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Posts from the ‘PAWLP’ Category

Aug 12

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Teacher to Teacher: The Art of Questioning

By Lynne R. Dorfman

As teachers, we often feel like we should know the answer to every question. Often, we make sure that the questions we ask in our classrooms are questions we can answer. But is it necessary or even effective to ask these kinds of questions most of the time?  What does a teacher asking questions of a class expect the class to learn from the questioning process? Can we learn from our students who just might have possible answers to questions that we have not imagined?  Read more

Jul 22

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From the Classroom: What Does Real-World Writing Look Like?

By Tricia Ebarvia

Speaking on a panel at the NCTE Annual Convention last fall, author Cris Crutcher commented, “Reading Shakespeare is an academic exercise. It’s not one that’s going to get me to love reading.” Though I disagree with him about Shakespeare―I think studying Shakespeare can give us tremendous insight into who we are as human beings and speak to us in profound ways―his remark did give me pause. How many of the things we assign―books, writing assignments―are no more than academic exercises? Read more

May 20

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From the Classroom: Reflection as Looking Back, Looking Forward

By Tricia Ebarvia

The other day I announced to my ninth graders that we were about to begin our very last book of the school year, The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. Some students were, no doubt, excited about the arrival of summer. Others expressed surprise at how quickly the year had gone by.

The end of the school year always brings mixed feelings for me. Read more

Apr 29

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A Trio of Poetry

As National Poetry Month draws to its close, we thought we’d share a small trio of poems, written by two of our own here at PAWLP, Lynne Dorfman and Kathy Barham. As you can see, Lynne’s “Country Inn: Imagining a Different Life” draws on rich sensory detail—the “fireplaces crickles and crackles” and “pageantry of brilliant color.” Meanwhile, Kathy’s “Spring” brings the reader up close and personal to Nature in an encounter with a cardinal in springtime, while “Hard to be a Cod” takes playful inspiration from, of all things, a typo.  Read more

Apr 26

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Celebrating 35 Years of Teachers Teaching Teachers

On a beautiful spring Saturday, more than 75 educators, teachers, and friends gathered together to celebrate the 35th Anniversary of the PA Writing and Literature Project. The luncheon, held at the West Chester Alumni Center, was hosted by Fellow and master of ceremonies, Bruce Perlman, and featured musical entertainment by Pat Bove, Gaetan Pappalardo, and Rob Levitt. Guests enjoyed a trip down memory lane with a photo slideshow as well as a poetry reading from PAWLP poet-in-residence Don LaBranche. PAWLP also raised money for its scholarship fund through a silent auction during the event. Many past and current PAWLP coordinators shared their thoughts, including PAWLP founder, Bob Weiss, who had a vision 35 years ago of a professional community of teachers and writers, a vision helped to make PAWLP what it is today. Remembering those early days, Bob shared:  Read more

Apr 8

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Celebrating Poetry with Fig Trees and Cake | Guest Post by Janet Wong

By Janet Wong 

UPDATE 4/15/15: And we have a winner! Jo Anne Johns – you are the lucky recipient of a copy of The Poetry Friday Anthology for Celebrations! Please email us at triciambe@gmail.com so that we can put you in touch with Janet. Thanks so much to everyone who participated and left wonderful comments and ideas below. 

UPDATE 4/11/15: We’re so happy to announce a GIVEAWAY! Janet Wong has graciously offered to give away a copy of the Teacher / Librarian Edition of The Poetry Friday Anthology for Celebrations. To enter, simply post a brief comment below and share one of your favorite poetry activities to do with students or how you plan to celebrate poetry this month! Please post your comment by Tuesday, 4/14, at 11:59 pm EST. A winner will be randomly selected and announced on Wednesday morning.

I agree with Janice Ewing: I too “have mixed feelings about special months designated for things that should be embedded into our teaching and celebrated all through the year.” Poetry is so easy to incorporate into your teaching day; most poems take less than a minute to read. Poetry is so useful, too, especially in teaching other content areas (science, math, social studies, the arts, and P.E. or sports). Saving it just for April would be like saving cake just for birthdays.

But there are some designated months that are still very necessary. Read more

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