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SCHOOLS
Tri-State teachers sharpen writing skills at Marshall
Kathy Shaffer, a teacher at Grace Christian School, takes notes on her laptop Wednesday, June 18, 2008, during a writing seminar for teachers in Cabell County at Marshall University's Corbly Hall.
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By BILL ROSENBERGER
HUNTINGTON -- Fourteen area teachers are spending four weeks sharpening their writing skills in the Marshall University Writing project, part of the National Writing Project.
The annual seminar helps teachers to improve the use of writing in their classrooms as well as grow professionally, said Peggy Henderson Murphy, director of the summer institute.
"They are learning to use writing in their classrooms to help students learn," Murphy said. "To help students write, they have to be good writers themselves."
Ironton High School English teacher Jennifer Stapleton, who took part in the institute last year, said this past year was the best she's had in her career. She said she grew as a writer and a teacher, and that helped her students.
"I do the work that I have my students do," Stapleton said. "If they write a paper, I do, too. I never had the confidence to do that before."
Stapleton said becoming a student of writing helped her connect with her 10th-grade students on a deeper level. It also helped her students see the importance of the assignments.
"Most people tell us this is a life-changing experience," Murphy said of the institute. "They have a lot more confidence in their abilities."
Meadows Elementary teacher Mary Arthur said just a week and a half into the project already is paying off.
"This has changed my writing completely," Arthur said. "So often the county gives us this structure of what we're to teach. I wanted to add to the creative side."
Each teacher also gets to lead a demonstration, which translates to an in-class assignment using the writing tools they have learned. On Wednesday, Wurtland Middle School teacher Amanda Hensley had the teachers write a poem about Camden Park. Then she handed out a rubric, or a set of criteria for assessment, that asked "yes or no" questions about the poem, including questions on style and punctuation. Hensley said the rubric allows students to essentially grade their own first draft and make changes for a second draft.
Huntington High School journalism and English teacher Ford Price, who just completed his first year in education, said the institute is giving him valuable experience that will help him as he grows in his career.
"Teaching writing is a whole other skill," Price said, adding that he has learned ways to make it more student driven.
The 14 teachers at Marshall are just a handful of more than 3,000 teachers who are taking part in the National Writing Project institute. This year's class is spurred on by the 2008 release of "The Nation's Report Card: Writing 2007," which shows modest but encouraging writing gains among eighth- and 12th-grade students.
The teachers attending the institute at Marshall were selected through an interview process. They are given a tuition waiver for six semesters of graduate credit and are invited to attend a writing retreat at Cedar Lakes in Ripley, W.Va., and attend the National Writing Project National Convention in San Antonio, Texas.
