NWP Radio Archive

Date: 2017

Summary: Did you miss an episode? Find it here in this archive of NWP Radio, a program provided by the National Writing Project as an education resource on a broad range of topics for educators in and out of school.

Resources to Support Youth Engagement with Writing Our Futures: American Creed

June 21, 2018
Meet colleagues and partners involved in engaging youth and community conversations emerging from the documentary American Creed. Educators from Facing History and Ourselves, #shareyourlearning, and Writing Project colleagues will join us to talk through resources and support materials they have created to support dialogue and youth publishing in diverse classrooms and communities across the country. More ›

Modernizing the Old School Essay

June 7, 2018
How can we rethink writing instruction to support students in writing authentic pieces about real world issues that matter to them? How can we move beyond the "old school essay" and invite students to write compositions that reflect what we see in real world writing? These are the questions the authors address in the book Real Writing: Modernizing the Old School Essay. Join NWP Radio to hear about this book and the practical strategies the coauthors have used to engage their students in civically engaged writing. More ›

Write Out: Place-based Making with Writing Projects and National Parks

May 24, 2018
Writers reside inside internal landscapes. They traverse the contours of stories and poems, learning and understanding. They turn pen on paper and characters on screens into art. They write for themselves as much as for the world. This summer, we hope to encourage you to take your writing and teaching self outside, into the natural wonders of the open and historical spaces, and explore through the eyes of connected teachers and connected learners. Join us for this episode of NWP Radio to learn more about Write Out and imagine with us ways we can connect. More ›

C3WP Using Sources Tool: A Student-Driven Assessment for Learning

May 17, 2018
The most important writing assessment that happens in any school is the assessment that goes on in students' heads when analyzing the quality of their own writing. The College, Career and Community Writers Project's Student Using Sources Tool (UST) empowers students to own their learning of argument writing. Join site leaders, teachers, and students as they share their experiences using the Student UST to advance student learning. More ›

Youth Civic Engagement and Public Writing: CEWAC and American Creed

May 10, 2018
Join Writing Project colleagues who have been working at the intersections of the Writing Our Futures: American Creed project and the development of the Civically Engaged Writing Analysis Continuum (CEWAC). They have been exploring how we might use CEWAC to support youth in preparing their writing for public audience and dissemination. More ›

Poets of the NWP Writers Council

April 26-30, 2018
Join us for an NWP Radio mini-series, where we'll close out the 2018 National Poetry Month with three interviews with NWP Writers Council members who will talk with us about their poetry, their writing, their process, and more. More ›

A Conversation with National Student Poets

April 12, 2018
Each year, five National Student Poets are chosen from a pool of outstanding writers, grades 10-11, who have received a national Scholastic Art & Writing Award for poetry. Help us celebrate National Poetry Month with a conversation and some poetry reading with this year's National Student Poets. More ›

Going High: Reawakening Hope Through Education

April 5, 2018
We speak with organizers and participants of the upcoming NCTE Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning Annual Summer Conference, this year focusing on Learning to Go High: Re-Awakening Hope through Education. We discuss what to expect at the conference and talk about what Writing Project teachers and teams can do to deliberately generate hope in their own schools and communities. More ›

Keep It R.E.A.L.!

March 22, 2018
How can we create "relevant, engaging, and affirming literacy instruction" to "assist adolescent English learners in developing their literacy skills in ways that honor and leverage their native languages and cultures?" Join us as we discuss the book Keep It R.E.A.L: Relevant, Engaging, and Affirming Literacy for Adolescent English Learners. We talk with the author of the book, Mary Amanda Stewart, along with her teaching colleagues Seth Ross and Kim Garcia, and two of Seth's students. More ›

Revisiting NWP Social Practices: Advocacy

March 8, 2018
In preparation for this year's Spring Meeting, we're revisiting this discussion on a set of social practices embedded in NWP-style teacher leadership. Guests examine the practice of advocacy, analyze three case studies to explore what teacher leadership through advocacy can look like, and consider how teachers can take up the practice of advocacy. More ›

Reports from the Field: The Pleasures and Perils of Working in Under-Resourced Schools

February 8, 2018
Join us as we discuss the twists and turns of doing intensive professional development in high-need schools with facilitators from Writing Project sites participating in NWP's College, Career, and Community Writers Program. More ›

Writing Our Future with American Creed

February 1, 2018
Through its many stories—set in a range of big cities, small towns, and rural areas around the country—the documentary American Creed wrestles with key issues in America today, including opportunity for all, the meaning of citizenship, and the challenge of meaningful civic participation and dialogue. More ›

Unpacking the NWP Social Practices Framework: Going Public with Our Practice

January 25, 2018
This is the second in a six-part series discussing a set of social practices embedded in NWP-style teacher leadership. This episode, which examines the practice of going public with our practice, looks at various ways that teachers can share their teaching practices with one another for purposes of learning, growing, and leading in the profession. More ›

C3WP Expands to Upper Elementary

November 9, 2017
In preparation for the 2017 Annual Meeting in St. Louis, we talk with guests from Gateway Writing Project who share an overview of the meeting and highlight some specific events, including Friday's writing marathons. We also hear from a few session presenters for a taste of the many great sessions available at the 2017 Annual Meeting. More ›

Preparing for the Annual Meeting

October 26, 2017
In preparation for the 2017 Annual Meeting in St. Louis, we talk with guests from Gateway Writing Project who share an overview of the meeting and highlight some specific events, including Friday's writing marathons. We also hear from a few session presenters for a taste of the many great sessions available at the 2017 Annual Meeting. More ›

#WhyIWrite: A Celebration for the National Day on Writing

October 12, 2017
Listen to our celebration of the National Day on Writing as we talk with Grant Faulkner, executive director of National Novel Writing Month and Vicki Meigs-Kahlenberg, teacher and author of The Author's Apprentice about why they write, and why you should too. More ›

Assignments Matter: Creating Engaging Writing Assignments

September 21, 2017
Listen as teacher-consultants from around the network discuss the relationship between the quality of writing assignments and the quality of writing that students produce, and share the impacts of their own work collaborating with the Literacy Design Collaborative and NWP's Assignments Matter initiative to design creative, engaging writing tasks. More ›

(Re)marking on Equity and Education with Marginal Syllabus

August 31, 2017
A collaborative and emergent attempt to create a new sociotechnical genre of educator professional development, the Marginal Syllabus leverages the web annotation platform Hypothesis, adding multiple voices to critical conversations about equity and education. In this episode, hear from Marginal Syllabus organizers, including educators from Colorado working in the Aurora Public School District, about what was learned during the first year of annotation and learning in the margins. Our guests also discuss plans for a collaborative syllabus with the National Writing Project for the 2017-18 school year. More ›

Literacy and Mobility

August 17, 2017
How can looking at the movement of people, language, and things enrich our understandings of students and schools? Listen to this intriguing conversation with host Tom Fox and guest Brice Nordquist, Assistant Professor of Writing and Rhetoric at Syracuse University and author of Literacy and Mobility: Complexity, Uncertainty, and Agency at the Nexus of High School and College. More ›

Summer Reading: A Conversation with Colleagues in the NWP Network

July 20, 2017
A lively and wide-ranging discussion with teacher-leaders and Writing Project staff, recorded live at the NWP Resource Development Retreat in Denver, CO. More ›

The I Am From Project

July 6, 2017
This conversation with George Ella Lyon and Julie Landsman, hosts of the I Am From Project, is about countering divisions of race, culture, and background through poetry, artwork, videos, music, and dance. More ›

The National Afterschool Matters Fellowship

June 22, 2017
The NASM Fellowship engages professionals in the out-of-school time field in a process of leadership development where they learn to reflect on, study, improve, and assess their work with a view toward improving its quality and impact. Listen to this conversation with fellows about their self-selected research topics. More ›

Choice and Agency in the Writing Workshop: A Conversation with Fred Hamel

June 8, 2017
Fred Hamel, author of Choice and Agency in the Writing Workshop: Developing Engaged Writers, Grades 4-6, joins NWP Radio to talk about why upper elementary children need ways to become literate as kids, not merely as prototypes of adults or teenagers. More ›

Small Moves and Radical Acts: Cultivating Understandings of Connected Learning with Future Teachers

May 25, 2017
We talk with teacher-educators working to leverage the language, the opportunity, and the design principles of Connected Learning to support learning and teaching in a rapidly changing literacy landscape. We discuss the small moves and the radical acts that colleagues all over the country have been working on, with a specific focus on work with future teachers and teacher educators. More ›

