Testimonials

Ideally, IWT develops a relationship with an on-site institution over time, so that teachers may continue to develop how to put into practice what they learn from successive workshops. One teacher, returning to her classroom from a good experience at an IWT workshop, may be able to change the way students write and think in her classroom. But alone she cannot bring change to the entire school or curriculum. Teachers from the same school who attend in together can support each other once they return to the classroom and can become agents for change in the school as a whole, and this could be reinforced by an on-site workshop.

Here in their own words are teachers who have experienced this firsthand.

Testimonials

quotation markI've been participating on and off for 12 years in IWT Bard workshops.  My students' work is notably more engaging and sophisticated due to all the techniques I've learned.  The basic premise that writing is thinking has changed my classroom practice.  My students think and write and write and learn to trust and follow what emerges.  I could list specific techniques I've learned, but the point, overall, is that my students are learning to discover what they care about through their writing and to write their way into the world.  As a result, their analysis of literature and their essays are much, much more precise, original, interesting, and engaging.  As a result, they understand the power of their own writing and their own ideas.quotation mark

—Jill Veleas, John Jay High School, Katonah, NY

Ideally, IWT develops a relationship with an on-site institution over time, so that teachers may continue to develop how to put into practice what they learn from successive workshops. One teacher, returning to her classroom from a good experience at an IWT workshop, may be able to change the way students write and think in her classroom. But alone she cannot bring change to the entire school or curriculum. Teachers from the same school who attend in together can support each other once they return to the classroom and can become agents for change in the school as a whole, and this could be reinforced by an on-site workshop.

Here in their own words are teachers who have experienced this firsthand.

Karen Zlotnick, John Jay High School, NY

The workshops I've taken with IWT over the years have provided me with numerous strategies to enhance my teaching of reading and writing.  I'm thinking of the way I approach the reading of a difficult text (text renderings, close review of language, "what did you hear?") that is more effective in engaging students and fostering their curiosity and their confidence than anything I've done before. Recently, we've talked more about meaningful feedback on student writing and how to approach the revision process.  These conversations in our staff development workshops have translated into better conferencing, and ultimately, stronger revision work.

Kathy McHugh, North Shore Country Day, IL

IWT led our Global Consciousness in the Local Classroom workshops, focusing on Africa. I had 45 juniors two years ago who raised $30,000 to build and fund a school in Moshi, Tanzania, after they were inspired by reading Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson. Fourteen of them spent two weeks in Tanzania last May when the school opened. Through the work on the project, my students really came to see education as a fundamental human right, something they hadn't considered before. This was all part of a unit on the power of literacy and an exploration of why reading and writing matter in our lives. It's been fascinating to see where all this has led the students and me. I feel that all this has been a continuation of the journey that began during our work with IWT.