I need funds to help me fly to New York from California and stay for 6 nights to attend the Writers' Workshop Summer Institute presented by Teachers College and Lucy Calkins.
I work with middle to low-income students at a small urban school. Many come from immigrant families, so English is a second language for the majority of our school. These kids love learning and want to grow as much as possible in their knowledge.
Our school-wide focus is to get at least 75% of our students reading on grade-level.
Our students absolutely love reading and love getting their hands on new books! They beg me to read to them and are always looking for great book recommendations. It's awe-inspiring to see so many young people wanting to put down electronics just to read a good book.
My Project
I have always looked for ways to improve my craft as a teacher. With the adoption of the National Common Core State Standards, I have questioned the effectiveness of traditional reading programs and sought a better way. Then I learned about Readers’ and Writers’ Workshop. I have attempted to try it without any formal training, but now I want to learn from the experts.
My school has formed a team of six teachers who are all hoping to attend the summer institutes so we can be grade level leaders, bringing back what we know to our entire school community.
We want to lead by example, and at the same time learn from one another as a collaboration team. Having others try something new at the same time as me will help me, as well as the others, be more successful with implementation. I know this will inspire the rest of our staff to try the workshop model as well.
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As a teacher-founded nonprofit, we're trusted by thousands of teachers and supporters across the country. This classroom request for funding was created by Mrs. Balamurugan and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