The Value of Teacher-Writers

May 11, 2017
Just in time for summer institutes, we welcome authors of recent NWP co-published books for a conversation about the importance of teacher-writers. Guests include Christine Dawson, author of The Teacher-Writer: Creating Writing Groups for Personal and Professional Growth, and Leah Zuidema and Troy Hicks, authors of Coaching Teacher Writers: Practical Steps to Nurture Professional Writing. More ›

What I Didn't Know: True Stories of Becoming a Teacher

May 4, 2017
Teaching is a challenging profession. It is also incredibly rewarding. What brings teachers to teaching? What makes them stay, despite all the challenges? What I Didn't Know: True Stories of Becoming a Teacher brings together 20 teaching stories that explore the range of possible answers to these questions. In celebration of Teacher Appreciation Week, we talked with the editor of the book and several contributing teacher-writers about their stories. More ›

Selling Inservice

April 27, 2017
How can your Writing Project site make money? Two experienced teacher leaders share their stories creating profitable relationships with administrators, creating flyers and materials, and learning to talk the talk of stakeholders who contract professional development for teachers. More ›

From Dusty Boxes to Display Cases: An Update on the NWP Archives Project

April 20, 2017
In 2014, in partnership with The Bancroft Library at the University of California Berkeley, we launched the NWP Archives Project to ensure preservation and accessibility of NWP organizational records, publications, and resources, including more than 100 oral history interviews from founding Writing Project site directors, scholars, teacher-leaders, and funders. Hear about the archives' grand opening and learn a little NWP history from NWP leaders past and present. More ›

A Conversation with National Student Poets

April 6, 2017
Each year, five National Student Poets are chosen from a pool of outstanding writers, grades 9-11, who have received a national Scholastic Art & Writing Award for poetry. Listen as we celebrate National Poetry Month with a conversation and some poetry reading with this year's National Student Poets. More ›

NWP Social Practices Part 1 of 6: Advocacy

March 30, 2017
This is the first in a six-part series discussing a set of social practices embedded in NWP-style teacher leadership. This episode, which examines the practice of advocacy, analyzes three case studies to explore what teacher leadership through advocacy can look like, and how teachers can take up the practice of advocacy. More ›

Assessing Writing, Teaching Writers

March 23, 2017
How can teachers use the Analytic Writing Continuum (AWC) to assess student writing in a way that informs their instruction and provides meaningful feedback to students? This is the question that Mary Ann Smith and Sherry Swain explore in their 2017 book, Assessing Writing, Teaching Writers: Putting the Analytic Writing Continuum to Work in Your Classroom. We talk with the authors and members of various teacher action research groups about how the Analytic Writing Continuum can be used to focus instruction and feedback. More ›

Situating Sources: Fake News, Facts, Perspectives

March 9, 2017
Given the multitude of information flowing through social media, news websites, television, radio, and print media, young people (and adults!) benefit from tools and strategies to situate stories. All information comes from sources; all information has perspectives. Arguments, to be generous, fair, and truly persuasive, need to characterize the uses of their sources, and understand them deeply. Listen as Tom Fox, Casey Olsen, and Linda Denstaedt from the College-Ready Writers Program discuss these issues. More ›

The Graide Network

March 2, 2017
The Graide Network connects K-12 teachers with remote, on-demand teaching assistants to grade and provide thorough feedback on student work online. "Graiders" are highly qualified, vetted undergraduate and graduate students from colleges across the country who are aspiring teachers. We discuss the importance of effective feedback and how teachers across the country are using The Graide Network as a powerful instructional tool. We also discuss best practices for feedback and what effective feedback really looks like. And finally, with the increased focus on enhancing teacher preparation programs, we explore the value of experiential learning for pre-service teachers and virtual fieldwork opportunities. More ›

Working on #techquity

February 23, 2017
Since coining the term "techquity" and related hashtag, Joe Dillon from the Denver Writing Project, along with a number of other colleagues, has been using it to imagine ways to overcome issues of inequity in rapidly changing environments. As he wrote in a 2014 blog post, "We need to dig deeper into ways of leveraging technology's potential for learning, while remaining critical and mindful of #techquity issues." We discuss this important and ongoing conversation; find out how colleagues have been engaging around issues of #techquity, in and across a range of spaces and communities; and learn about the resources they have created along the way. More ›

Networked Narratives, Open and Online

February 16, 2017
Networked Narratives (#netnarr) is an open connected course of digital storytelling, world building, civic imagination, and a bit of digital alchemy hosted online and as a course at Kean University during the Spring 2017. The course is led and conceived by Kean University Writing Project Director Mia Zamora with DS106 founder Alan Levine, and explores the ways our learning and storytelling intertwine. More ›

Personal Narrative Revised: An Interview with Bronwyn LaMay

February 9, 2017
Listen as we talk with Bronwyn LaMay, author of the recently published book Personal Narrative, Revised: Writing Love and Agency in the High School Classroom. LaMay, a high school English teacher, is interested in transforming classrooms and schools into places where youth can explore the intersection between literacy and their lives. The conversation focuses on young people and their relationship to school, literacy, and learning. More ›

Writing Our Lives: A History of Hosting Writing Conferences for Youth

January 26, 2017
Since 2009, youth in central New York have had opportunities to participate in Writing Our Lives conferences and afterschool programs in support of the writing they do. Dr. Marcelle Haddix, originator of Writing Our Lives, and Dr. Bryan Ripley Crandall, director of Connecticut Writing Project-Fairfield, have collaborated to provide locations and opportunities for young people to 'speak their truth' during community events in a celebration of writing. More ›

A Conversation with the Authors of Composing Science: A Facilitator's Guide to Writing in the Science Classroom

January 19, 2017
We discuss teaching writing, teaching science, and how to create classrooms in which students use writing to learn and think scientifically with Kim Jaxon and Leslie Atkins Elliott, authors of the new book Composing Science. Kim and Leslie talk about concrete approaches for engaging students in practices that mirror the work that writing plays in the development and dissemination of scientific ideas, rather than replicating the polished academic writing of research scientists. They also address a range of genres that can help students deepen their scientific reasoning and inquiry. More ›

CRWP in High-Need Schools

December 15, 2016
Historically and in recent years, the National Writing Project has focused its efforts on supporting the teaching of writing in low-income and underserved schools, districts, and communities. NWP's i3 College-Ready Writers Program (CRWP) grant supported 12 writing project sites in providing professional development in 22 rural school districts. Specifically, this work focused on improving the teaching of source-based argument writing and engaging young people in writing high-quality, source-based arguments in school. Join three NWP leaders as we discuss the value and importance of NWP work in high-need schools, and how the CRWP resources can support that work. More ›

The Pond in Room 318: A Conversation with Kip Zegers

November 10, 2016
NWP director of national programs, Tanya Baker, talks with NWP Writers Council member Kip Zegers about his new poetry collection The Pond in Room 318, as well as the role that poetry plays in his life and his teaching. More ›

Connected Learning in Action: Letters to the Next President 2.0

October 27, 2016
Leading up to the 2016 Presidential Election, youth from across the country published their opinions at Letters to the Next President 2.0, sharing their thoughts on the issues and topics that matter to them most. Listen as we talk with teacher-leaders from several Writing Project sites about the ways they engaged with this project and what they learned about supporting this kind of civic participation and connected learning in their contexts. More ›

#WhyIWrite—A Celebration of the 2016 National Day on Writing

October 20, 2016
In celebration of the National Day on Writing, we visited with award-winning poet Jimmy Santiago Baca; family activist and co-director of the Family Story Project Mia Birdsong; and writer/educator Brian Mooney, along with some of Brian's students. More ›

Refugee Trilogy: Inspired by Rick Shaefer and Writing Our Lives with Ubuntu

October 13, 2016
This episode of NWP Radio highlights a special collaboration between artist Rick Shaefer, the Fairfield University Art Museum, teachers who attended CWP-Fairfield's 2016 Invitational Leadership Institute, and Ubuntu Academy, a young adult literacy lab for immigrant and refugee youth. More ›

What's in the Air? Themes and Topics of NWP's Annual Meeting

September 22, 2016
NWP staff discuss what's in the air this fall, covering topics like writing in response to this year's presidential campaign, writing arguments in school and out, writing in times of violence, and the power and promise of the poetic voice, and discussing what to expect at the 2016 NWP Annual Meeting. More ›

