Summer is a time for renewal and relaxation. It is also a time to replenish the stock of knowledge and skills needed for teaching. Rather than offering after school workshops run mostly on sugar and caffeine, CWP-Fairfield holds summer Institutes where participants can share ideas, discuss controversial pedagogies, learn about the most current research and renew their pledge to the improved literacy of all our students. Participants return to their schools having found new professional friends, fed their minds and replenished their commitment to teaching.

How does this happen? As teachers we want our students to love reading and writing. We want them to discover their own creativity, improve their analytical thinking and master increasingly effective learning strategies. By engaging in these activities ourselves we see the complexities of writing and writing as well as the solutions to literacy problems of students of all backgrounds and needs. Join us for a few weeks that will be transformational in your teaching.

The Connecticut Writing Project at Fairfield University announces its 2008 Summer Institute in the Teaching of Writing to be held June 30-July 25 at Fairfield University. The Project Directors and Executive Board invite you to apply. Any Connecticut teacher, K-13, is eligible. (more info, download an application)

Teaching with Power? In his now-classic work, Writing With Power: Techniques for Mastering the Writing Process, Peter Elbow says that power in writing is "...that extra something--or that inner something--that makes readers experience what you are talking about, not just understand it." (p.4) Elbow sees this as "the power to make a difference, to make a dent." (p. 280) "Teaching with Power," then, might be seen as that "extra something" that makes students "experience what you are talking about," the kind of teaching that makes a difference. Some of this power is innate; however, many aspects can be taught, learned, and practiced. During this week, colleagues will have the opportunity to share and learn from each other effective, researched-based, and practical strategies for teaching that makes a difference for all students. (Download the application and brochure: part 1, part 2)