About NSTWP
We are a diverse group of accredited literacy leaders who promote the advancement of writing instruction through active participation of engaged learners to create accomplished writers. Because we are not satisfied with the status quo, our participation in continuous professional development and continuity help us maintain high quality teaching and learning opportunities which aid us in impacting educators and students.
What is our focus?
Our focus is to build and sustain a community of empowered educators that in turn empower their students. In our professional community, teachers teach teachers in a reflective, inquiry-based dialogue that leads to a revisioning of our classroom practices. We do this so we can replicate this community in our classrooms to engage our learners through modeling and authentic tasks.
What is our hope for the future?
Our hope is that all educators make the connection between personal experience as a writer and successful writing instruction — ultimately creating an environment in which all students become reflective and skilled writers.
What do we do?
We empower teachers through professional learning opportunities that range from one day meetings to month long institutes. As teachers inquire, dialogue, and write in a community, they find their voices and the confidence to follow their beliefs in the classroom. North Star advocates for authentic writing experiences in and outside of classrooms across North Texas, helping students find their voices and realize the value of writing in their lives.
What is our history?
North Star partnered with many north Texas school districts to provide and support individual teachers and to promote and support system change. Our teacher consultants actively participate in state and national organizations through leadership positions, presentations and publications. Since 2003, approximately 130 teacher consultants led 163 programs for nearly 10,000 teachers over 130,000 hours, ultimately touching nearly 1,000,000 Texas students. And that’s just the beginning.
Points of the StarNorth Star of Texas Writing Project Teacher Consultants have agreed that the following patterns represent our work together.
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Inquiry
In an inquiry approach classrooms become communities who engage in dialogue with the past in order to meet the future. As teachers ask questions about their own classroom practices, they model inquiry for students. Students in inquiry-driven classrooms do not simply answer questions but learn to pose their own questions. Inquiry invites teachers and students into an authentic discourse community that values everyone’s voice. In this way, North Star prepares students to enter and contribute to academic conversations in all fields.
Dialogue
Dialogue is the appreciation of all the voices in a conversation. In schools these voices include: administrators, parents, teachers, and students speaking and listening, hearing and responding to each other meaningfully. in classrooms this includes engaging students in rich conversations with the teacher and each other. This type of dialogue posits each voice as an equal member with a valid contribution. Through meaningful dialogue relationships are built and multiple perspectives are considered. Conferencing with students is an prime example of dialogue.
Authenticity
Authenticity becomes a norm as teachers flatten their classroom walls and help students see that their voices matter. Students begin to take ownership of their learning and move toward becoming active and empathetic global citizens. Authenticity blends academic reading, writing, listening, and speaking experiences with real-world applications, which created genuine desire in learners. Choice, audience, and purpose matter and extend beyond teacher-centered reading and writing experiences in the classroom. Students determine and establish relevant and “worthy” inquiry; teachers provide resources, opportunity and time for students to delve deeply into ideas, ultimately becoming the teachers of their content.
Modeling
Integral to literacy instruction, modeling occurs when teachers come alongside their students and actively model and share both mentor texts and their own writing to support student writing. Following a gradual release model the teacher demonstrates the struggle and expectations of the writing project before working alongside the students to create a shared example. Only after these models are provided and extensive support is offered via conferring and scaffolding, the students work to create their own writing. This approach utilizes an apprenticeship approach for writing instruction.
Re-visioning
Re-visioning is an iterative design process that helps a community see, understand, and influence patterns. A teacher might design a lesson focused on introductions after assessing a class set of essays or show a specific student a different mentor text in a writing conference. As an instructional design process, re-visioning is utilizing assessment and feedback to meet the needs of individual learners and to build coherence throughout the learning community. We help writers and educators not only “revise,” fix what is not working, but “envision,” see what is possible in our words, our stories, our lives, our communities, and our world. Writers not only know the power of revision but the importance of envisioning possibilities. North Star of Texas Writing Project works toward re-visioning our writing, our classrooms, and our schools.
In an inquiry approach classrooms become communities who engage in dialogue with the past in order to meet the future. As teachers ask questions about their own classroom practices, they model inquiry for students. Students in inquiry-driven classrooms do not simply answer questions but learn to pose their own questions. Inquiry invites teachers and students into an authentic discourse community that values everyone’s voice. In this way, North Star prepares students to enter and contribute to academic conversations in all fields.
Dialogue
Dialogue is the appreciation of all the voices in a conversation. In schools these voices include: administrators, parents, teachers, and students speaking and listening, hearing and responding to each other meaningfully. in classrooms this includes engaging students in rich conversations with the teacher and each other. This type of dialogue posits each voice as an equal member with a valid contribution. Through meaningful dialogue relationships are built and multiple perspectives are considered. Conferencing with students is an prime example of dialogue.
Authenticity
Authenticity becomes a norm as teachers flatten their classroom walls and help students see that their voices matter. Students begin to take ownership of their learning and move toward becoming active and empathetic global citizens. Authenticity blends academic reading, writing, listening, and speaking experiences with real-world applications, which created genuine desire in learners. Choice, audience, and purpose matter and extend beyond teacher-centered reading and writing experiences in the classroom. Students determine and establish relevant and “worthy” inquiry; teachers provide resources, opportunity and time for students to delve deeply into ideas, ultimately becoming the teachers of their content.
Modeling
Integral to literacy instruction, modeling occurs when teachers come alongside their students and actively model and share both mentor texts and their own writing to support student writing. Following a gradual release model the teacher demonstrates the struggle and expectations of the writing project before working alongside the students to create a shared example. Only after these models are provided and extensive support is offered via conferring and scaffolding, the students work to create their own writing. This approach utilizes an apprenticeship approach for writing instruction.
Re-visioning
Re-visioning is an iterative design process that helps a community see, understand, and influence patterns. A teacher might design a lesson focused on introductions after assessing a class set of essays or show a specific student a different mentor text in a writing conference. As an instructional design process, re-visioning is utilizing assessment and feedback to meet the needs of individual learners and to build coherence throughout the learning community. We help writers and educators not only “revise,” fix what is not working, but “envision,” see what is possible in our words, our stories, our lives, our communities, and our world. Writers not only know the power of revision but the importance of envisioning possibilities. North Star of Texas Writing Project works toward re-visioning our writing, our classrooms, and our schools.