Send Dianna to a Readers' Workshop Training!

Reading is fundamental! We read in every subject and it's the key to unlocking so many doors. My students deserve to enjoy reading and to easily use it for critical thinking. The best way to accomplish this is to make sure my reading instruction is the BEST it can be. One of the best ways to do this is to attend a quality professional development training!

For years, I've been dying to attend one of the summer reading institutes held at Columbia University.

The Columbia Teachers College hosts the Reading and Writing Project, and through them, they have produced the most up-to-date reading and writing curricula. At my school, we have adopted both the reading and writing curriculum. The Reading Institute is an intensive, week-long training encompassing all aspects of an upper-elementary readers' workshop. I will spend the first half of each day in a group with upper elementary teachers. We will focus on units of study in reading workshop, comprehension strategy instruction, the importance of assessment-based instruction, the role of the read-aloud book, methods of holding students accountable for doing their best work, helping students grow ideas about literature, and classroom structures that support inquiry and collaboration. In the second half of the day, I will work in small interactive sections to develop the skills learned earlier.

I will be the first staff member from my school to be officially trained in our adopted curriculum, commonly known as Readers and Writers Workshop. My students will benefit from improved reading instruction, but even more significant is that I will be able to bring everything I learn back to my school staff. With that, the impact of this project grows exponentially!