2011 Summer College for Teachers of Writing

For more information about the Writing Program Institute Summer College for Teachers, visit our website, which offers complete details and links to registration information.   Teachers completing the course receive 16 hours of professional development credit. 

Bayville Welcomes Rutgers

Regina Masiello and Michael Goeller present to teachers.

Teachers from a range of disciplines were in attendance.

We thought the sign was so nice we had to get a picture.

Afterwards, Michael had to get a picture with the school mascot.

Regina Masiello and Michael Goeller gave the first in a series of presentations at the Central Regional High School in Bayville, New Jersey, to a group of about 15 teachers plus administrators.  We talked about the growing importance of non-fiction prose and how teachers can incorporate it into the high school curriculum.  


While the majority of teachers were from English and language arts, there were also Spanish, Math, and Science teachers present.  One of the administrators brought up the importance of teaching students to read carefully in order to help them understand science texts or grasp "word problems" in math.  I recently attended a wonderful talk by Jane E. Miller of the Edward J. Bloustein School at Rutgers University, author of The Chicago Guide to Writing about Numbers, which brought home the point that if we do not address this issue in high school then we are dealing with a remedial writing problem when students get to college. Prof. Miller has some excellent resources at her website (under the heading "Writing about Numbers"), and I was especially impressed by her article on "How to Communicate Statistical Findings," which includes specific expository writing advice that would benefit high school students.