Connect and Refresh this Summer with the Summer Institute for Teachers

Connect with your voice, your experiences, and your stories.

Remember why you became an educator and what matters to you.

Refresh yourself with beautiful questions and playful conversations.

Belong as part of a vibrant and enriching community of other educators.

The best teachers of writing are teachers who write. The best teachers of dreaming are teachers who dream. The best teachers of connection are teachers who connect. The Western PA Writing Project’s Summer Institute for Teachers is a unique professional development experience designed for you to follow your own questions, share your own stories, learn alongside other educators, and give and receive gifts of wisdom in community.

Dates: 10-28 July, 9 am- 4 pm

Orientation: 6 July, 4:30-7 pm

Six graduate credits | Act 48 credits

Full scholarships are available.

Open to all educators (all contexts; formal, informal, other)

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The Western Pennsylvania Writing Project (WPWP) is a powerful source of meaningful professional learning in the greater Pittsburgh region. As a site of the National Writing Project, a network of 185 university-school partnerships focused on improving literacies across disciplines and levels, we work to contribute to national conversations on literacy, writing, teaching, and learning. Since 1984, WPWP has served teachers and students in over 50 school districts and has partnered with over 150 local schools and community organizations.

During the Summer Institute for Teachers (SIT), teachers engage in their own writing and professional development through an intensive teacher-centered, teacher-led institute based on the highly successful model forwarded by the National Writing Project. The Summer Institute develops teacher leaders who can share their classroom expertise with the wider educational community. Teachers reflect on their classroom practice through writing and conversation. Teachers write and respond to each other’s professional and personal writing, learning to see themselves as writers. We hope you will join us!

WPWP’s Summer Institute for Teachers offers:

• Six Graduate Credits
• ACT 48 Credits
• Membership in the National Writing Project
• Eligibility to contribute as a Teaching Consultant for the Western Pennsylvania Writing Project

Time Commitment:

• 30-minute Interview for Application Acceptance: May 24th (6-8 pm), May 27th (9 am-5 pm), or June 3rd (9 am-5 pm)
• SIT Orientation: July 6th 4:30-7 pm
• Weeks One – Three of SIT: July 10-28th • 9 am- 4 pm
• Week Four of SIT: Individual 45-minute meetings to be scheduled throughout the week

Financial Commitment:

• Tuition support can be secure with support from district and school leaders
• The School of Education provides Fellowships for tuition and fees, if needed

Professional Memberships and Ongoing Support:

• Participants become Fellows of the Western Pennsylvania Writing Project network of educators and members of the National Writing Project. Ongoing support for writing and development will be supported by WPWP and the University of Pittsburgh’s School of Education.