Welcome to Youth Voices Coast to Valley to Coast
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This statement of purpose is a work in progress. Our participating editors are free to edit and revise as we proceed with the work.
The Bay Area Writing Project (BAWP), the California Writing Project (CWP) and the Center for Education Research on Literacy and Inquiry in Networking Communities (LINC) are sponsoring a 2005-2006 cross-state, cross-Writing Project blog / videoconference initiative designed to use technology as a tool for teachers' wide range of student writers. Initiated by BAWP, the Youth Voices project draws on earlier work by teachers and students in several state-wide networking communities within the history/social science/literacy strand of the LINC Center (Always Running, Hidden Histories, and Enrique's Journey) as well as on work produced through the CWP's California Stories intiative. Writing Project technology liaisons from the BAWP and the Area 3 Writing Project, with members of the LINC Center (supported by the South Coast Writing Project and the National Writing Project), are working with high school teacher leaders and their classes to develop an online, virtual community of writers investigating CWP selected themes that invovlve researching and writing in "real" ways for "real" reasons. These activities are NOT designed to be add-on’s to our already over-packed curriculum, but rather opportunities to take standards-based instruction and provide students with authentic audiences and purposes for writing.
Joel Arquillos and Michael Rosenberg collaborate in San Francisco USD, at Galileo Academy and Balboa High. Bob LeVin (Elk Grove „1¤7 Florin High School) and Matt Makowetski (Lompoc „1¤7 Maple Continuation) know each other through last year’s Enrique’s Journey blog. Matt and Mindy Chiang (Galileo Academy) met each other in Santa Barbara this summer during the LINC Center's August Teacher Institute . Brooke Nicolls teaches at Grant High School in Sacramento. Pat Delaney is Galileo's librarian and a technology coordinatory for the National Writing Project. Gail Desler is a teacher and technology support specialist for the Elk Grove School District. She is also a technology liaison to the National Writing Project and the North State Coordinator for the LINC Center. Beth Yeager is the director of the LINC Center and is a teacher consultant for the South Coast Writing Project.
The Youth Voices Coast to Valley to Coast project draws on curriculum design models that build on the principles of the CWP and NWP and on those developed by the LINC Center working with K-12 teachers. That’s why the kinds of activities we plan aren’t simply ‘add-ons„1¤7 or ‘drop-ins„1¤7. They’re also not ‘top-down„1¤7 models. We have common principles of practice that guide this learning community (of which we’re all members). Teachers, CWP technology liaisons, curriculum consultants, such as those at the LINC Center, and students plan collaboratively for activities that will be embedded over time in everyday classroom life.
We believe that one way for students to have opportunities to think and write about complex issues that matter to them is to find ways for us and them to interact with and learn from the lived experiences of others, in the places and spaces where they and we live and work. Our first draft curriulum plan calls for students to investigate their own communities by taking photos or video footage of those communities. These will be exported into a PowerPoint or iMovie presentation format. Students will share their findings and present their communities to each other as well as to other community members in a videoconference using CA K12 HSN's conferencing facilities. This presentation will be an initial step in creating one virtual, networking community of writers from multiple communities, as well as the first step toward creating a “publishable„1¤7 piece (essay, podCast or video) based on this year's CWP's recommended themes:
- Growing up and finding our identity in a changing California
- Understanding how our community, history, and heritage have shaped who we are as Californians
- Examining the realities and challenges of life in California
- Dreaming of a better life in California, as newcomers or long-time residents.
- Current Events - Choose an article from a newspaper or blog and summarize the main idea. Tell why YOU think the event is significant.
- Diversity Issues - Talk about how diversity affects your life, your community and your growth as a person.
- Media Awareness - How does the media affect the way you think and see the world? What are the most poweful media forces influencing people today?
- Neighborhood Issues - Describe your neighborhood and include the good, the bad and what makes it unique or boring. Tell us about an event happening in your 'hood'.
- Reviews and Opinions - Review a film, new CD, book, magazine, skateboard, mall, restaurant, website, zine, TV show, etc...
- School Issues - What are some of the issues that concern YOU about your school? Why are these issues important? Can they be fixed? How?