Oregon Writing Project
2008 Teaching Ideas Institutes

At three locations this summer, the Oregon Writing Project (OWP) at Eastern offers an intensive 6-credit institute designed for teachers of all subject areas and grade levels (K-university) who wish to develop effective teaching strategies to enhance student learning and performance through an emphasis on writing.

The Summer Writing Institute is modeled on the nationally acclaimed program at the Bay Area Writing Project, University of California at Berkeley, and adheres to the philosophy that the best teachers of teachers are themselves classroom teachers.

PROGRAM DESCRIPTION

Before the summer, participants will meet with institute leadership in their classrooms to discuss student work and inquiry interests and will attend a mandatory Saturday Preliminary Meeting:

• Bend TBA
• Ontario May 3
• Pendleton May 17

During the summer, the institutes meet four days per week 9 AM – 3 PM for three weeks. During the institutes, participants will

• Demonstrate best practices
• Leave with lesson plans
• Work with visiting experts
• Explore issues of diversity
• Develop writing projects that can be used with students
• Determine areas of inquiry
• Select readings and lead discussions
• Enhance classroom pedagogy and provide district leadership

At the conclusion of the institute, Fellows become OWP Teacher-Consultants who attend follow-up meetings in which they will continue to share best practices and develop leadership skills and who may be called upon for school-site inservice programs during the academic year.

REGISTRATION REQUIREMENTS

Interested teachers should supply the following:
1) A letter describing teaching philosophy and one teaching strategy used in the classroom.
2) A resume.
3) A letter of recommendation from a principal or other district official indicating administrative support for teaching efforts and committing to two days of release time each year for Writing Project follow-up meetings, in addition to any other release time provided by the contract.

(A sample letter is provided at: http://www.eou.edu/owp.)

 

To register, mail or email the material described above to the appropriate address below by May 1. OWP Fellowships are acknowledged with a letter of confirmation.

 

Bend	Ontario	Pendleton
Katie Leatherwood kleather@bend.k12.or.us Dawn Thill dthill@bend.k12.or.us	Karen Lawrence johlaw@eoni.com (541) 886-2951	Nancy Knowles, DirectorOregon Writing Project Eastern Oregon Univ. Arts & Sciences, LH 154 One University Blvd. La Grande, OR 97850 (541) 962-3795 nknowles@eou.edu

COST

The Summer Institute Fellowship carries with it a stipend of $800 as recognition of the participant’s classroom expertise. Tuition is about $1300, so with the stipend, the institute costs about $100 per credit. Districts can use Title I, II, III, or VII dollars to pay participants’ total tuition, in which case the participant keeps the stipend. For more information on leveraging federal funding to support OWP programming, please see the OWP website: http://www.eou.edu/owp

WRITING 131 EXPLORATORY PROSE WRITING
FOR HIGH SCHOOL JUNIORS & SENIORS

June 16 - July 3
9 AM – 12:30 PM
Pendleton High School
Instructor: Shaindel Beers
The Oregon Writing Project is offering a four-credit, general education writing course for high school juniors and seniors (Writing 131 Exploratory Prose) linked to the Pendleton Teaching Ideas Institute. College students are also welcome to participate. This course is a college-level review of writing using students’ experiences, observations, and perceptions. Students engage in regular rhetorical analysis, practice all stages of the writing process, and use various modes of discourse to become skillful at successful communication with a wide range of audiences. Students will participate in some writing workshops presented by institute participants and will revise writing generated there as texts included in a portfolio.

REGISTRATION REQUIREMENTS

High school juniors and seniors must demonstrate college-level writing ability in order to register by submitting applications as follows to Nancy Knowles by May 31, 2008:

1. Letter describing interest and background in writing.
2. Writing sample including at least one academic paper.
3. Letter of recommendation describing writing skills from a teacher, preferably an OWP Teacher-Consultant (list by district available at the OWP web page:
   http://www.eou.edu/owp

Writing 131 participants will be selected based on evidence of readiness for college-level writing.

For further information, please contact OWP Director Nancy Knowles at
(541) 962-3795, nknowles@eou.edu

Oregon Writing Project
Eastern Oregon University
College of Arts & Sciences, LH 154
One University Blvd.
La Grande, OR 97850

Bend
Katie Leatherwood, Co-Director
Summit High School
kleather@bend.k12.or.us

La Grande
Nancy Knowles, Director
Eastern Oregon University
Arts and Sciences, Loso Hall
One University Blvd.
Eastern Oregon University
La Grande, OR  97850
(541)962-3795
nknowles@eou.edu

Ontario
Karen Lawrence, Co-Director
johlaw@oregontrail.net
541-426-2506

College of Education

Eastern Oregon University
One University Boulevard
Zabel Hall
La Grande, OR 97850
Phone: 541-962-3644
Fax: 541-962-3701
E-Mail: ed@eou.edu