ISI 2015 - Meadow Brook Writing Project

2020 Summer Institute

In order to exercise caution and best protect the health and safety of participants and facilitators, there will be no form of traditional or face-to-face professional development this summer, including the Summer Institute. We will be offering a one week virtual professional development course. Registration is coming soon, and information can be found below. The course will count toward Teacher Consultant Certification from MBWP (.25).

Who can register?

Any active or retired writing teachers of grades K-16. Certified Teacher Consultants are welcome to register as materials will be new, and new and interested teachers are invited to participate and begin to earn certification as a Teacher Consultant.

What can one expect?

The course will be a combination of lively interaction and discussion, fun and thought-provoking writing prompts, innovative readings, and group sharing of writing and teaching ideas. You can earn either 23 SCECH or 1 graduate credit.

Where will the course meet?

No in person meetings will be required and all work will be done online. Participants will receive login information for the online learning platform after registering for the course.

When does the course take place?

The course runs from August 3-7, and will contain a combination of synchronous and asynchronous activities with a total of 23 hours of work.

How much does the course cost?

To participate only in the course or to earn 23 SCECH, the course costs $100. In order to earn one graduate credit, the course costs the standard Oakland University graduate credit cost of $770.50 for in state residents or $1027 for out of state residents.

Contact Christina Hall with any additional questions or concerns.

The MBWP is part of the National Writing Project, a network of over 200 sites nationwide dedicated to improving writing, literacy and teaching in schools, K through 16.

The institute provides a community of teachers with an opportunity to support each other with innovative ideas and practices to take back to classrooms. Participants in the Meadow Brook Writing Project Summer Institute join an existing network that will continue to influence teaching and learning long into the future. The traditional Summer Institute will return in Summer 2021.

Watch Kathleen and Mary discuss the Invitational Summer Institute

Each participant:

develops a demonstration project to share with colleagues;
practices writing freely in various personal and professional modes;
reflects on his or her own writing and teaching practices;
participates in a reading inquiry group;
develops critical skills as teachers, theorists and writers;
promotes conversation about writing across grade levels and disciplines;
prepares for a leadership role as a consultant and counselor to other teachers.

Philosophy

The Meadow Brook Writing Project does not advocate any set formulas, pre-packaged plans or quick-fix remedies. Our philosophy includes the following points:

Teachers are the key to improving education, and the best teachers of teachers are other teachers.
Knowledge about teaching writing results from an interaction between theory and practice.
Meaningful change happens over time.
Teachers of writing must write.
The teaching, learning and practice of writing are vital to a democratic society.

The institute is limited to 18 participants, including teachers representing a broad demographic spectrum and across grade levels. We also welcome teachers outside language arts who encourage writing-to-learn in their subjects. The cost of each institute session is $300.00 for 75 clock hours (SCECHs).

Leaders

The director of professional developent of the Meadow Brook Writing Project and instructor of record for the summer institute is Christina Hall in the Department of Writing and Rhetoric at Oakland University.

Daily leadership is provided by Mary Cox and Kathleen Reddy-Butkovich. Cox, co-director of the Meadow Brook Writing Project, taught at Renaissance High School in Detroit, where her students routinely scored well above the state average on the MEAP. She is a fellow of the former Detroit Writing Project and has occupied leadership roles in the state and national councils of teachers of English. Reddy-Butkovich, also a co-director of the MBWP, is the former Curriculum Coordinator for English Language Arts and Social Studies at Plymouth-Canton Community Schools and is a past fellow of the Meadow Brook Writing Project 2001 Summer Invitational Institute.

More Information

For information regarding MBWP or course content and responsibilities, contact Mary Cox at (313) 824-4778(313) or cissycox@aol.com, or Kathleen Reddy Butkovich at (248) 540-7963 or kreddyb@aol.com. For information regarding registration contact Christina Hall at chall@oakland.edu.

Marshall Kitchens, Director
Meadow Brook Writing Project
Oakland University
Rochester, MI 48309-4401