A soundless version of YWP presentation.

1. Engaging students to express themselves,
learn about each other and strengthen their voice

2. WHY YWP IS NEEDED
More than half of Vermont’s students cannot write at a
proficient level ( the numbers are worse nationally) ...
... meaning they cannot adequately express
themselves and cannot fully engage in learning.
The lowest performers are boys from economically
disadvantaged backgrounds.
By neglecting their writing skills, we are helping them fail.

3. WHY YWP WORKS
To help students write better, YWP:
creates authentic audiences for student work;
provides peer-to-peer learning environments;
gives students a sense of purpose; and
provides teachers with digital tools and mentoring.

4. WHAT YWP DOES
YWP began as a newspaper feature. As an independent
nonprofit, it now has four programs:
YWP Newspaper Series
youngwritersproject.org, a student-led writing
community
The Schools Project
Workshops, training and events

5. THE CONTENT -
PUBLISHING STUDENT WORK
But it all begins with an authentic audience ...
... greater than one.

6. THE DETAILS -
PUBLISHING STUDENT WORK
Each week, YWP publishes
work in 6 daily newspapers
and 3 weeklies.
Since September, 2006,
YWP has received 21,000
submissions ...
... and published 3,700.

7. THE CONTENT -
PUBLISHING STUDENT WORK
And YWP works with other partners ...
... like Vermont Public Radio ...
... and arts organizations that present student
work on stage.

8. THE CONTENT -
PUBLISHING STUDENT WORK
Like the Vermont Symphony Orchestra ...
Her ghost restlessly haunts
the castle.

9. THE CONTENT -
PUBLISHING STUDENT WORK
And unusual partners as well, like the Vermont
Symphony Orchestra ...
Her ghost restlessly haunts
the castle.

10. THE DETAILS -
YOUNGWRITERSPROJECT.ORG
Civil, online space is the
primary authentic audience....
3,500 active
student users
30,000 posts,
75,000 comments
a year
50-75 college
mentors a semester

11. THE CONTENT -
YOUNGWRITERSPROJECT.ORG

12. THE CONTENT -
YOUNGWRITERSPROJECT.ORG
Teens write about
teen stuff... angst,
school, sports,
humor, movies ....
They create,
imagine,
collaborate ...

13. THE CONTENT -
YOUNGWRITERSPROJECT.ORG
And they
strengthen
their voice ....

14. THE CONTENT -
YOUNGWRITERSPROJECT.ORG
And they
strengthen
their voice ....

15. THE CONTENT -
YOUNGWRITERSPROJECT.ORG
They also engage in discussion
on many topics ... like
profanity.
This query about profanity
intended to “shock” yielded
43 thoughtful comments ...
and a community decision.

16. THE CONTENT -
YOUNGWRITERSPROJECT.ORG
And suicide...
This was one of 150 posts
after a 15-year-old high
school student took his
own life.
“There are some things I
don’t understand...”

17. THE CONTENT -
YOUNGWRITERSPROJECT.ORG
And suicide...
This was one of 150 posts
after a 15-year-old high
school student took his
own life.
“There are some things I
don’t understand...”

18. THE CONTENT -
YOUNGWRITERSPROJECT.ORG
Where I’m from
I am from the best days
And the worst.
They also I am from a family of addiction
To things like weed
create And worse such as coke and crack,
The hunger burning within
From watching the bigger people devour food,
startling From garages and campers so cold
And many homes that didn't last long enough,
pictures of I am from the smiles of friends
The heys!
their reality ... And the how are you?'s?
The hugs I needed
To let out my sorrow and pain,
From friends who understood
And the family that cared to be around,
From trying to fight off problems,
From feeling unwanted,
The constant moving from home to home
From one family friends house to another,
I am from one out of five uncles that were really there
A father in jail most of my life
And grandmothers who disliked me for who my parents are
I am from many things
From good and bad,
But mostly
I am from me.
!

19. THE CONTENT -
YOUNGWRITERSPROJECT.ORG
Where I’m from
I am from the best days
And the worst.
They also I am from a family of addiction
To things like weed
create And worse such as coke and crack,
The hunger burning within
From watching the bigger people devour food,
startling From garages and campers so cold
And many homes that didn't last long enough,
pictures of I am from the smiles of friends
The heys!
their reality ... And the how are you?'s?
The hugs I needed
To let out my sorrow and pain,
From friends who understood
And the family that cared to be around,
From trying to fight off problems,
From feeling unwanted,
The constant moving from home to home
From one family friends house to another,
I am from one out of five uncles that were really there
A father in jail most of my life
And grandmothers who disliked me for who my parents are
I am from many things
From good and bad,
But mostly
I am from me.
!

20. THE DETAILS -
YOUNGWRITERSPROJECT.ORG
In civil, online space ...
... students wrote,
provided supportive
feedback, built
community and
collaborated ....
... on their own.

21. THE DETAILS -
THE SCHOOLS PROJECT
So YWP developed a
leading-edge, Web-
based writing
program that served
165 teachers and
6,500 students ...
... in 2009/10

22. THE DETAILS -
THE SCHOOLS PROJECT
In these classrooms
students ...
share their
homework ...

23. THE DETAILS -
THE SCHOOLS PROJECT
give and receive
feedback and
help from each
other ...

24. THE DETAILS -
THE SCHOOLS PROJECT
... and
incorporate
multimedia
into their
writing.

25. THE DETAILS -
THE SCHOOLS PROJECT
Teachers, assign work ...
... make broad
suggestions for all to
see ...
... or send individual
assessments privately.

26. THE DETAILS -
THE SCHOOLS PROJECT
YWP helps teachers ...
think differently,
give more control to
students,
go to where students
are engaged and
integrate technology
into curriculum.

27. THE DETAILS -
THE SCHOOLS PROJECT
Teachers say taking their students online has ...
transformed them ...
given them new ideas ...
made them more effective ...
connected them more closely with their students.
helped them integrate technology into curriculum.

28. THE IMPACT -
THE SCHOOLS PROJECT
“Because I was inspired, challenged and forever changed,
my students grew.”
“Radically changed our teaching of writing.”
“I’m more willing to just jump in and try something.”
“Forced me into a constant state of reflection ... my
teaching improved along the way.”

29. THE IMPACT -
THE SCHOOLS PROJECT
Students who write online ...
gain a purposeful
audience -- their peers;
build supportive learning
communities;
try harder; and
become better writers.

30. THE IMPACT -
THE SCHOOLS PROJECT
Here is what
students
say...

31. THE IMPACT -
THE SCHOOLS PROJECT
Think of some adjectives to describe students’
attitudes about writing in that video ...

32. THE IMPACT -
THE SCHOOLS PROJECT
Freedom ... motivated ... engaged ... confident ...
inspired ... supportive ... intrigued ... empowered ...
... Those are a few we’ve heard.
Imagine; you are describing how kids feel about
writing in school.

33. WHAT IS NEXT?
There are steps you, as teachers, can take:
Create audiences for your students’ best
work ... the halls, school publications, a
community event, your local newspaper ...

34. WHAT IS NEXT?
Get your students online with blogs
(wordpress.com, edublogs.org, pbwiki), social
classrooms (Ning, 21classes) or in your school’s
learning management system (Edu2.0, Moodle or
GoogleDocs) ...

35. WHAT IS NEXT?
Or, if you are in VT or NH, or you want to do an
out-of-state pilot ....
... give us a call.