Housed in the Department of English and Modern Foreign Languages at the University of Tennessee at Martin, WTWP is part of a network of about 200 Writing Project sites around the country and US territories. WTWP's working tenets are 1) student writing will improve if writing instruction improves; 2) teachers are better able to teach writing if they are practicing writers themselves; and 3) the best teacher of a teacher is another excellent teacher.
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04/26/2024
Registration for the 2024 Summer Institute is now available! You can scan the QR code or use this link: www.utm.edu/summerinstitute2024
Only 12 seats are available, so sign up early if you would like a spot. If you have any questions, email WTWP Director David Carithers at [email protected]. You can also direct message me on FB if you prefer.
04/18/2024
SAVE the DATES!
The West Tennessee Writing Project Summer “Mini” Institute
July 8 –11, Monday – Thursday, 9:00 – 3:00
On the Campus of the University of Tennessee at Martin
Twenty Hours of Contact Time Available for Professional Development Purposes.
Certificates will be awarded to reflect the hours of participation.
Registration will be available soon!
What happens at the summer institute? In the mornings, participants share demonstrations of effective teaching practices involving writing. The afternoons are spent in workshopping and sharing on-going drafts of writing. The focus is on excellent teaching practices and ideas on how to use writing to facilitate instruction in all content areas.
Who may participate? Any teacher in any K-12 subject area.
What are the expectations? Participants will share a writing activity they use in their classes to facilitate student learning and will bring drafts of their own writing to afternoon workshops.
How much does it cost? There is no cost to participants.
The three tenets of WTWP: 1) students will become better writers in all subjects if writing instruction improves; 2) writing instruction will improve when teachers practice the art of writing on a regular basis; and 3) the best teacher of a teacher is another excellent teacher.
Questions? Contact David Carithers, WTWP Site Director: [email protected]
Here is what a few former participants had to say:
“I look forward to implementing so many of the strategies and styles into my writing curriculum, not just for my twenty plus students, but school wide.” –Marion Fryer, Oak Elementary
“Being a part of this project has really made a difference in me, not only as a writer and an individual but also as a teacher.”
–Amy Duncan, Hillcrest Elementary
About the West Tennessee Writing Project (WTWP) and the National Writing Project (NWP)
WTWP is an affiliate site of the National Writing Project (NWP), which has sites in most of the 50 states, and they are almost always situated within a university. There are around 200 NWP sites in the US and US territories. The West Tennessee Writing Project is housed in the Department of English & Modern Foreign Languages at the University of Tennessee at Martin.
NWP started in 1974 when the first summer institute in California brought together a group of teachers who wanted to help their students become better writers in all subjects. WTWP was formed in 1992 at the University of Tennessee at Martin under the direction of Dr. Margrethe Ahlschwede. Since then, more than 300 teachers have participated in the Summer Institutes. Dr. David Carithers became WTWP director in 2007.
09/08/2023
Friday, November 3: SAVE the DATE for the Young Writers Conference at the University of Tennessee at Martin! The student registration fee has been lowered to $10 this year, and teachers still attend for free. Lunch is included. The program is designed for high school students and advanced middle schoolers. More details to follow. Send inquiries to David Carithers at [email protected].
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11/09/2022
In addition to headlining the Young Writers Conference next Friday, guest author TJ Martinson will also deliver a talk the day before at 4:00. Please join us! This event is free and open to the public.
09/23/2022
Hello friends,
The UT Martin Young Writers Conference is back this year and it will be live and in person on Friday, November 18. Please see the flyer below and look for registration information coming soon.
Let me know if you have any questions.
05/25/2022
Anybody feeling the need for healing and restoration right now? Would you like to attend a writing and teaching webinar with Georgia Heard?
WTWP is offering a series of free webinars this summer through the WRITE Center called “Writing for Restorative Healing: Strategies and Activities to (Re) Energize Educators and Students.” Each webinar is 1.5 hours and begins at 12:00 noon Central Time. All dates are in July. Check out the presenters and dates here:
https://www.writecenter.org/webinars.html
Registration is free to WTWP TC's and their friends. Just contact me for the link to registration:
PM me in FB Messenger or
email me at [email protected]
Certificates of participation will be provided. Registration is for all four webinars but you are not required to attend all. Your certificate will include the number of hours you attended.
