The University of Maine College of Education and Human Development

Art Teacher Lindsay Hartwell, Central Middle School in Corinth  presents Encouraging Student Voice with Handmade Journals

On September 30th, educators from every grade level and multiple disciplines gathered at the Hutchinson Center in Belfast, Maine for the  2011 Effective Practices Conference, hosted by the Maine Writing Project and the Southern Maine Writing Project. This special day of “teachers teaching teachers” featured new teacher-consultants of Maine’s two National Writing Project sites.  Eighteen workshops ranged from building writers’ fluency with freewrites to introducing mentor texts with read-alouds, interpreting texts with role play, collaborative note-taking with Google Docs, and writing to problem solve in mathematics.  Pictures from this exciting and collegial day can be found on Facebook.

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Associate Director of the Maine Writing Project Ken Martin successfully defended his doctoral dissertation, Learning to Discuss Literature Online: Where Technology Design and Instruction Intersect. Ken’s dissertation committee included Julie Cheville, Associate Professor of English Education at Illinois State University (Chair); Richard Ackerman, Associate Professor of Educational Leadership at UMaine; Susan Bennett-Armistead, Assistant Professor of Literacy Education at UMaine; Richard Kent, Associate Professor of Literacy Education and director of the Maine Writing Project at UMaine; and Troy Hicks, Assistant Professor of English Language and Literature at Central Michigan University.

Joining Ken’s committee for the open defense were Jan Kristo, Associate Dean of Instruction at UMaine’s College of Education and Human Development; Janet Martin, Ken’s wife; Dr. Cynthia Dean, co-director of the Maine Writing Project and Assistant Professor of Education & Coordinator of Teaching Certification at the University of Maine at Augusta; and Maureen Montgomery, co-director of the Maine Writing Project and University Coach (7-12), Maine Partnerships in Comprehensive Literacy at the University of Maine.

A native of South Weymouth, Massachusetts, Ken grew up in Norton, Massachusetts and graduated from Mount Hermon School (Gill, Massachusetts). A cum laude graduate of Harvard College (Cambridge, Massachusetts), Ken holds a B.A. in English.  Following 25 years employment in banking and retail, Ken worked in eastern Maine for ten years as a high school English teacher and for three years as a technology integration coach. He earned a Master’s degree in Literacy Education from the College of Education and Human Development at the University of Maine in 2003 and is now a UMaine Instructor of Literacy and associate director of the Maine Writing Project.

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Debra Butterfield, MWP ’03, traveled to Chicago on August 3-6 to participate in the 2011 National Writing Project Evaluation Scoring Conference.  Debra joined teacher-consultants from across the country to read and evaluate student writing from sites conducting research as part of NWP’s Local Site Research Initiative.  Over a three-day period, participants learned to use and apply NWP’s Analytic Writing Continuum in reviewing more than 8,000 writing samples at various grade levels.

The scoring conference contributes to research findings on writing achievement in classrooms where teachers are NWP participants.  Key findings from the 2010 conference indicated that students in writing project classrooms showed comparatively greater progress in writing conventions as well as in those aspects of writing that distinguish Writing Project teachers–developing ideas, organization, and stance.

Debra described her experience as intensive yet validating.  “I knew I would love thinking so deeply about writing, but to be part of such an extensive and important research project was just incredible.  The National Writing Project supports the vision of teacher as researcher, and it was exciting to see the impact our work plays in the lives of our students.”

Debra Butterfield is a seventh grade teacher at Gardiner Regional Middle School.  She the 2011 MWP Tanya Baker Scholar and is a recognized leader in literacy, middle level education, and technology.  Not surprisingly, her work at the scoring conference included instigating a forum for participants to share and record ideas on writing evaluation.

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