Evaluation for Public Schools

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Writing as Art and Craft

Through workshops, classroom demonstrations, and study groups, teachers in this yearlong program become better writers and discover how to help students improve their writing. Approaches include those designed to motivate reluctant writers and processes to help students write with elaborated detail, sentence variety, paragraph coherence, sophisticated word choice, and effective use of rhetorical devices. Writing as Art & Craft is led by Richard Graves, known for multiple editions of his book Rhetoric and Composition and for his latest publication, Writing, Teaching, Learning. He is the founder of the Gulf Coast Conference on Teaching and Writing. CEU credit is available.

School-Based Programs

School-Based Programs - These contracted programs are held at the school and/or district level. MWTI staff collaborate with leadership teams of teachers and administrators to ensure that these programs meet the needs of school faculties.

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COMPASS

Content Oriented Methods and Practices with Analysis of Strategies and Standards (COMPASS), designed for high school and middle school teachers, is geared toward preparing students for state assessments in subject areas. By targeting improved reading and writing performance utilizing content-specific lessons, COMPASS supports content-area teachers as they implement reading and writing strategies in their classrooms. The program consists of three days of workshops, three half days of classroom demonstrations, and three half days of study groups. CEUs are available.

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Tailored Staff Development

Each of the seven sites of the Mississippi Writing/Thinking Institute (MWTI) is prepared to work with area school districts to design unique programs to meet specific needs. Leadership teams from MWTI sites meet with administrators and leadership teams of teachers to determine content needs, delivery strategies, and scheduling. Tailored staff development provides districts with the necessary tools to meet the increasing demands of MCT2, Subject Area Testing Programs, AYP, and No Child Left Behind mandates. National Writing Project and MWTI resources are made available to schools through tailored programs.

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Classroom Demonstrations with Debriefing

Teacher-consultants present process-based lessons in teachers' classrooms, aligned with state and district standards. Small groups of teachers are debriefed on the strategies used in the demonstrations. Classroom demonstrations have been so successful that schools are now requesting scheduled classroom demonstrations as an integral part of their professional development programs.

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Curriculum Writing

Staff at the sites of the institute are prepared to work with school leadership teams to develop curricula in alignment with national standards, district goals, and Mississippi frameworks and assessments. CEU credit is available.

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Parent Projects

In the Parent Projects, each university writing project offers programs for parents. In the Parent Project, teams of teachers and parents attend six two-hour lessons in which they experience good children's literature, participate in and plan math lessons based on concrete items found in the home, plan science field trips with individual children, and clarify educational concerns and issues of parents. Daily logs kept by teachers and parents record children's questions, insights, and moments of awe and wonder.

Parent Projects are designed to meet the needs of individual school districts.

Topics can include:

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Teacher Research

Teacher Inquiry or research groups operate at Writing Project sites interested in developing leadership and resources for teacher inquiry. Several Mississippi Writing Project sites are members of the Teacher Inquiry Network, a special focused network of the National Writing Project (NWP). The NWP's Teacher Inquiry Network provides support at various stages of the inquiry process, increases the opportunity for sustained dialogue among sites developing teacher research.

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Classroom Observations with Individual Teacher Mentoring

MWTI staff collaborate with school staff to conduct classroom observations followed by individual teacher mentoring sessions. These sessions are designed to support teachers as they implement reading and writing based instructional strategies in their classrooms.

These sessions also support teachers as they implement rigorous instructional strategies aligned with Mississippi curriculum frameworks and work to prepare students for Mississippi assessments.

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Book Studies

MWTI staff assist school faculties in choosing relevant reading material for a year-long book study. During regularly scheduled "book club" style meetings, MWTI staff facilitate discussions of the reading and when appropriate, model strategies for classroom implementation. Often book study sessions are held during teachers' planning times so that this program does not interfere with daily instructional time. CEUs are available.

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Reading in the Content Areas

This three-day workshop series is based upon the principles of situated learning, preparing teachers to implement authentic learning experiences in their classrooms. Additional support is provided for teachers by regularly scheduled classroom demonstrations with debriefing and study groups.

Topics include:

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Writing for Excellence

Writing for Excellence is a twelve day program that supports teachers as they prepare students to take the Mississippi Writing Assessment. This program supports teachers with a four-pronged approach:

Research shows that teachers who implement strategies from writing-based professional development experience an increase in student writing scores on the Mississippi Writing Assessment.

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Invitational Summer Institutes

"Teachers Teaching Teachers" invitational summer institutes are at the heart of every National Writing Project (NWP) site. Each of the seven NWP sites in Mississippi conducts a summer institute for the purpose of preparing expert teachers to teach other teachers. Through these four to five-week invitational programs, selected teachers prepare to become teacher-consultants who lead other teachers in professional growth.

During the institute, teachers will:

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Rural Voices Radio

Rural Voices Radio

Rural Voices Radio, a partnership with Mississippi Public Broadcasting, is broadcast daily at 12:04 p.m. Listeners tune in to any of Mississippi's eight public radio stations to hear stories of home, place, and Mississippi. These unique stories, shared through the voices of Mississippi students and teachers, follow the model for radio publication established by the National Writing Project. The Mississippi Writing/Thinking Institute and Mississippi Public Broadcasting continue to pioneer collaborative real-world connections among diverse students, cross-curricular subjects, educators, parents, business, and technology. Five to six times each year, master-teachers gather to read and review student writings for recording. Rural Voices Radio All students who submit their writing receive thoughtful, specific response. Students whose pieces are selected for recording receive coaching and rehearsal time to prepare for this unique publishing opportunity. Rural Voices Radio enjoys public interest and serves as a catalyst for building a renewed awareness of the importance of authentic audiences for Mississippi students.


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