Arkansas teachers who instruct pre-K through high school students are invited to learn innovative approaches to the writing process and improve their teaching practices during a summer institute at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. 

The Little Rock Writing Project, hosted by the UA Little Rock Department of Rhetoric and Writing, will hold the 2017 Invitational Summer Institute June 5-16. The institute will meet from 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Thanks to a Supporting Effective Educator Development (SEED) grant from the National Writing Project, 10 teachers can attend the institute for free.

During the institute, participants will discover new ways to approach the writing process, study best practices to teach writing, explore ways to integrate technology into the writing process, and learn about new research.

Now in the institute’s 20th year, more than 200 teachers have benefitted by participating.

“Nothing shaped my pedagogy and practice in the classroom more than the LRWP Summer Institute,” said Greg Graham, director of the Little Rock Writing Project.

“The motto behind the summer institute is ‘teachers teaching teachers.’ This means that teachers collaborate around best practices in the classroom and the challenges that they are facing with the ever-changing landscape of standards and assessment. We will read and engage with the latest research pertaining to student literacy, critical thinking, best practices, helpful classroom technology, and more.”  

The event also gives teachers a chance to sharpen their writing skills.

“With their busy schedules, teachers often lose a vision of themselves as writers, so we’re actually writing in multiple modes and genres a good deal of time during the summer institute,” Graham said.

The Little Rock Writing Project is supported in part by the National Writing Project and UA Little Rock.

Participants who complete the workshop will earn 60 hours of professional development credit. Applications are due by April 30.

Visit the Little Rock Writing Project website to apply.