1:00 - 1:50

Concurrent Sessions C

The Power of Writing for Education Leadership

Room L1

Tonya S. McIntyre, Director of Community Outreach, Charleston County School District; Jesse Melgares, Vice President of Teaching & Learning, Alliance College-Ready Public Schools

Reflective writing helps leaders clarify their thinking and tap into innovative solutions. This guided session will introduce leaders to reflective writing and will provide them with a pathway to incorporate the tool into their own leadership. Participants will leave with experience, guidance from fellow practitioners, and an initial implementation plan.

#InnovativeLeadership #PractitionerInquiry #Mid-CareerProgram

Relevant, Real, and Respectful Education

Room M1

Njemele Anderson, Teacher, Science Leadership Academy at Beeber, School District of Philadelphia

Educators must purpose themselves to bring forth relevant instruction to students but even before the instruction begins, the atmosphere and vision of instruction must be created. Instruction in the classroom must respect both the instructors' and the student's time while also meeting the academic requirements of the content. Additionally, learning must be shared beyond the four walls of the classroom and spread out into the larger community.

#EnhancingLiteracyInstruction #CulturallyResponsiveTeaching #PhilWP

Creating Texts Sets with Historical Primary Sources to Support Civically Engaged Argument Writing

Room L2

Javaha Ross, K-8 Librarian, Penn Alexander School; Teacher Consultant, Philadelphia Writing Project; Trey Smith (jftrey.com, @jftrey on X, @wildcatworkshop on X, @wildcatworkshop302 on IG), K-8 Digital Literacy Teacher, Marian Anderson School, School District of Philadelphia; Teacher Consultant, Philadelphia Writing Project

Explore possibilities for creating text sets that support civically engaged argument writing in K-12 classrooms. Our example text sets feature primary sources from the Library of Congress alongside contemporary news articles and informational texts. Gholdy Muhammad’s Culturally and Historically Responsive Literacy Framework guides our planning and uses of text sets.

#InnovativeContent #TextSets #ArgumentWriting #PrimarySources #PhilWP

Engaging Learners of All Ages to Work Towards Building Sustainable Climate Ready Cities

Room L3

Anna Herman, The U School, School District of Philadelphia; Alima McKnight, Teacher, Richmond School, School District of Philadelphia; Tia Graves, Teacher, Lewis Elkin Elementary, School District of Philadelphia; Teacher Consultant, Philadelphia Writing Project

The climate crisis requires teachers and students at every grade level and in every subject to be engaging with, and working towards solutions and sustainability initiatives. The presentation will focus on innovative ways to engage students with this subject matter. Three teachers worked together in a Teachers Institute of Philadelphia (TIP) Seminar in Spring 2023 and each wrote a curricular unit to use in their classroom. They will share what they learned and how they connected what they learned to engage with students at various levels. We propose to engage the audience with innovative and useful material to integrate teaching about sustainability and the climate crisis in the specific context of Philadelphia.

#InnovativeContent #TeachersInstituteofPhiladelphia #ClimateJustice #PhilWP

Reimagining Brave Spaces in Philadelphia: Intergenerational Community Partnerships for Change

Rainery Auditorium

Jen Freed, Doctoral Student, University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education/Netter Center for Community Partnerships; Teacher Consultant, Philadelphia Writing Project; Nina Wang, Student; Faith Applegate, Student; Ariana Jimenez, Student, University of Pennsylvania

Educators will learn how students from the Civic Engagement Summer Program used youth participatory action research practices to examine inequalities in their Philadelphia communities. The panel features strategies for designing brave spaces intertwined with intergenerational literacy. Centering youths’ oral and written accounts, panelists will demonstrate how youths’ literacies inform meaningful change.

#CivicEngagement #PhilWP #YouthParticipatoryActionResearch #YPAR