During the Institute, participants write in several modes, examine and discuss research, share specific teaching strategies, and develop a proposal for classroom research. Then they meet once during that semester to discuss the progress of their research. Early in the second semester following the Institute, participants put together a display of their projects and present the information in an exhibit area which is open to all educators in our service area. Teachers who write make better writing teachers because they understand the process through their own experience.
Writing is a way to learn and can be used to teach every content area.
The program contains five interactive components. The first and most important component is writing. Each teacher is responsible for a journal, which has two sections. In the first section the teacher captures responses to assigned readings. These responses are not summaries, but detail the ways that a teacher might use the research or ideas in his or her own classroom.