#blog4nwp - Laren Hammonds

Laren Hammonds is a language arts teacher at Paul W. Bryant High School in Cottondale, Alabama.

I spent June 2010 at the Longleaf Writing Project Summer Institute, working with an amazing group of ladies from all over west Alabama. It was overwhelming. Every day, I came home with new ideas for writers' notebooks, strategies for writing workshops, and resources for learning more. I placed weekly orders at Amazon for books on writing instruction recommended by my fellow writers, and ended up buying more shelving to accommodate them all. Post-institute, I spent the remaining weeks of the summer break trying to process all I learned and developing lessons to take back to my students.

During the fall semester of this school year, my final class of the day was a group of ninth graders, all of whom were new to me but repeating English 9. The instruction they'd been use to was all about prep for the state graduation exam and writing assessment. They came into my room assuming I'd be throwing grammar workbooks at them and trying to drag them through writing five-paragraph essays, but because of my time in Longleaf everything was different. From day one, they were recording their experiences in writers' notebooks and sharing them with their peers and me. Kids my colleagues had "warned" me about, who'd been labeled as failures, were well-behaved, actively participating, and proud of the work they were doing.

Because of my participation in the Longleaf Writing Project, I was able to transform my instruction and provide my students with something different, engaging, and valuable to them, and I imagine that other NWP teachers have had similar experiences. We can't afford to give up what the National Writing Project has to offer us and our students.

#blog4nwp - Rhonda Brinyark

Rhonda Brinyark is a language arts teacher at Tuscaloosa County High School in Northport, Alabama.

I had been struggling for too long, trying to figure out a better way of helping my students improve their own writing, attending many workshops, none of which helped much. One day as I was passing out papers, a student called me over to ask me something about her paper. As I approached her, I saw it as she saw it. She'd made a lot of mistakes, and I had been good enough to help her see them. All of them. If I had been she, I wouldn't have known where to start fixing the problems, and I would likely have just given up. I was at my wit's end and needed help in order to better help her and others like her.

It was about this time that I happened upon a flyer for the Longleaf Writing Project. There I found the answers I'd been looking for and that my students needed me to have. I feel so much more confident in helping them to be the best writers they can be. I've even managed to get two teachers I work with to attend subsequent sessions of Longleaf. If we lose this site, none of my other colleagues will be able to gain what I have gained from this experience. Please help us help more students and their teachers.

#blog4nwp - Cita Smith

Cita Smith is a language arts teacher at Tuscaloosa Academy in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

One day I picked up a postcard from my mailbox in the teacher workroom and saw the words Longleaf Writing Project. The word writing jumped out at me, and as I read on, I knew that LWP was for me. I could hardly wait to apply! As a longtime middle school English teacher, I am always seeking new and better ways to teach writing. And, I must admit, I also look for opportunities to develop and expand my own writing.

LWP ignited my passion for teaching and writing in ways I did not expect. Connecting with others who fight many of the same daily classroom challenges was in itself a gift. Hearing ideas from young teachers was enriching. Learning a new approach from someone who teaches five year olds was exciting. Reading the work of educators from all over the country on e-anthology was inspiring. Everything about LWP was uplifting. I brought back many ideas to my classroom and have felt a difference in my approach to teaching. LWP was like a B-12 shot to my teaching career. For this next year, I have been asked to serve as a consultant for the upcoming participants, and I welcome that opportunity. I hope to see other teachers come away from this experience with the same positive feelings that I have.

#blog4nwp

Recent budget cuts have resulted in the elimination of direct federal funding for the National Writing Project. Knowing the power that NWP can have on classroom instruction, Central Virginia Writing Project teacher-consultant Chad Sansing began #blog4nwp, a blogging campaign to support NWP and to get it funded.

The short-term goal is to collect 1000 blog posts from teachers around the country by April 8. Check out upcoming guest posts here to see what participating in the National Writing Project has meant to Longleaf members, and visit the #blog4nwp archive to hear from teachers at other sites.