Educator Programs

The NCWP offers professional development for teachers in a variety of formats:

Up next for spring 2021: MOVING PAST THE ZERO: RE-ENVISIONING HOW WE GRADE

In this inquiry group, we’ll read and discuss the book Grading for Equity: What It Is, Why It Matters, and How It Can Transform Schools and Classrooms by Joe Feldman. Feldman is a teacher, principal, director, and researcher who looks critically at standard, accepted grading practices questioning their ability to accurately and equitably assess student knowledge and growth. He offers alternatives that keep students motivated, assess students on course content, and create equity for all students. Please share with fellow teachers who would be interested in an inquiry into grading practices.  Meeting dates: April 13 and 20; May 4 and May 18. Led by Nicole LaGrave. 

• Click here to register for this inquiry and book group

 

DEEP DIVE AND TEACHER INQUIRY: (RE) CLAIMING LANGUAGES (completed: see the webinar below)

The workshop series will begin with a collaborative, deep dive into Dr. April Baker-Bell’s Linguistic Justice: Black Language, Literacy, Identity, and Pedagogy, Black Language before turning toward reflective action aimed at answering: (1) How does Anti-Black Linguistic racism operate in our own contexts? (2) How is White Linguistic supremacy maintained in our contexts? (3) How might we design learning spaces where students’ full linguistic repertoires are valued as more than a bridge to White Mainstream English? (4) What pedagogical innovations might be reimagined and enacted when we build from the claim that Black Lives and Language matter? Open to all teachers: k-college.

Institutes:

• Institutes are extended programs of 30+ hours that bring together teachers from a variety of regions, grade levels, and disciplines.
  • Invitational Summer Institute: an intensive, 2-week summer program for experienced teachers of writing in all grade levels and disciplines. Our next open institute will be offered in June 2021. More information here. See a sneak peek below.
  • Invitational Beginning Teacher Design Institute: an intensive, 2-week summer program for beginning teachers of writing–teachers in their first 5 years of teaching–in all grade levels and disciplines. Our next open institute will be offered June 2021. More information here.
  • Open Institutes: one-week programs open to all K-college educators. A recent offering was “(Re)Claiming Languages”
  • Advanced Institutes: programs with a specific focus designed for teachers who have previously attended the Invitational Summer Institute. Recent advanced institutes have focused on developing inservice programs and building community college partnerships.

Inservice:

• We have a number of inservice offerings for schools and districts. Recent programs include:
  • Argumentative writing at Fair View High School. A year long professional development program working with teachers in the CUSD alternative education program.
  • Technology Matters. A week-long school-based program for K-5 teachers focused on using computer-mediated tools to improve student literacy.
  • Content Area Literacy Network. A year-long inservice collaborative focused on high school content-area literacy, partnering schools from Tehama, Siskiyou, Modoc, and Glenn counties.
  • Bridging Gaps: High School, Community College, University. This two-year partnership with Butte College focused on articulating the needs of students as they transition from high school, successfully navigate the two-year college, and then move on to the four-year institution.
• We can design a series or day long event to meet the writing needs of local contexts. Contact us at ncwp-admin@csuchico.edu to schedule a time to meet with school staff to design professional development that meets the needs of teachers and students.

Workshops:

• Workshops, like institutes, bring together teachers from a variety of schools and regions to focus on a topic, but in a more abbreviated time frame–often a series of shorter meetings over the course of a few months or one day Saturday sessions. Recent workshops include:
  • Uncovering Hidden Gems: a series of Saturday morning workshops focused on rethinking our assessment strategies when working with elementary-school writers.
  • Teacher Researchers at Work: a series of collaborative workshops centered on individual participants’ classroom-based action research.