THE LEADERSHIP CHALLENGE IN IMPLEMENTING UNITS OF STUDY IN WRITING:

A Teachers College Reading and Writing Project Two-Day Leadership Conference for School and Literacy Leaders K-8

This conference is designed to help Presented by Lucy Calkins, school leaders support the teaching of writing. Mary Ehrenworth, and Drawing on work that the Teachers College Reading and Writing Laurie Pessah Project has done with thousands of schools across the world, Lucy, Laurie, and Mary will provide insight into research-supported best practices for building communities of practice, developing curriculum, and giving feedback.

PARTICIPANTS This two-day conference is designed for superintendents, principals, and assistant principals, as well as curricular leaders and district coaches.

DATE & TIME Thursday, July 5th 8:30am to 3pm Friday, July 6th 8:30am to 2pm

LOCATION DoubleTree by Hilton Sonoma Wine Country One Doubletree Drive Rohnert Park, CA 94928

PRICE $330 per person Cost of registration does not include overnight accommodations

Part of the day will be brass tacks: you'll be brought behind the scenes of Units of Study for Teaching Opinion, Information, and Narrative Writing and learn what a school leader wants to know about the series' underlying methods, principles, and progressions. You'll get ideas both for building towards vertical and lateral alignment, so that teachers can depend on the work of others. As part of this work, you'll practice studying writing performance assessments, so that you are confident you can have your finger on the pulse of writing, at any moment, in your school. We'll also help you consider the supports that are in place for students who struggle, and also help you look at your strongest writers, and how to know if your instruction is moving them. You will also learn important ways to support whole schools as they become communities of practice where teachers plan together, visit each other's classrooms, observe each other’s teaching, and study student writing together. You'll learn how other schools have freed up teachers' schedules so they can plan and study together. You'll hear about grade-level planning groups, cross-grade articulation teams, parent education, and ways to develop and use master teachers. Additionally, you'll hear about predictable challenges you will no doubt face as you try to lift the level of writing across your school and your district - and you will receive tested, practical help responding to those challenges. Topics might include: • An overview of essential conditions for writers to flourish • A crash course in key methods for teaching writing • Seeing and supporting teachers with predicable problems • Developing school-wide performance assessment systems • Supporting reading-writing connections • Helping develop teachers as grade level leaders • Becoming a change agent in your community

Register online at: www.readingandwritingproject.org