June 5, 2009 — The Virgin Islands Writing Project (VIWP), a partnership between the National Writing Project (NWP), the V.I. Department of Education, and the University of the Virgin Islands, will conduct its seventh annual Summer Institute from June 22 to July 17 on UVI’s St. Croix campus.
“The mission of the NWP,” VIWP Director Valerie Combie said in a statement, “is to enhance and improve writing throughout America and its territories.” Fourteen public school teachers from throughout the territory, including two from the St. Thomas district, two from St. John, and 10 from St. Croix, will participate in the Summer Institute. The teachers have already begun working with their coaches, preparing projects assigned during a pre-institute retreat.
The projects include a 90-minute demonstration on a best practice — something implemented in the classroom that has worked very well in teaching writing — or an inquiry demonstration, which should include research on a teaching practice. Each teacher will also prepare a “passion piece,” written in any genre, describing what they find most rewarding or troubling to them in their profession.
The focus of this year’s institute involves the use of technology to teach writing. “After the Institute, the 14 teachers and their coaches will be more current in literacy research, will have been exposed to a variety of ways of teaching writing, and will be better equipped to use technology in the classroom,” said Combie.
At the end of the institute the teachers will be ready to conduct professional development in the schools. The idea is to enable teachers to teach fellow teachers.
The VIWP has trained approximately 97 teachers in both districts during the past six years. The trained teachers, called teacher consultants (TCs), are then able to conduct professional development in writing throughout the territory’s schools. This year, TCs conducted professional development in all of the elementary and junior high schools on St. Croix. Professional development was also conducted for ninth grade teachers on St. Croix. With the addition this year of teachers from St. Thomas and St. John, all three islands will now benefit from the program.
VIWP will also conduct the “Advanced Institute in Professional Development” July 20-23 on UVI’s St. Croix campus, followed by the first-ever VIWP conference in January. Those teachers who take part in the advanced development training will be asked to present at the conference. Combie said, “We want them to apply what they’ve learned.”
More than 3,000 teachers across the country learn new strategies to improve their students' writing skills, study the latest research and learn effective classroom practices at more than 200 National Writing Project sites on college campuses in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. National research studies confirm significant gains in writing performance among students whose teachers participate in NWP programs.
For more information, contact Combie at 692-4126.
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