Let me know if you have any questions! I'll be attending some of these, so I hope to see you there.
Access Webinar Replays and Exclusive Resources!
01/31/2022
In case you have not heard, the founding director of the West TN Writing Project, Dr. Margrethe Ahlschwede, passed away on January 22. Below is a link to her obituary and here is a summary of her work at UT Martin, written by Dr. Lynn Alexander, Dean of the College of Humanities and Fine Arts:
Margrethe, and her husband, Bill, joined the UT Martin English faculty in 1992 after receiving her PhD from the University of Nebraska. While at UT Martin she founded the West Tennessee Writing Project (WTWP), a part of the National Writing Project. Through WTWP, Margrethe worked extensively with area high schools teachers to improve the ways writing is taught.
As an outgrowth of WTWP, she also began Voice Lessons: A Faculty Writing Project for UT Martin faculty interested in improving both their students’ skills and their own. The Interdisciplinary Student Writing Conference was started by faculty involved in Voice Lessons. She was named a Hardy Graham Distinguished Professor in 1999.
Margrethe retired from UT Martin in 2007 and she and Bill returned to Lincoln. You can find her obituary at https://www.roperandsons.com/obit/margrethe-louise-plum-ahlschwede/
Send flowers Share a memory Print obituary Share https://www.roperandsons.com/obit/margrethe-louise-plum-ahlschwede/ Margrethe Louise Plum Ahlschwede, 81, of Lincoln passed away January 22, 2022. Born January 3, 1941, in Copenhagen, Denmark to Mogens and Dorothea (Sulzbach) Plum. Margrethe and her f...
10/09/2020
Dear Teachers: please tell your Young Writers to submit their best works to the EMFL Young Writers Contest this year! This is in place of the annual Young Writers Conference that we usually have in late Oct./early Nov. The deadline is Nov. 9 and you can find more info below.
The usual attendants at the YWC are high school students and those middle-schoolers deemed advanced and mature enough to participate, so keep that in mind when encouraging kids you know to submit their pieces.
We look forward to receiving lots of writing from our local young writers!
We are extending the deadline one week for the Young Writers Contest in order to get a few more entries. Please encourage your young writers to submit something by Monday, Nov. 16! Details below.
In place of the Young Writers Conference this year, we are hosting a Young Writers Contest. Check out the flier and web link below for more information. https://www.utm.edu/departments/nondegree/courses/children/youngwriters.php
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09/16/2019
Dear WTWP Teachers of students in grades 7 – 13:
The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards contest is now open for submissions. I hope you’ll encourage your students to submit something.
Visit artandwriting.org to learn more and apply!
You can also find more info here: the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards FB page here: https://www.facebook.com/ScholasticArtandWritingAwards/
Identifying and showcasing teens with exceptional artistic and literary talent since 1923.
09/13/2019
Save the date for this year's Young Writers Conference: Friday, Nov. 1!
The keynote speaker is Kentucky poet Pamela Johnson Parker. As always, this program is intended for high school students but we also welcome your more advanced and mature middle schoolers. Teachers are welcome to attend the workshops and participate along with the students.
When registration is fully up and running, I will share that here.
For more information on this event, please call 731.881.7300 or email: Sally Brannen at [email protected] or Jeff Longacre at [email protected].
05/07/2019
Hi teachers! I hope all is well. While WTWP is not offering a Summer Institute this year, please consider this different kind of professional development opportunity in June. This was also sent to the WTWP listserv, so check your email. Let me know if you have any questions!
--David Carithers
10/15/2018
Registration is up and running for the Nov. 2 Young Writers Conference at UTM! Hope to see you there. http://www.utm.edu/departments/ecos/conference.php
UT Martin serves students beyond the main campus with modern and convenient centers in Jackson, Parsons, Ripley and McNairy County/Selmer.
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