High School Writing Centers Share Their Ideas
Contact: Heather Pullen, 581-2443
Orono, ME — High school students from around Maine will gather on Wednesday, Oct. 22 to share their experiences and ideas with high school student-staffed writing centers. Writing Centers are a collaborative way to help students think critically about their own writing and make their writing stronger. A student-staffed center adds the peer-mentoring component.
The day will incorporate poster sessions presented by visiting high school students, workshops, a panel discussion hosted by the UMaine Writing Center Tutors, and a UMaine Writing Center tour.
Rich Kent, director of the Maine Writing Project and assistant professor of literacy education at the University of Maine, explains that “writing centers are places where student writers work with eachother in an effort to develop ideas, discover a thesis, overcome procrastination, create an outline, or revise a draft. Ultimately, writing centers help students become more effective writers.” Kent further says the exchange of ideas at the conference will help students and teachers “realize the full potential of writing centers.”
Kent’s book “A Guide to Creating Student-StaffedWriting Centers, Grades 6-12,” recipient of the “Book of the Year Award” in 2006 for an assembly of the National Council of Teachers of English, offers a host of ideas on creating writing centers for middle school and secondary teachers.
Buchanan Alumni House
University of Maine
8:00-8:30 a.m. Registration
8:30-9:45 a.m. Poster Session (Group A 8:30-9:05; Group B 9:10-9:45)
9:45-9:55 a.m. Snack Break
10:00-11:15 a.m. Workshops
- Absolutely Write! The Erskine Academy Writing Center
- Brewer High School Writing Center
- The Nokomis Writing Center
11:20-11:45 a.m. Writing Center Panel with College Tutors
11:45-noon Final Q & A
The Maine Writing Project, established in 1998, is an affiliate of the National Writing Project. It is dedicated to the improvement of the teaching and learning of writing across the curriculum at all grade levels. (www.mainewritingproject.org)