The concept of place is more than where people reside. Places are important in shaping the identity and experiences of people. Exploring the idea of relationships with place creates a context that ignites transformative thoughts and actions. "Place' is formed out of the particular set of social relations which interact at a particular…

The focus on formulaic approaches to writing in today's classrooms can be problematic, for it may inadvertently cause the quality of students' writing to decline. The National Writing Project (NWP) provides teachers with professional development to learn how to effectively incorporate evidence-based practices into their writing instruction. The…

Prior to the March, 2020 COVID-19 lockdown in New Zealand I was invited to offer professional development on ways that the writing of poetry could be facilitated in a Rotorua primary school. In March/April of that year, I engaged around 18 teachers (including the school principal) in four, twohour PD sessions using Zoom. A year on, in May 2021, I…

This research examined the impact of writing professional development and implementation on content area teachers' pedagogical practices. Data were collected through a survey instrument and teacher reflection questionnaires for qualitative and quantitative results. Teacher participants were employees at a rural public charter high school in North…

This study describes the initial implementation of the writing component of the "Write to Read" ("W2R") literacy intervention in eight low-SES (socio-economically disadvantaged) elementary-level urban schools. Through customised onsite professional development provided by coaches, the writing component sought to build teachers'…

Writing, writ large, is the very process, practice, and product by which students, researchers, faculty, and administrators on college campuses professionalize, become knowledgeable, and, in some cases, become experts. CSU Writes (Colorado State University) approaches writing as both the cornerstone practice and the primary means of professional…

This study explores the transformative nature of the National Writing Project (NWP). It employs an interpretive phenomenological analysis approach and self-efficacy theory in order to understand the perceptions of K-12 teachers who attended the NWP in Southeast Texas in the last five years. Using interviews, reflexive journals, and a reflective…

The purpose of this article is to describe, examine, and make a case for the value of a Continuing Professional Development week-long summer institute offered to teachers from across the education continuum -- from early childhood, through primary, secondary, further and higher education. At the institute participants could meet, learn and share…

A Complete Your Manuscript Workshop has been provided to tenure track faculty members in the college over the past two and one-half years. The workshop is a low-cost/high payoff opportunity for the college and participating faculty members, as the workshop requires few resources and the time commitment for participants is easily managed.…

The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic forced teachers to shift teaching and learning from face-to-face in brick-and-mortar classrooms to online learning platforms. For many teachers, this abrupt change was not an easy transition, particularly when working with students in early childhood who are reading and writing in the early years of literacy…

This longitudinal qualitative inquiry examines the possibilities that writer's workshop created for two experienced teachers and their English learners (EL) as they came to know and see each other and themselves in more complex and holistic ways. This inquiry addresses ways that writer's workshop not only altered the practice of experienced…

The Faculty Writing Fellows Seminar was designed to develop university instructors' skill in writing instruction: The 2015-16 professional development project offered faculty at Southern Oregon University a chance to read writing-pedagogy research, collaboratively develop their teaching practices, and--most importantly--put themselves in the shoes…

The Writer's Workshop is an approach to writing instruction using a workshop model. It is being implemented in kindergarten to fourth-grade in the Houston Independent School District. The Writer's Workshop sought to improve students' writing through teacher preparation by accommodating weaker students in research-based approaches that treat…

This paper explores writing pedagogy in the primary classroom and connections between children thinking creatively and their achievement in writing. Initially 'continuing professional development' for teachers, I designed and facilitated a two-day writing workshop with a class of children around the theme of a Victorian murder mystery. This was…

In the context of our work as literacy specialists, we taught teachers to use sentence frames to support ELL students' writing. We then studied the impact of their instruction on students. Our analysis of student writing samples revealed no group wide developmental trends so we posed deeper questions about their work using the data analysis…