Professional Development Opportunities Calendar of HPWP Events
Summer Institute
Teachers in all subjects and grade levels (K -- University) who have three or more years of classroom experience may apply to attend an Invitational Summer Institute (ISI).
Applicants are interviewed at a Saturday morning Interview Workshop in April.
Successful completion of the High Plains Writing Project (HPWP) ISI
confers fellowship with HPWP.
Why should teachers who don't teach English/language arts apply?
HPWP provides professional development opportunities for teachers in all subject areas by supporting excellent pedagogy. Writing is a powerful tool as well as a necessary communication tool in all subjects.
What is the Invitational Summer Institute all about?
The ISI is a month-long intense immersion in reading and professional literature,
writing personally and professionally, sharing teaching successes and challenges, and reflecting on what we do as teachers.
What are the benefits of participating?
Participants often say that the ISI experience is life changing. In addition to ideas generated by sharing with other dedicated educators, participants come away with a wealth of strategies and activities for instruction and assessment, renewed energy for teaching, confidence in their own writing ability, and connection to a collegial support group.
Schedules, activities, events, etc.?
After the Interview Workshop in April, successful applicants attend an Orientation Day on a Saturday in May. The ISI is scheduled for four weeks in June. Participants attend Monday through Friday from 8:00 to 5:00. Reading, writing, discussion, and workshop presentations are interspersed with guest authors,
writing in different venues, writers workshop, camaraderie, and laughter.
Fellowship is celebrated at a culminating luncheon on the last day of the ISI.
New fellows reconnect at ISI Follow-up Meetings on one Saturday in the fall and one in the spring.
Is there college credit available for participating? What is the cost?
Is there financial assistance?
Six hours of graduate credit is available through Eastern New Mexico University in SED, ELED, ENG, RED, or SPED; stipends available to apply toward ENMU tuition.
There is no fee to attend the ISI; there is a $25 application fee and a $75 materials fee.
Are there continuing opportunities?
As new fellows of the HPWP, teachers enjoy membership in a highly regarded professional network that has been active since the early 1970s. The National Writing Project (NWP) is the only professional development organization recognized by the No Child Left behind Act. NWP has over 200 national and international sites that provide professional development opportunities for teachers through federal funding. HPWP activities currently include Roswell Reads!, teacher inservices, a book group, a writing circle, writing marathons, teacher awards, writing retreats, and trips to state and national conferences. HPWP leadership continues to re-vision the opportunities provided as new voices are added to the conversation.
* Have lunch with authors who share writing experiences from inspiration to publication.
* Take home endless ideas for your classroom.
* Earn 6 hours of graduate credit.
* Find out how writing can change your personal and professional life.
* See your community through the eyes of a writer on our Writing Marathon Day.
* Discover yourself as a writer.
* Discover a group of colleagues who share your
passion for teaching.
* Enjoy opportunities for publication.
what is meant by "best practices" and strive to implement them in our own classroom.
* Read
and respond to professional literature.
* Strengthen
our own writing skills.
* Present
a demonstration of successful teaching practice.
* Complete
personal and professional writing submissions.
* Support
one another in our struggles and triumphs
as teachers of writing.