From Inquiry to Action: Civic Engagement with Project-Based Learning

September 8, 2016
Student civic-action projects facilitate project-based learning, while illuminating and supporting the incredible capacity of young people to work together to tackle problems and improve their community. Listen to our conversation with Steve Zemelman, author of From Inquiry to Action and director of the Illinois Writing Project, and Liz Robbins, the Chicago teacher whose work inspired the book. More ›

Facing the Sky: Composing Through Trauma in Word and Image

August 25, 2016
How can art and creative expression help us cope with and heal from trauma? NWP Radio talked with Roy Fox, author of Facing the Sky: Composing Through Trauma in Word and Image, who argues that personal writing is valuable both because of it helps students build critical thinking and composition skills, and because it helps them come to terms with trauma. More ›

Untangling Urban Middle School Reform

August 11, 2016
Cynthia Urbanski, author of Untangling Urban Middle School Reform, discusses her work with Writing Project professional development at Rosa Parks Middle School, focusing on the clash between competing narratives of student success. More ›

Teaching and Learning Argumentative Writing in High School English Language Arts Classrooms

July 14, 2016
Amidst policy calls for increasing a focus on argument in standards and assessment, it's easy to forget that teaching and learning argument is a complex, social, fascinating, and multifaceted proposition. In this episode of NWP Radio, the authors and educators behind the book Teaching and Learning Argumentative Writing in High School English Language Arts Classrooms discuss what they learned by diving into that complexity through long-term case studies of effective teaching of argument in diverse school settings. More ›

Frankenstein Bicentennial Dare Competition

June 30, 2016
Two hundred years after Mary Shelley came up with the vision for the story that would become Frankenstein, Arizona State University (ASU), National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), Chabot Space and Science Center, and Creative Nonfiction magazine launched a series of writing 'dares' to inspire the public to imagine new stories about science, technology, and the impact of creations. Listen to our conversation with leaders of this project. More ›

Intersections: Powering Science Learning Through Partnerships

June 23, 2016
Writing Project directors, classroom teachers, and museum educators talk about the power of partnering formal and informal educators to think together about teaching and learning at the intersections of science and literacy. More ›

Mockingbird in Today's World: Youth Voices Facing History

June 16, 2016
Facing History and Ourselves sponsors Facing History Together contests to offer educators, students, and Facing History alumni the opportunity to tell stories, bring ideas to life, and build conversations about the issues that matter most—and share them across districts, states, and countries. The contests challenge participants to share experiences from inside and outside of the classroom, make connections between history and the moral choices we confront in today's world, and think about the world in a new way. Winning entries come in a variety of styles and media but all inspire us to envision a society free of racism, antisemitism, bullying, and hatred of all kinds. We spoke to Laura Tavares, from Facing History and Ourselves, about this year's contest, and heard from a number of winning student essayists. More ›

Research Writing Rewired

June 9, 2016
How can teachers integrate inquiry-based research approaches with digital reading and writing in the classroom? This is the question that Dawn Reed and Troy Hicks explore in their 2016 book, Research Writing Rewired: Lessons that Ground Students' Digital Learning. We talked with the authors about strategies, lessons, tools, and principles for supporting connected learning in the English Language Arts classroom. More ›

Design Thinking for Letters to the Next President 2.0

May 26, 2016
Hear from educators who are designing ways to connect to Letters to the Next President 2.0 over the summer through local institutes, youth writing camps, and online events. The conversation touches on opportunities and resources that educators can use to think about this work, as well as the youth publishing site that will be ready in August just in time for school. Listen as we think together about how we might design now in support of youth participation via Letters to the Next President 2.0 in our classrooms this coming Fall. More ›

Reading, Thinking, and Writing About History

May 12, 2016
The authors of Reading, Thinking, And Writing About History talk about six historical investigations and disciplinary literacy practices that will improve the historical thinking and argumentative writing of academically diverse students. More ›

College-Ready Writers Program Lesson Study

April 28, 2016
Educators from NWP's College-Ready Writers Program (CRWP), who participated in an online version of a lesson study of two CRWP mini-units, talk about how the structure of the lesson study has impacted their practice, their experience with teaching the mini-units in their classrooms, and their experience with participating in the online community. More ›

A Conversation with the National Student Poets

April 14, 2016
We celebrated National Poetry Month (April) by inviting the 2015 class of National Student Poets to talk about poetry and their year of service as literary ambassadors, as well as read some of their original work. More ›

Introducing the Action Research Network of the Americas

April 7, 2016
We introduce listeners to ARNA, the Action Research Network of the Americas, and learn about their history and current work, including their upcoming 2016 conference in Knoxville, TN that NWP teachers and researchers are invited to attend. More ›

Extended Research Argument

March 24, 2016
We were joined by three teacher-leaders from NWP's College-Ready Writers Program (CRWP) for a discussion about Extended Research Argument and its role in empowering students to be positive, active, solution-oriented citizens. Our guests also talked about the CRWP resources developed to teach argument writing. More ›

Finding Deep Center at the Red Clay Writing Project

March 10, 2016
The leaders from Red Clay Writing Project and Deep Center—recipient of the National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Award—joined us for a conversation about their ongoing relationship and how we all might work together in order to create the richest learning ecosystems for all young people by joining forces inside and outside of schools, across organizations and learning institutions. More ›

Kids Tales: Kids Teaching Kids About Writing

March 3, 2016
Sixteen-year-old Katie Eder, founder of Kids Tales—and one of the International Literacy Association's inaugural 30 Under 30 Literacy Champions—shared her organization's origin story with NWP Radio and her goals for expansion until "every kid is a published writer." More ›

Teaching Outside the Box But Inside the Standards: Making Room for Dialogue

February 25, 2016
We interview the authors and editors of Teaching Outside the Box But Inside the Standards: Making Room for Dialogue about feeling caught between mandates to teach to standards, and the needs and interests of the students right in front of them, and how they teachers manage those tensions with deliberative practice, writing, and a professional community. More ›

Digital Learning Day 2016

February 11, 2016
National Writing Project staff and key program partners give an overview of activities for this year's Digital Learning Day and discuss ways to make digital learning a part of your everyday teaching practice. More ›

Building New Pathways to Leadership

January 28, 2016
Three site leaders talk to Tanya Baker, NWP Director of National Programs, about what leadership looks like in our network and how the creation of new pathways in would serve more teachers and expand leadership opportunities. More ›

Beyond Shushing: Reimagining the Educator's Role in Libraries and Museums

January 14, 2016
YOUmedia Learning Labs Network's K-Fai Steele hosts this episode of NWP Radio which focuses on its Mentor Model. She is joined by three guests who discuss how the model has affected delivery of services and changed staffing at their institutions. More ›

Nyumbani Means Home: Empowering Student Voice and Social Action

December 10, 2015
English teacher Diane Williams and the students behind Nyumbani visit with NWP Radio to discuss this collaborative writing project that raises awareness of the challenges refugee teens face in their Boise community. More ›

Pose, Wobble, Flow: A Culturally Proactive Approach to Literacy Instruction

November 12, 2015
Cindy O'Donnell-Allen and Antero Garcia, authors of Pose, Wobble, Flow: A Culturally Proactive Approach to Literacy Instruction, discuss the Pose, Wobble, Flow framework and how it could be used to address educational challenges in order to meet the needs of all students. For this episode, we were also joined by some of Cindy's graduate students. More ›

No Bells, No Walls: Learning Alongside 2014 LRNG Innovators Challenge Grant Awardees

October 22, 2015
In this episode, we joined our Writing Project colleagues who led projects that were awarded 2014 LRNG Innovators Challenge grants to build interest-driven and learner-centered opportunities in schools. Our guests spoke about the connections they made, key questions raised in this work, and what all educators can learn working alongside youth as they produce, tinker, experiment, make, perform, and create. More ›

#whyiwrite: Get Ready for the 2015 National Day on Writing with Members of NWP's Writers Council

October 8, 2015
In this episode, we set the mood for the 2015 National Day on Writing (NDOW) by talking to members of our Writers Council about their current projects, their writing process, and what inspires them to keep writing. More ›

Creating a Culture of Argument Writing in Your Classroom

September 10, 2015
A broad panel of teacher-leaders from NWP's College-Ready Writers Program talked about how they integrate regular—often informal—opportunities for their middle and high school students to practice reading and writing skills that build capacity and stamina for writing arguments. More ›

