Background
The Three Kinds of Writing Go Online
Resources for Middle School and Secondary Teachers
Background. . .
as told by the project director:
In the fall of 2001, Western put out a call for faculty proposals for institutes which would support Kentucky's public school teachers. In consultation with John Hagaman, Director of the Western Kentucky University Writing Project, I cobbled together a proposal for an institute which would produce a web site combining resources focused on the sorts of writing which are being emphasized in Kentucky schools. With additional support from the chair of the English Department, Linda Calendrillo, the proposal was approved.
In essence, the institute sought to tap the resources of teachers who were already experienced with the various forms of writing. Announcements of the institute were sent out electronically, and a wealth of applicants responded. The selection process was more than a bit convoluted. Using the applicants' reports of their varied writing activities, content areas, and grade levels, I was able to select the field with the widest spread possible.
We met the week of June 24-28, 2002. The participants came armed with their class materials--examples of prompts, teaching strategies, teaching materials, student work, and commentary in support of various types of writing. We discussed "the grand scheme," then made some decisions about the format of the web pages. The group had a range of experience with web page construction, but everyone pitched into the effort with enthusiasm. We accomplished quite a bit during the week, and we continued to refine work done and add more material at two Saturday follow-up meetings during the school year.
Will the site ever be finished? Probably not. But we hope it will always be a useful resource to teachers from various content areas. Feel free to share your comments with us by contacting me at <david.lenoir@wku.edu>.
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