Teaching, Writing, and Collaborating
DWP 2006 Summer Institute Successful
by DWP Summer Institute Co-Directors Nancy Kampfe and Michelle Rogge Gannon
Dakota Writing Project teachers from around the state participated in the 2006 Summer Institute, from June 6th through June 29th, 2006. With us—institute co-directors Nancy Kampfe and Michelle Rogge Gannon—leading the way, this able group presented demonstrations, wrote daily, did research, and experimented with various forms of technology, including weblogs, digital storytelling, and the NWP E-Anthology.
Karen Rahn organized the group into writing teams to take digital photos for writing news stories, while Annie Christain helped participants to understand the Beat Poets better and, also, to write poems based on their work. Krista Bruggeman treated us to cookies and more cookies as we evaluated them and shared our “test” results; we also created our own cookie concepts, with clever posters advertising these creations. Carmen Graber asked us to read a story and write endings beyond the actual end of the story. Carla McMurry-Kozak got us all thinking about gratitude when we wrote, in many instances, some profound thank-you notes to various people in our lives. Rick Moore showed us alphabet books and inspired to write our own informal versions, with some of us turning them into poems. Stacy Hawkins helped us to dig into character when we observed people on campus and transformed them into characters for fiction. Connie Jensen gave us paper puppet-masks that we decorated; we then wrote skits, using these puppet-masks and writing some mighty snappy dialogue.
Here, we see this lively group of teachers on the last day of the Institute, after enjoying a celebratory lunch at the Buffalo Run Winery in Vermillion. Pictured are Karen Rahn (Rutland Public School), Nancy Kampfe (Bennett County High School), Michelle Rogge Gannon (University of South Dakota), Annie Christain (University of South Dakota), Krista Bruggeman (Lennox Public School), Carla McMurry-Kozak (Canton Public School), Rick Moore (Rapid City Gifted Education K-8), Connie Jensen (Gayville-Volin), Stacy Hawkins (Sioux Falls Roosevelt High School), and Carmen Graber.
After the Institute ended, each teacher received a CD containing some of their writings from the Institute, pictures, and a few digital stories. This was the first time that we had created such a CD. Some of the pieces published on the CD have also been published here on the DWP weblog.