Uncommonly Good Ideas: Teaching Writing in the Common Core Era

August 27, 2015
We talked with Sandra Murphy and Mary Ann Smith, authors of the book, Uncommonly Good Ideas: Teaching Writing in the Common Core Era (a co-publication of NWP and Teachers College Press), and high school English teacher Brendan Nelson about research-based best practices, including practices that ease students from one kind of writing (narrative) to another (argument). More ›

Jane Addams in the Classroom

August 13, 2015
We spoke to authors who contributed essays to Jane Addams in the Classroom about how Addam's life, work, and philosophy provide ongoing relevance in today's classrooms and Writing Project sites. Listen to the recording and view resources from the show. More ›

Reimagining Learning in Libraries and Museums: The YOUmedia Learning Lab Network

July 9, 2015
On this show, we spoke to guests from the St. Paul Public Library, the Science Museum of Virginia, and the Museum of Fine Arts Houston about the YOUmedia Network and how it has changed staff and teen learning in their spaces. More ›

College-Ready Writers Program Live from St. Louis

June 25, 2015
The National Writing Project's College-Ready Writers Program Leadership Team gathered in St. Louis for the group's Summer Partnership Institute. Live from the institute, they share resources for teaching argument writing from non-fiction texts that have engaged secondary students across the country in considering multiple perspectives as they craft thoughtful arguments. More ›

CLMOOC: A Collaborative Learning Experience for the Summer

June 11, 2015
The National Writing Project is joined by educators who engaged in previous CLMOOCs to discuss and reflect on their journeys in making, remaking, remixing, hacking, and playing and how they've used these tools as resources in their teaching practice and in their personal lives. More ›

A Talk with Kwame Alexander

May 28, 2015
Directors from NWP and the Connecticut Writing Project-Fairfield, lead a conversation with Kwame Alexander, the 2015 Newbery Medal winner, about how his work inspired teachers and students at a high-needs partner school to write across disciplines. More ›

Writing in Good Company in New Orleans

May 14, 2015
In this episode, hear the story of the Southeastern Louisiana Writing Project's new design for an advanced summer institute. Guests Richard Louth, Kim Stafford, Susan Martens, and Tracy Cunningham discuss what to expect at the writing retreat in July (2015), "Writing in Good Company in New Orleans." More ›

A Conversation with National Student Poets

April 30, 2015
Each year, five National Student Poets are chosen from a pool of outstanding writers, grades 9-11, who have received a national Scholastic Art & Writing Award for poetry. In this episode we celebrate National Poetry Month with a conversation and some poetry reading with the 2015 National Student Poets. More ›

Collaborative Sharing of Poetry in a Box

April 9, 2015
Co-directors and teacher-consultants from the Columbus Area Writing Project discuss their work with the Children's Poetry StoryBox Project. Working alongside former children's poet laureate, J. Patrick Lewis, Kevin Cordi, a co-director for the Columbus Area Writing Project, shares what happened when primarily elementary-age students and their teachers were provided a collection of unfinished poems by famous children poets and asked to finish writing them. More ›

Writing Our Future

March 26, 2015
Hear from writing project leaders about their family academic literacy projects as part of the Writing Our Future Initiative. This work has been taking place in high-needs schools around the country, providing welcome support and interactive programming for English Language Learners, grades K-3, and their families. More ›

Education for Global Dialogue, Wide Awakeness, and Service to Life

March 19, 2015
This show will introduce you to the 21st Annual Summer Conference of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning, a consortium for attuning to service to better humankind, by reviewing the pedagogy and theory of James Moffett, the education prophet of global dialogue. More ›

MOOCs on the Loose: The Effect of #clmooc on Professional Development Opportunities in the NWP Network

March 12, 2015
Join organizers and participants in "The Writing Thief" book study group, a MOOC hosted by the San Diego Area Writing Project. Hear why participants and organizers believe MOOCs work, why they are interested in making, and how online learning promotes learning, near and far. More ›

Future Ready Schools

February 26, 2015
NWP is a coalition partner of Future Ready, an initiative by the US Department of Education and the Alliance for Excellent Education. But what does it mean to be "Future Ready" for your site and school communities? This NWP Radio episode is meant to support sites in understanding the goals of Future Ready for districts and to hear from NWP educators across the country who are working on local, state, and national levels to craft system-wide approaches to professional learning as schools adopt new technology. More ›

Spring Meeting 2015: Teacher Leadership in Action

February 12, 2015
On this episode of NWP Radio, we previewed plans for the 2015 NWP Spring Meeting in Washington, DC, March 25–27, which included a focus on how teachers in the NWP network embody leadership in their classrooms and schools, and through their professional learning collaborations and partnerships. More ›

Playing with Stories: An Interview with Kevin Cordi

January 8, 2015
Teacher, Columbus Area Writing Project co-director, and storyteller, Kevin Cordi, talks to NWP Radio about the value of play in creating stories, and shares ideas from his book, Playing With Stories: Story Crafting for Storytellers, Writers, Teachers and Other Imaginative Thinkers. More ›

The Art of the College Essay

December 11, 2014
Join Gabrielle Glancy, author of The Art of the College Essay and editor of Best College Admissions Essays 2014, as well as three student college essay writers in this episode of NWP Radio. Hear some award winning college essays, interviews with their authors, and a conversation with Glancy about her work with young people in the college admissions process. More ›

Writing and Teaching to Change the World

November 13, 2014
This show is focused on the narrative inquiry process and findings from a year-long Teacher Inquiry Community supported by the National Writing Project. Specifically, the guests focus on what readers can find in their published book, Writing and Teaching to Change the World: Connecting with our Most Vulnerable Students. More ›

Interconnections: Understanding Systems Through Digital Design

October 23, 2014
This episode of NWP Radio celebrates the launch of a curriculum series called, Interconnections: Understanding Systems Through Digital Design, developed collaboratively by designers and educators from the National Writing Project alongside colleagues from Indiana University's Creativity Labs, the Institute of Play, and the Digital Youth Network. More ›

Sound of a Wild Snail Eating: The Story of a Snail, a Scientist, and a Writer

October 9, 2014
An interview with Elisabeth Tova Bailey, author of The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating, and Timothy Pearce, assistant curator of mollusks and head of the mollusk section at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History. More ›

Not Just a Collection of Dusty Boxes: The NWP Archives Project

September 25, 2014
Learn more about the NWP Archives Project, which will construct a living and usable history of our NWP. In addition to explaining the project, this show includes a segment featuring the voices of Writing Project teacher-consultants and directors sharing reflections on their own Writing Project experience and what the Writing Project means to them. NWP leaders who have donated to support the Archives Project also talk about what compelled them to give. More ›

Poem Central: An Interview with Shirley McPhillips

September 11, 2014
In this interview with Shirley McPhillips, author of Poem Central: Word Journeys with Readers and Writers, McPhillips discusses her life with poetry and her work with youth as readers and makers of poems. More ›

A Park in Your Backyard—Summer Youth Programs & More at the National Park

August 28, 2014
When teacher-leaders at a National Writing Project site and like-minded park rangers from a nearby National Park collaborate to develop youth programs, deep learning happens. Listen to an engaging conversation with four teams who have partnered to develop meaningful opportunities for young people as they reshape their relationship to place through writing in historic sites. More ›

Amy Clark: Language, Identity, and Learning in Talking Appalachian

August 14, 2014
This interview with Amy Clark, director of the Appalachian Writing Project and co-editor of Talking Appalachian: Voice Identity and Community, is a conversation about language, identity, and learning. With contributions from well-known authors such as George Ella Lyon and Silas House, Talking Appalachian has been called the most comprehensive, accessible study of Appalachian language available today. More ›

Family Academic Literacy Projects: Live from Design Institute

July 24, 2014
Recorded live from the Family Academic Literacy Project Design Institute in Memphis, Tennessee, listen to Writing Project colleagues discuss ideas and plans for improving young English Learners' academic literacy learning through the development of family academic literacy projects. More ›

Uncommon Core

July 10, 2014
Jeff Wilhelm, Michael Smith, and Deborah Appleman discuss Uncommon Core, their book about the misunderstandings surrounding "standards-aligned" instruction, and strategies for avoiding them in service of meeting the intent of the Common Core. More ›

Finding Your Way with Formative Assessment

June 26, 2014
A conversation with Terri McAvoy, Prairie Lands Writing Project, and Beth Rimer, Ohio Writing Project, who explore formative assessment as a way to guide professional development, drawing on their new eBook, Formative Assessment as a Compass. They were joined by Kim Douillard, director of the San Diego Writing Project. More ›

Responsive Teacher Inquiry and Innovation in Teaching ELA with Diverse Learners

June 12, 2014
An in-depth look at one preservice teacher program and its use of teacher research as a way of inducting new teachers into the profession. More ›

What Does Teacher Leadership Look Like at Writing Project Sites?

