Yesterday was the start of my “summer of writing project.”
I have become an ardent fan of the National Writing Project over the last couple years. The people, the projects, and the all-important work they do all stand out to me as a beacon of awesomeness in a sometimes otherwise underwhelming world.
I have had the good fortune to collaborate with many of the good folks at NWP on several projects, including Digital Is, P2PU, and Youth Voices. This summer I am launching into three new collaborations with the writing project.
First, I am helping try to crowfund a Youth Voices Summer Program.
Youth Voices is an amazing program where youth can explore their own passions through reading, research, writing, and collaborating with their peers. Now they are trying to raise funding to extend this to a summer program for youth and teachers in NYC. If there is anything you can do to help, whether it is to make a contribution or to help spread the word, we would greatly appreciate it. I know firsthand what important work this is and how it benefits the youth and teachers who participate. If this project is successfully funded, I will be going to NY to spend a week with these students and teachers. (My participation is self-funded.)
This summer I am also co-facilitating the “Making Learning Connected” MOOC (#clmooc), which will start June 15 and go through August 4. This is a challenging and thought-provoking project that gives me the chance to work with a brilliant group of folks, who I know I will learn a lot from. I am also anxious to try some new ideas in online peer learning.
While I have worked on several NWP projects and have graciously been “adopted” into the group, I haven’t been through one of the group’s hallmark summer institutes – So my third writing project experience will be to go through the Borderlands WP Summer Institute. Saturday was the first orientation meeting for this group.
It was a great group of people, and I can’t wait for July when we’ll be together for a concentrated period of time, reading, reflecting, and of course, writing. (Btw, no one ever told me that BWP has a strong food affinity. More to love!)