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| Vol. 17, No. 37 | July 23, 1998 |
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| Vol. 17, No. 37 | July 23, 1998 |
Teachers teaching teachers about writing is the core of the Delaware Writing Project Summer Institute, coordinated by Carol Vukelich, education, and Denise Speicher, an English teacher at Delmar High School.
Funded by the University, the Delaware Department of Education and all 19 school districts, the program is being offered for the first time this summer.
A six-credit graduate course, the program is modeled after the National Writing Project and is being offered Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays during the month of July in Dover.
Institute fellows are outstanding classroom writing teachers-from grades K-12 and from different disciplines-recommended by their principals or other administrators. From more than 30 applicants, 20 teachers, representing almost every school district in the state, were selected.
"Writing is a fundamental learning tool in all areas of learning, not just English and the language arts, so the teachers represent all grade levels and teach a variety of subjects," Vukelich pointed out.
Writing, reading, editing and critiquing each other's work are all part of the program, culminating in crafting a workshop that can be presented to fellow teachers next year, she said.
Participants select their own literature to read and critique in terms of the author's writing, the setting, character development and other criteria. Studying books or articles from the point of view of how they are crafted helps writing skills, Vuckelich said.
Under the premise that teachers of writing must be writers themselves, the participants try different kinds of writing-self-expressive, informative and persuasive. These works are then shared with their colleagues who make comments and offer suggestions. Final drafts will be published in an anthology by the institute and in Trade Secrets, a teachers' magazine.
The culmination of the program is the workshop each teacher designs to be presented to colleagues during the next school year. The teacher must discuss goals and objectives, what approach he or she has found to be effective in teaching writing, the instructional methods to be used, how the workshop can affect educational practice and other pertinent information. The participants also develop handouts to accompany their workshops.
A trial run is scheduled during the summer session and will be critiqued by the group and coordinators. Concluding the institute, teachers will present their workshops for district level supervisors on July 29.
"Successful teachers of writing are the best teachers of other teachers, and this group of teachers is familiar with Delaware students and knows their strengths and where improvement needs to be made," Vukelich said.
-Sue Swyers Moncure