May 22, 2014
In this episode, teacher-consultants at several Writing Project sites discuss their experiences as leaders of site programs, leadership teams, and professional development. We explore their contributions and why they are passionate about the work they do. More ›

A Summer to Make, Play & Connect

May 8, 2014
Summer means vacation for some, but for many others, it marks a time of making, playing, and connecting. Beginning this June, educators around the country and the world will be taking part in a Summer to Make, Play & Connect, powered by Educator Innovator and the Mozilla Foundation's Maker Party 2014. Listen to this episode to learn more about this summer campaign and the many opportunities being offered to all educators. More ›

What Is Your Site Reading for the 2014 Invitational Summer Institute?

April 24, 2014
The inaugural NWP Radio show in 2010 focused on this question. Four years later, we again asked NWP sites to talk about what their sites are going to be reading together in Summer Institutes around the country. We also took up questions about what has changed and stayed the same as the Common Core Standards have come online and ever more content is available digitally. More ›

Connected Learning at Writing Project Sites and Communities

April 10, 2014
This episode explores Teaching in the Connected Learning Classroom, an exciting, new eBook edited and curated by a group of National Writing Project educators, published in March 2014 by the Digital Media and Learning Research Hub. The book is sourced from examples of classroom practice originally shared at the NWP Digital Is website, and is unique in its focus on in-school work and the Connected Learning principles. Listen as Writing Project educators and leaders share potential implications for site work and practices. More ›

Writing a More Just Future: The 2014 USN Conference in Chicago

March 27, 2014
This broadcast featured site-leaders from the Illinois Writing Project, hosts of the Urban Sites Network Conference in Chicago. They provided an outline of events and a preview of opportunities for learning and connecting at the conference, scheduled to take place April 25-26, 2014. More ›

Science Out of School

March 13, 2014
In this episode we discussed the possibilities and potential, as well as the challenges, of bringing STEM education into out-of-school settings. Out-of-school practitioners, who are part of the National After School Matters Fellowship hosted at the Puget Sound Writing Project, shared their practitioner research projects. More ›

Bringing CLMOOC Back Home

February 27, 2014
Making Learning Connected (#clmooc) was a Massive Open Online Collaboration that drew more than a thousand participants last summer. What, though, happened after the summer? How was the CLMOOC experience translated into classrooms and Writing Project sites? Listen to this conversation with participants from CLMOOC who will provide insight into what Making Learning Connected looks like at the local level. More ›

Thrive: Five Ways to (Re)Invigorate Your Teaching

February 13, 2014
In this episode we interview Meenoo Rami—Philadelphia Writing Project teacher-consultant, high school teacher, founder and host of #engchat, and the author of Thrive: Five Ways to (Re)Invigorate Your Teaching. More ›

Making Professional Development Work in Challenging Times

January 23, 2014
A number of National Writing Project sites are currently engaged in long-term professional development in schools around the country. Join us for a discussion with sites on lessons learned about how to provide relevant professional development, as well as a look at a new ebook on the topic, Intentional Honor, by Tonya Perry, director of the Red Mountain Writing Project. More ›

Learning at the Library: Professional Development at the Library of Congress

January 9, 2014
It's never too early to start filling your summer professional calendar. On this NWP Radio episode, we hear about summer learning institutes for teachers—offered at the Library of Congress—from Writing Project teacher-consultants who attended last year. We also learn about the fantastic local Writing Project work that stemmed from that experience. More ›

Acceleration and Agency in Disciplinary Literacies

December 12, 2013
In this episode, we interviewed Bob Moses, founder of the Algebra Project. A discussion followed with Writing Project directors and teacher-consultants who have been collaborating to focus on students struggling in the bottom quartile. We discussed what we have been learning about acceleration versus remediation, the development of identity and agency, and the power of focusing together on learners least well-served by current systems. More ›

Exploring Partnerships for Literacy Learning

November 14, 2013
Writing Project site leaders around the country are looking for ways to join forces with like-minded collaborators to provide learning opportunities for teachers and students. In this episode of NWP Radio, we heard from Writing Project site leaders about some innovative approaches to educational partnerships that are working locally. More ›

Reading in a Participatory Culture

October 24, 2013
This show brought together authors of Reading in a Participatory Culture (2012) and the complementary digital book Flows of Reading to discuss what it means to be a reader and writer in an increasingly participatory culture. Both books exemplify an expanded concept of the term "text" and model a new type of reader—one who reads across different media and understands reading as an act of sharing, deconstructing, and making meaning. We hope this opens a conversation about what "counts" as reading and all the kinds of reading we perform in our everyday lives. More ›

#write2connect: The 2013 National Day on Writing

October 10, 2013
How does writing today facilitate connections among ideas? People? Disciplines? The response to these questions were the focus of this year's National Day on Writing, celebrated on October 21 with a Tweetup utilizing the hashtag #write2connect. We talked with Millie Davis of the National Council of Teachers of English, Grant Faulkner of National Novel Writing Month, and leaders from local writing project sites as they discussed the genesis of #write2connect. More ›

Connected Educator Month is Coming!

September 26, 2013
"Take it from an educator—or thousands" is the call of this year's Connected Educator Month set for October 2013. A partner of the NWP through our Educator Innovator initiative, Connected Educator Month (CEM) seeks to broaden and deepen educator participation in online communities of practice and move towards a more fully connected and collaborative profession. This NWP Radio show explores what it means to be a connected educator in the 21st century, what the implications are for Writing Project sites today, and how to get involved in CEM in October and connect with the larger Educator Innovator initiative throughout the year. More ›

Teaching Writing in an Assessment Era: Passion and Practice

September 12, 2013
In this episode, we talk with directors and teacher-consultants from the San Jose Area Writing Project about their recently released book, Teaching Writing Grades 7-12 in an Era of Assessment: Passion and Practice.The authors discuss the book and their answers to two questions posed in the opening chapter: "Why might my students wish to engage in the performative actiivty of writing?" and "Why might they wish to engage in this practice with not just dogged persistence, but with genuine passion?" More ›

An Online Summer

August 8, 2013
We know that summer typically means face-to-face institutes occurring around the country. This summer we also saw an explosion of NWP-related activity in two online spaces: the E-Anthology and the Making Learning Connected Massive Open Online Collaboration (#clmooc). In this episode, site leaders explain the work at the center of these two spaces and describe their participation, and the participation of their site colleagues in these robust communities. More ›

A Conversation with Colleagues from South Africa

July 25, 2013
Three Writing Project sites were fortunate this summer to be hosts to educators from South Africa in their invitational summer institutes. Listen in for an opportunity to hear from our South African colleagues about their institute experience and how they expect to share what they are learning and doing with teachers in South Africa. More ›

Administrators' Roles in Successful Professional Development

July 11, 2013
It is a truism that supportive school administrators are critical to successful professional development. But what does "supportive" mean on a daily basis at the school? On this show, we hosted three pairs of Writing Project sites and their school administrators and talked about the variety of ways that school administrators help make professional development effective. More ›

Vision and Voice: Mentor Texts from The Best Teen Writing

June 27, 2013
Listeners to this show will hear great examples of writing from The Best Teen Writing, a collection of stories, essays, and poems written by teen authors awarded medals in the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards. We also feature teachers discussing a new online community, Vision and Voice, where teachers in grades 7–12 can share inspiration an ideas from The Best Teen Writing. More ›

NWP and the Summer of Making and Connecting

June 13, 2013
Summer is almost here and that means that the Summer of Making and Connecting is heating up! Listen to this episode of NWP Radio to hear about the summer's line-up and the various ways that educators around the country are writing, making, and sharing while putting Connected Learning principles into practice. Hear from colleagues from sites across the country who are both leading local work as well as facilitating in a variety of online spaces so that all may be involved. Guests include Paul Allison (NYCWP), Karen Fasimpaur (P2PU), Cindy O'Donnell-Allen (CSUWP), Paul Oh (NWP), and Stephanie West-Puckett (Tar River WP). More ›

SEED 3 Professional Development Program Design

June 6, 2013
Join National Writing Project site leaders in part two of this two-part, special edition of NWP Radio. Our guests reflect on lessons learned from a year of offering professional development in high-need schools. This show—and its partner show which aired on May 30, Creating a Culture for Learning in High-Needs Schools—provide food for thought for site teams planning professional development in 2013-14. More ›

