Some area educators who use expeditionary learning in their classrooms explored the world of writing during a three-day workshop at Schoolcraft Learning Community near Bemidji.
The "Writing Institute I" workshop held Friday through Sunday drew nearly 30 educators from Schoolcraft, Voyageurs Expeditionary High School and Cass Lake-Bena Area Learning Center.
By engaging these educators in the writing process, national presenter Beverly Ann Chin demonstrated how they can motivate students to become better writers, as well as better thinkers and communicators.
On Friday afternoon, Chin, an English professor who directs the English teaching program at the University of Montana in Missoula, led the educators in a gallery walk activity in a large room at the charter school.
With notebooks and pencils in hand, they silently reflected on photos and writings that brought to life the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire of March 25, 1991, in New York City. Still silent, they wrote some of their observations on large charts set up in the middle of the room.
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After the gallery walk, the educators broke off into groups of four and were handed the poem, "Fragments from the Fire: The Triangle Shirtwaist Company Fire of March 25, 1911," by Chris Llewellyn. Each assigned their own parts of the poem, the groups read their lines aloud collectively.
Chin noted that students need a compelling topic that engages them so they have a reason and motivation to write. And when people write effectively, their voices are heard, their messages are clearer and they influence others, she said.
Nan Rice, a school designer with the Midwest Area division of Expeditionary Learning Schools Outward Bound, said that every strategy used during the workshop is a strategy that the educators can use in the classroom with students.
The workshop's facilitators brought the book that was the primary resource for the three days - "6+1 Traits of Writing: The Complete Guide (Grades 3 and Up)," by Ruth Culham - into the context of expeditionary learning. Focusing on the traits of ideas, sentence fluency, organization, word choice, voice, conventions and presentation, the book describes the "6+1 traits model" used to teach and assess student writing.
Gretel Stern, a math teacher at Voyageurs, said the workshop showed her ways to support the school's English program in her own subject area. She said she can include writing in her math classes and hold her students accountable to the same writing standards held by English teachers.
As the workshop continued, Kari Erickson, a special education teacher at Voyageurs, said she was eager to learn more about using the "6+1" traits to teach and assess students.
Meghan Lien, a Title I paraprofessional at Schoolcraft, said she was looking forward to doing some writing and having it assessed at the workshop. Perhaps, she said, having her own writing assessed will help her better assess her students' writing and motivate them.
Through the workshop, Lien said she gained a shared vision with other educators in terms of writing. She added that she was finding tools for assessing writing that educators can share as students move from grade to grade.
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And according to Chin, the more educators have a shared vision on effective practices of writing, the more their students will grow as writers.
