Thursday, February 12, 2015

Getting Our Innovation On In Connecticut @cwpfairfield @fairfieldu #LRNG @innovates_ed #WeTooAreConnecticut

If it looks like a pile, it is because it is a pile. Actually, it's a pile of technological literacies for the 21st century.

All the supplies for the 2014-2015 LRNG Innovation Challenge Award granted to Connecticut Writing Project-Fairfield have finally arrived and yesterday I spent the day organizing the teacher tools to be delivered to the six high school teachers who applied for the grant: copies of Matt de la Peña's We Were Here, digital recording devices, wireless mics, USB drives, IPad audio systems, etc. The project will involve Darien, Joel Barlow, Central, Staples, Global Studies at Brien McMahon, and Bassick High Schools (and over 150 Connecticut youth).

The teachers have been working with students on composing pieces to celebrate student voice. The goal is to provide a platform for them to tell their story, share their concerns, and make their case about being a teenager in Connecticut. They, too, have something to contribute because they, too, are here!

In a month Robert Galinsky will lend his expertise to two of the schools and in less than two weeks, several of our teacher leaders will congregate at Joel Barlow High School to learn of their exceptional portfolio program and support of student writers. 

I always feel like Santa Claus putting gifts together for teachers such as this - unusual locations where I am able to invest in the excellence of Connecticut teachers under the umbrella of the National WritingProject. Today, I will drive the 90 miles to reach the teachers at varying schools so that they have the supplies they need to support the young people they believe in.

A fourteen-hour day doesn't seem exhausting when a majority of it is spent carrying forth the creativity and vision of investing 'out of the box' thinking with students and teachers in southern Connecticut. It's a win-win scenario for all and I hope the LRNG Innovation Challenge Awards become a national model for investors wanting to push against the current state of instruction in our schools. There's so much tremendous work that can be done when classroom teachers are given permission to be the intelligent, professional individuals they were trained to be. 

Go, Us!

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