Creating a Culture for Learning in High-Need Schools

May 30, 2013
Join National Writing Project site leaders on a two-part, special edition of NWP Radio as they reflect on lessons learned from a year of offering professional development in high-need schools. This show—and its partner show which aired on June 6, SEED 3 Professional Development Program Designs—provide food for thought for site teams planning professional development in 2013-14. More ›

Digital Citizenship Month

May 23, 2013
The month of May marks the first-ever Digital Citizenship Month in the state of California. Join guests from Common Sense Media and the California Writing Project as they discuss the genesis of Digital Citizenship Month and an array of associated resources that help educators and parents guide youth and their families to make informed choices—choices that enable them to act responsibly, safely, and ethically online. More ›

From Newsroom to Classroom

May 9, 2013
Join Matthew Green and Matt Williams of KQED, along with Chris Sloan of the Wasatch Range Writing Project and Kirsten Spall of the Area 3 Writing Project, as they discuss the various dimensions of Newsroom to Classroom, a pilot project in which pairs of NWP teachers from around the country develop resources and curriculum packages that focus on news topics. We'll also hear a student perspective on this opportunity to use digital tools to weigh in on the issues of our times. More ›

Living History: Reading, Writing, and Learning in a National Park

April 25, 2013
What happens when a NWP site teams up with a nearby National Park to create a learning experience for young people? Guests on this episode of NWP Radio talk about engaging summer youth programs for elementary and secondary students inspired by the rich treasures available inside a National Park. More ›

Using the U.N. Rights of the Child as a Critical Inquiry Framework

April 11, 2013
In this episode, listeners are introduced to the book, A Critical Inquiry Framework for K-12 Teachers, edited by JoBeth Allen and Lois Alexander. The book is a set of portraits from K-12 classrooms that illustrate how teachers used the U.N. Rights of the Child as a framework to engage students in critical inquiry of relevant social issues. More ›

Reading, Writing, and Mentor Texts: Imagining Possibilities

March 28, 2013
In this episode we discuss with our guests the many ways mentor texts support writers and inspire writing of all genres in the classroom and beyond. We also explore direct connections to learning across the disciplines and resources for identifying and finding mentor texts. More ›

How One Pen Changed the World: USN Conference in Birmingham

March 14, 2013
This broadcast features leaders from the Red Mountain Writing Project, hosts of the USN Conference in Birmingham, Alabama, April 25–27. They provide an outline of events and a preview of opportunities for learning and connections promised by the conference. More ›

Investing in Leadership: Student-Run Writing Centers

February 28, 2013
In this episode we talk to Writing Project site leaders, teachers, administrators, and students about student-run writing centers as centers of leadership development for administrators, teachers, and students. Learn how the Northern Virginia Writing Project is taking up support of writing centers as part of their core work in their service area. More ›

Reflections on the Memorial Library Summer Seminar
in NYC

February 14, 2013
The Memorial Library brings teachers to New York City for a seminar, every summer, dedicated to exploring creative and collaborative methods for teaching about the Holocaust and other genocides. This broadcast features a conversation with Dr. Sondra Perl, Director of the Holocaust Educators Network and a co-founder of the New York City Writing Project, and Jennifer Lemberg, Assistant Director of the Holocaust Educators Network. Also joining in are three recent graduates of the seminar—Tai Basurto, Carol Revelle, and Melissa Flanagan—teachers whose work with the group has deepened over time. More ›

NWP and Digital Learning Day

January 24, 2013
Special guests Kim Doulliard, Janet Ilko, Jeremy Hyler, and Joe Dillon share what they have planned in their classrooms and at their Writing Project sites for the 2013 Digital Learning Day. Our guests also talk about their varied approaches with technology in their own instructional practice year-round. More ›

Principals in the Mix in Content-Area Professional Development

January 10, 2013
How do principals go about learning enough about literacy to support content-area teachers' professional development? How can writing projects provide occasions for learning for administrators? What effect does administrator's learning have on the success of professional development beyond "being supportive"? Join NWP Radio for a discussion of how writing projects can involve administrators in professional development and how their knowledge can help increase the effectiveness of our work. More ›

Back to School: A Conversation with Mike Rose

December 13, 2012
In this episode, we spend an hour with Mike Rose, a professor at the UCLA Graduate School of Education and Information Studies and the author of many books. We invited Mike to talk with us about his newest work: Back to School: Why Everyone Deserves a Second Chance at Education. More ›

In Gratitude

November 22, 2012
This Thanksgiving evening special includes "thank you" messages from Writing Project colleagues, recorded live at the 2012 Annual Meeting in Las Vegas. Hear their thoughtful words for those that have had a significant impact in their professional lives. More ›

National Novel Writing Month: NaNoWriMo in the Classroom

November 8, 2012
In this episode we celebrated National Novel Writing Month by talking to our friends at the Office of Letters and Light who administer NaNoWriMo, about the program in general, and about NaNoWriMo in the classroom. We also talked with California middle school teacher Laura Bradley about her students' participation in this exciting project. More ›

Exceeding the Core

October 25, 2012
In this episode we talk with Michael Smith, Jeff Wilhelm, and Jim Fredricksen, authors of three recently released books about teaching writing in ways that help students exceed the Common Core State Standards. Smith, Wilhelm, and Fredricksen, who are also slated to keynote the 2012 NWP Annual Meeting, will talk about their work and the role of the standards in educational policy and practice. More ›

Not Your Grandmother's Comp Class

October 11, 2012
Ever wonder what a writing class of 90 students would look like? Chris Fosen and Kim Jaxon, professors in the writing program at CSU, Chico, talk designing and teaching a "jumbo" comp class and the use of mentors and social media to create a vibrant learning space for all students. More ›

Educating for Democracy in the Digital Age

September 27, 2012
Join Ellen Middaugh of the Civic Engagement Research Group (CERG), Stan Pesick of the Bay Area Writing Project, and Oakland (CA) Unified School District teachers Patrick Friedman and Jah-Yee Woo as they discuss their work with a multi-year project—the largest of its kind in the nation—aimed at infusing a civic engagement focus into the OUSD high school experience. More ›

NWP and the National Center for Literacy Education

September 20, 2012
The National Center for Literacy Education (NCLE), of which NWP is a founding stakeholder organization, aims to provide support to and compile evidence about how educators working in cross-disciplinary teams design and implement plans to support literacy learners in every classroom. Listen to this episode to learn how you can get involved through the Literacy in Learning Exchange. More ›

Thinking About Web Literacy, Making, and Sharing with Mozilla

September 13, 2012
In this episode, join Laura Hilliger and Doug Belshaw from the Mozilla Foundation—the folks behind the Firefox web browser—and Troy Hicks (Chippewa River Writing Project) and Janelle Q. Bence (North Star of Texas Writing Proejct) as they explore what it means to be "web literate" and the tools and opportunities that have been created to support web making practices in schools and communities today. More ›

Beyond the Five-Paragraph Essay

August 23, 2012
Listen in on this conversation with Kimberly Hill Campbell and Kristi Latimer, authors of Beyond the Five-Paragraph Essay. These authors claim, "If we want our students to be more engaged, skilled writers, we need to move beyond the five-paragraph essay." We talk with them about why and how middle school and high school teachers can do just that. More ›

Teachers Leading Teachers: Seeing Need and Making Change

August 9, 2012
This NWP Radio show focuses on teacher leadership. Listen in as teacher-leaders from several Writing Project sites reflect on their work as leaders of other teachers in their schools, districts, and beyond, and why they are passionate about what they have chosen to do. More ›

What is College Writing Today?

