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Professional Writing Retreats

2010 Professional Writing Retreats

Application Deadline: April 9, 2010
To submit your application, go to: http://www.nwp.org/cs/public/print/events/430

Overview

The NWP Professional Writing Retreats focus on giving teachers a chance to write about the profession of teaching and their practice, make claims about policy, discuss school reform, argue about ideas concerning literacy and learning, and address a variety of concerns about teaching writing. Facilitators and guest editors provide support and coaching on site. Participants have long stretches of time to write and receive feedback from their writing group. This year the retreats will run concurrently.

Retreat A participants

• Are in the draft stage of the writing process but have a clear idea of what they will write
• Choose a target audience or publication
• Revise to refine concepts in their piece.

Retreat B participants

• Are near the end of the writing process and have a completed draft
• Edit for accurate and effective documentation
• Revise for a target journal or publication
• Edit for clarity, economy, style, and precision.

Applications are reviewed by members of the Professional Writing Retreat Facilitation Team. Applicants will be notified of the selection team's decision by Friday, April 30, 2010.

Your complete application will consist of the following:

• Up-to-date contact information (from your NWPi profile)
• A cover sheet (found on the event homepage) giving your name, site, grade level, subject area, and contact information; which retreat you are applying for (A or B); and a brief summary of your topic
• Answers to the application questions
• A letter of support from your writing project director or co-director.

Application Questions

To apply for retreat A, please answer the following questions (limit: 2 pages).

1. What has been your writing experience?
2. What is your interest in participating in the retreat?
3. What are you planning to write about? If you are considering more than one idea at this point, briefly describe each one.
4. How would you describe the potential relevance of your writing to your colleagues, your local writing project site, and/or your school community?
5. What is your current involvement in the work of your local writing project site?
6. If you've been involved in a professional writing retreat at your site, or if you plan to provide leadership in this area, briefly describe your activities and/or plans.

To apply for retreat B, please answer the following questions (limit: 2 pages) and attach an electronic copy of your manuscript to the application.

1. What has been your experience with writing and/or publishing?
2. Tell us about your publication goals for your manuscript. Are there specific journals or other publications that you are interested in?
3. What kinds of assistance do you anticipate needing?
4. How would you describe the potential relevance of your writing to your colleagues, your local writing project site, and/or your school community?
5. If you've been involved in a professional writing retreat at your site, or if you plan to provide leadership at your site in this area, briefly describe your activities and/or plans.

Letter of Support

This application requires a brief letter from the director or co-director of your site indicating support for your continued writing and your leadership at the site. Please ask your site director or co-director to respond to the email inquiry he or she will receive after you have submitted your writing retreat application online. Your application will not be considered without a letter of support from your site director or co-director.

Submission Instructions

Participation in the Professional Writing Retreat is by online application only. In order to submit your application, type your answers in a word processing program and save the document. Please be sure to fill out the cover sheet (found on the event homepage) and include it with your application. Applicants for retreat B must also include a copy of their manuscript for review. You may either upload files as attachments to your application or copy and paste the text into the text box provided. All attachments should include a header with your name.

Selection

The pool of participants chosen will be as representative as possible of the geographic, racial, and ethnic diversity of the writing project. It will include teacher-consultants and site leaders—kindergarten through university—with a range of writing interests, experience, and content-area knowledge.