July 26, 2012
Hear what's happening with writing on our nation's campuses with three faculty guests. This show focuses on writing in the major, in upper division courses, and in general education content area courses. Our guests for this show have extensive experience working with faculty who teach writing in their disciplines and have insight into the wide variety of genres. More ›

Writing on the Bus

July 12, 2012
In this episode of NWP Radio, we spend the hour talking about the relationship of writing to athletic performance and learning. We are joined by Rich Kent—director of the University of Maine Writing Project and author of Writing on the Bus: Using Athletic Team Notebooks and Journals to Advance Learning and Performance in Sports—as well as several teachers, coaches, and athletes. More ›

Connected Learning with Youth Voices

June 28, 2012
This show introduces Youth Voices, a customized school-based social network started by a group of National Writing Project teachers. We visit with Paul Allison, Chris Sloan, Carla Cherry, and Jim Nordlinger who use Youth Voices with their own students and focus on both the possibilities of and resources for supporting interest-driven writing in connected ways. More ›

What Teaching Means

June 14, 2012
In this episode of NWP Radio, join the editors of What Teaching Means: Stories from America's Classrooms, as well as several teacher-consultants/authors whose essays are featured in the text. We discuss the book, hear some essays from it, and talk about its audiences and uses in writing project work. More ›

Fundraising Tools and Strategies for Your Site: Reaching Out and Making Your Case

May 23, 2012
This special edition of NWP Radio features site directors Jessica Early, Central Arizona Writing Project, and Matt Luskey, Western Pennsylvania Writing Project, who talk about recent fundraising successes. They are joined by Susan Freundlich, NWP's Director of Advancement, who shares how to craft a persuasive presentation about Writing Project site work, and tools and resources available online. More ›

NWP Connect: Building Communities of Practice

May 17, 2012
Listen to a conversation with several site leaders who are building NWP Connect spaces that support, enhance, and develop communities of practice, both online and face-to-face. More ›

Habits of Heart, Mind, and Practice in the Engaged Classroom

May 10, 2012
This episode features Bob Fecho, director of the Red Clay Writing Project, and Ian Altman, Paige Cole, Angela Dean, and Lisa Hall—all Red Clay Writing Project teacher-consultants. We talk with them about dialogic teaching—what it is and how teachers can move toward more reflective teaching practices—as well as about the role of writing projects in this work. More ›

Poem in Your Pocket Day

April 26, 2012
In celebration of Poem in Your Pocket Day, this NWP Radio episode featured Joshua Mitchell, a youth poet at Figment.com and Katie Robbins, Director of Educational Programming at Figment; Bud Hunt, teacher-consultant with the Colorado State University Writing Project; Chris Tsang and students from his Boston middle school; and Grant Faulkner, Executive Director of the Office of Letters and Light. More ›

CoLab Leadership Institute in Creativity and Innovation

April 24, 2012
Join Ralph Cordova of the Piasa Bluffs Writing Project and other colleagues of the Cultural Landscapes Collaboratory (The CoLab)—a creative collaboration across National Writing Project sites, museums, and informal community-based institutions—as they share the "roots and routes" of their 3RD Space work. You'll also hear about how you can get involved in the 5-day Advanced Leadership Institute they'll be hosting this summer. More ›

Rethinking Creative Writing: An Interview with Stephanie Vanderslice

April 12, 2012
We spent an hour with Stephanie Vanderslice, director of the Great Bear Writing Project in Arkansas, and author of Rethinking Creative Writing. Stephanie talks with us about her book and her thinking about how and why we should reform undergraduate and postgraduate creative writing programs. More ›

Exploring the New NWP Resource: The Model at Work

March 22, 2012
The 2012 Review of NWP Site Reports captured promising practices and thinking from sites to produce The Model at Work, a resource of ideas from across the network. In this episode of NWP Radio, we hear from site leaders who are exploring this new resource and considering its implications for the work of their sites and for the NWP network. More ›

Working With New Teachers

March 8, 2012
Listen to an interview with Kira J. Baker-Doyle about her book The Networked Teacher, to learn about research and theory behind social networks and gain practical advice about how new teachers can create networks of peers and mentors for support. Also hear writing project leaders Kevin Thienes and Lanette Jimerson talk about their writing project-based work with new teachers. More ›

Plans for the Review of NWP Site Reports

February 28, 2012
This special edition of NWP Radio invited site leaders to join a conversation about the Review of NWP Site Reports set for March 2–5, 2012. Hear about the process for collecting good ideas that work and great thinking about site sustainability from the NWP Site Reports. More ›

Place-Based Literacy in the Urban Context—USN in Tulsa

February 23, 2012
This NWP Radio broadcast features leaders from the Oklahoma State University Writing Project, conference hosts, and keynote speaker Julie Landsman, who provide a preview of opportunities for learning and connections promised by the conference. More ›

Supporting Teachers in Working with the Common Core State Standards

February 9, 2012
How can sites best support teachers in working with the Common Core State Standards? Listen to the discussion with Tonya Perry, Site Director at Red Mountain Writing Project, and author of Supporting Students in a Time of Core Standards: English Language Arts, Grades 6–8, and other guests. More ›

Digital Writing Matters

January 26, 2012
In the lead-up to Digital Learning Day on February 1, NWP educators from around the country—including Troy Hicks of the Chippewa River Writing Project and Janelle Quintans Bence from the North Star of Texas Writing Project—discussed why digital writing matters for themselves as professionals and for the students they teach. More ›

Advocating for Your Writing Project Site: Looking Ahead

January 12, 2012
Hear from several site leaders about their plans for raising visibility and advocating for their sites in the coming year. The show includes news about the FY12 federal budget and an update on plans for the Spring Meeting. More ›

Scaling Up Youth Programs

December 8, 2011
NWP sites across the country offer a wide range of programs for youth authors. This broadcast of NWP Radio features a look at youth programs at three Writing Project sites, including a discussion of how sites can think about expanding youth programs to increase visibility, build partnerships, and raise funds. More ›

Get Ready for National Novel Writing Month and Find Out How You Can Use It in Your Classroom

October 27, 2011
In this episode of NWP Radio, hear from the staff of National Novel Writing Month , who will talk about how to write a novel "by the seat of your pants in 30 days"—this November. Also, NWP teacher-consultant Donalyn Miller will discuss how her students wrote a novel last year and how her class is gearing up for more novel writing this year. More ›

Why I Write

October 20, 2011
To celebrate the National Day on Writing, the National Writing Project aired a live radio show to celebrate the National Day on Writing with interviews with New York Times education reporter Fernanda Santos, New York Times Learning Network editor Katherine Schulten, Figment founder and New Yorker staff writer Dana Goodyear, Figment teen writers, and NWP teacher and author Ashley Hope Pérez. More ›

Write Now: Launching 2012 Scholastic Art and Writing Awards

September 22, 2011
This episode features Virginia McEnerney, executive director of the Alliance for Young Artists and Writers, who talks about the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards, the nation's oldest and most prestigious teen-writing competition. Joining Virginia is Harris Durrani, a 2011 Portfolio Gold Award Recipient for his General Writing Portfolio. Learn how site directors and teachers use participation in the program in their classrooms and as part of their continuity programs. More ›

A New Writing Project Site Report

September 20, 2011
This year, the NWP has shifted its narrative reporting from the previous Continued Funding Application (CFA) to a new Writing Project Site Report. In this NWP Radio program, colleagues from the network talk about the new reporting structure and how their sites are thinking about responding. More ›

Marking a Moment: Teaching About 9/11

September 8, 2011
September 11th, 2011, marks the 10th anniversary of the devastating attack on the World Trade Center. How is this subject being surfaced, taught, and talked about in classrooms? What critical literacy practices support students in finding a voice as they navigate the complexities of challenging topics, such as 9/11? Join NWP teachers and colleagues such as Holly Epstein Ojalvo, editor of the New York Times Learning Network, and Jennifer Lemberg of the Holocaust Educators Network in this powerful episode of NWP Radio. More ›

Exploring "Systems Thinking" With Grinding New Lenses

August 25, 2011
This summer, eight teachers from three writing project sites spent a month in Chicago exploring the power of systems-thinking to support students in the way they learn, make, and write. This project, called "Grinding New Lenses", involved teachers in their own learning and thinking about systems, followed by an opportunity to lead a summer camp with youth from the surrounding area. More ›

Rural Solutions to Rural Problems

August 11, 2011
Through an array of site practices, programs, and partnerships, NWP sites provide teachers with opportunities to explore the strengths and challenges that define rural education in America. This episode features what NWP has learned from its member sites about teaching and learning in rural schools. More ›

We Are All Teachers of ELLs

July 28, 2011
Many National Writing Project sites are retooling their recruitment efforts, inservice offerings and institutes in light of the significant demographic changes that have placed English learners in almost every classroom. Join us at NWP Radio as we focus on the learning that grew out of the 2011 Focus on ELL Inservice Institute, sponsored by NWP. More ›

Site Directors Talk About Sustaining their Sites

July 14, 2011
Join a group of Writing Project site directors who will share their thinking about site sustainability, including sources of funding they plan to tap, ideas for programming and strategic planning with site leaders, as well as approaches to making their sites ever more visible and essential to the mission of the university. More ›

Copyright and Fair Use in Digital Media and Composition

June 9, 2011
Renee Hobbs, author of Copyright Clarity: How Fair Use Supports Digital Learning, discusses the critical issues of copyright and fair use in digital media and composition, while considering together how these support youth voice and learning inside and outside the classroom. More ›

A Conversation with Jeff Wilhelm and Bruce Novak

May 26, 2011
Visit with Jeff Wilhelm and Bruce Novak, authors of the upcoming Teaching Literacy for Love and Wisdom. Wilhelm and Novak will talk about their new book, a conference that explores its essential ideas, and the importance of the Writing Project in supporting teachers in rich enactments of teaching and learning. More ›

Stronger Together: State and Regional Networks at Work

May 12, 2011
Groups of writing project sites in states or regions are looking to their shared context as they move toward the future. Many are seeing new opportunities for productive work in relation to state goals and state needs. Tune in to this episode of NWP Radio to hear how sites leaders are connecting to each other as well as their state departments of education and other partners to accomplish mutually beneficial work on behalf of teachers and students. More ›

Live from the Urban Sites Network Conference

April 28, 2011
Join your NWP colleagues as they gather in Boston for the Urban Sites Network (USN) Conference. NWP Radio will be visiting with keynote speaker Ernest Morrell and the USN Leadership Team to talk about this year's conference themes. More ›

What Works in Writing Instruction?

March 10, 2011
Join us for a conversation with Deborah Dean, director of the Central Utah Writing Project and author of What Works in Writing Instruction: Research and Practices. Dean's book picks up where the influential report Writing Next leaves off, exploring how practitioners can put together a vision of effective practices in service of strong curriculum. More ›

Language Diversity and Literacy Instruction

February 24, 2011
In this episode, we look at language diversity through various linguistic perspectives and discuss the ways in which language diversity is addressed across our network. In light of demographic trends across our country, how are writing projects designing work that meets the linguistic needs of the teachers and the children they serve? More ›

Sharing Our Knowledge: Reaching Out to a New Congress

February 17, 2011
Several writing project sites are organizing to reach out to their legislators to educate them about the work and impact of their writing projects and about educational issues in their areas. More ›

Beyond Formulas to Learning: The Unfamiliar Genre Project

February 10, 2011
Teacher-consultants from the Eastern Michigan Writing Project share the work behind their book, Writing Outside Your Comfort Zone: Helping Students Navigate Unfamiliar Genres. They discuss the Unfamiliar Genre Project, a way to move writers beyond formulas to lifelong learning about writing. More ›

Challenges and Opportunities in Leading a NWP Site

January 27, 2011
Directors from various NWP sites unpack the complexities of transitioning a writing project site from one leader to the next and share honest insights about what they learned through the process. More ›

The Pressures of Teaching: How Teachers Cope With Classroom Stress

January 13, 2011
Visit with Maureen Picard Robins and several teacher-authors of a new essay collection titled The Pressures of Teaching: How Teachers Cope With Classroom Stress. Hear about the genesis of this collection and listen to the stories of three chapter authors: Bryan Ripley Crandall, Fred Haas, and Bruce Green. More ›

What Does Continuity Look Like at Your Site?

December 9, 2010
The NWP model for local sites focuses on invitational summer institutes, professional development programs, and continuity. But what exactly is continuity and why is it so central to the vitality of NWP sites? More ›

Writing and Healing On Veterans Day and Beyond

November 11, 2010
NWP Radio takes a look at the issues faced by returning servicemen and women, many of whom are now entering universities and community colleges or resuming their places in the families of children in schools. We take a particular look at their experiences as we think about writing and healing. More ›

Teachers and Writers Together at Student-Staffed Writing Centers, Part 2

November 4, 2010
In this second of two episodes on student-staffed writing centers, we hear from Writing Project sites that have worked with schools to develop writing centers. How can writing centers be at the center of a professional development model for teachers and students alike? More ›

Teachers and Writers Together at Student-Staffed Writing Centers

October 28, 2010
The first of two programs about student-staffed writing centers from schools around the country. Guests—including students—share how their work with writing centers has transformed their own work as writers and the culture of their schools. More ›

Writing at the Center: The National Day on Writing

October 14, 2010
Local sites discuss plans for this year's National Day on Writing and guests share how they hold onto the fundamental experience of writing in the midst of their teaching and scholarship about writing. More ›

Sondra Perl and Charles Schuster Talk About New Book

October 5, 2010
NWP Radio makes a quick visit to Sondra Perl and Charles Schuster to hear about their new freshmen reader, "Stepping On My Brother's Head" and Other Secrets Your English Professor Never Told You. More ›

The Southern Arizona Writing Project Teacher-Research and Inquiry Community

September 23, 2010
Visit with the site leaders and teacher-consultants from the Southern Arizona Writing Project as they describe their efforts to sustain their teacher-research and inquiry program for a new generation of teachers. More ›

Making the Most of the 2010 NWP Annual Meeting

September 9, 2010
The Annual Meeting, held every year in November, is the largest NWP gathering of the year. As sites begin to prepare for the 2010 meeting in Orlando, listen to some of the highlights and learn how site leaders plan ahead to make the most of this annual continuity opportunity. More ›

Parents as Partners in Literacy Education

August 26, 2010
Two new books by Writing Project colleagues push us to think anew about the role that families can play in powerful literacy education. Listen to Lynne Strieb, author of Inviting Families Into the Classroom, and JoBeth Allen, author of Literacy in the Welcoming Classroom. More ›

After The Summer Institute, What's Next?

August 12, 2010
This episode of NWP Radio features a discussion of how teacher-consultants can connect to NWP through online opportunities and national events after the invitational summer institute. More ›

A Visit With the Holocaust Educators Network

July 22, 2010
The Holocaust Educators Network conducts an annual summer institute that looks at how carefully designed reading and writing activities can help young people deal with challenging material. The teachers who participated in the 2010 institute share their reflections and insights. More ›

A Glimpse into Summer Institutes Through NWP's E-Anthology

July 8, 2010
Halfway through the 2010 NWP Summer Institute season, NWP Blog Talk Radio checks in with the E-Anthology E-Team to hear what trends and delights they are seeing in the writing they've been reading in the E-Anthology. More ›

What Matters to Teachers in Education Policy

June 24, 2010
Many educators have argued that teachers' voices are insufficiently present in discussion about education, and that teachers need to strategize to bring teaching and learning back into the center of policy. More ›

A Visit With the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers

June 10, 2010
The Alliance for Young Artists & Writers identifies teenagers with exceptional artistic and literary talent and brings their remarkable work to a national audience through The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards. Join us as we visit with the Alliance and some of the NWP sites working with the Alliance to identify our most talented young writers. More ›

Reflections on the Writing Marathon

May 27, 2010
Join us for a conversation with some of the teacher-consultants and directors who have helped shape, and now are studying, the writing marathon as an activity that helps us keep in touch with our writing selves. More ›

Inservice at NWP Sites in 2010

May 13, 2010
In this episode of NWP Radio we invite you to join a discussion among NWP site leaders about approaches to planning for work in schools in the current climate. More ›

Writing in the Summer Institute: Foundational Practice and Emergent Opportunities

April 8, 2010
Writing and reflecting on writing are at the core of the summer institute model. But what does that mean in practice? In this episode of NWP Radio, site leaders talk about how they are thinking about writing in their institutes, including with online tools such as the E-Anthology. More ›

Why School? A Conversation with Mike Rose

March 15, 2010
With so many policy prescriptions pointing to alternatives to the model of public education, it is a good time to ask the question: Why School? Scholar and author Mike Rose responds to this and other questions at the heart of his new book in two episodes of NWP Radio. More ›

What's Next: Possibilities for Literacy and Content Area Learning

March 11, 2010
Listen to a post-conference discussion with NWP leaders about the Writing Project's work with content-area teachers and disciplinary literacy. This program follows up NWP's "What's Next: Possibilities for Literacy and Content Area Learning conference" held in March 2010 in New Orleans. More ›

Invitational Summer Institute: What Will Your Site Be Reading in the 2010 Summer Institute?

February 11, 2010
Moderator Elyse Eidman-Aadahl discusses with NWP site directors Lil Brannon, Faye Peitzman, and Troy Hicks their ideas about appropriate and relevant readings for the invitational summer institute and how they can best be used. More ›

Related Resource Topics

• Professional Development - General Professional Development Resources