Writing Institute Starts Online January 20, 2021

SNWP invites all teachers of writing, no matter the age group or subject you teach, to join us this Spring Semester for the Writing Institute. The Institute is offered through UNLV’s College of Education as CIL-617. This is a three-credit graduate credit course.

If you are already a graduate student at UNLV or non-degree seeking graduate student, all you have to do is register for CIL 617!

If not, you need to complete these three steps:

1. Apply as a non-degree seeking graduate student at UNLV. 
   • Click here for more information about that process.
   • Click here for the application link. 
2. Complete the residency application for in-state tuition. 
3. Register and pay for CIL 617 using MyUNLV portal.

Steps one and two should be completed ASAP, while step three can only be completed once those first steps are completed. It’s okay to complete step three in January.

Please reach out to Dr. Sophie Ladd at sophie.ladd@unlv.edu or Ben Koch benjamin.koch@unlv.edu for more information.

SNWP Teacher Consultant and Author-Educator, Ruth Devlin, Featured in Educator Innovator CoLab Series

As a part of an ongoing series called “Beyond Storytime: A CoLab Series” Educator Innovator has invited children’s book authors, illustrators, and elementary educators to engage with one another in live conversations with a moderator that are live-streamed.

In one episode titled, “Creating a Picture Book as a Community of Collaborators” SNWP teacher consultant and author-educator Ruth Devlin was featured along with artist-illustrator-educator Rebeca Garcia-Gonzalez, and editor Amy Bauman as they discuss the challenge and opportunities found in the creation of Ruth’s children’s picture book, Ants: Across, Around, and Through, from afar.

Click here to go directly to the episode “Creating a Picture Book as a Community of Collaborators” on Youtube.

Click here to see the full series of episodes at Educator Innovator.

New 2021 Dates Announced for Writing Has No Boundaries: K-12 Conference on Writing

Be inspired and empowered to use writing in your classroom! Join SNRPDP and SNWP for our first annual conference – on April 16 & 17, 2021!

About this Event

The Southern Nevada Regional Professional Development Program (SNRPDP) has partnered with the Southern Nevada Writing Project (SNWP) to host a writing conference featuring sessions led by National Writing Project Teacher Consultants from across Nevada. Our vision is to empower and inspire K-12 educators to use writing in all areas of the curriculum in new and creative ways, not only to teach and learn, but to promote reflection, social emotional development and social action.

Location: Virtual!

Times: Friday, April 16 from 4:30 – 7:30 pm and Saturday, April 17 from 8 am – 5 pm

Credits: 12 hours for attending the entire conference, 15 hours for attending the entire conference and completing an additional 3 hours online

Registration is currently closed. Those already registered will automatically be transferred to the new dates. We anticipate reopening registration for the few remaining spots later this fall or winter.

For additional information, please contact Saralyn Lasley at lasleys@rpdp.net.

Writing Institute Returns and Fellowship Opportunity for Early-Career Elementary Teachers

SNWP is excited to announce that our Writing Institute will return this fall.  We’ve redesigned the Institute into two, three-hour masters level courses at UNLV.  CIL 617 will take place this fall and focuses on writing project practices such as writer’s response groups, teaching dilemmas, and becoming a writer as “the best teachers of writing are writers!”  CIL 618 will take place in the spring and focus on developing and implementing writing programs for communities (students, families, organizations).  Both classes will meet on Wednesday afternoons/evenings with the specifics (location and timing) to be determined closer to the start of the semester in late August.
Additionally, SNWP is actively recruiting five fellows who will take both CIL 617 and CIL 618, and receive a $2000 grant upon the successful completion of both courses – which covers nearly the entire cost of this professional development experience. We are thankful to our partners — the National Writing Project and the Panda Cares Foundation — for bringing this fellowship opportunity to Southern Nevada.   Elementary teachers who have five years of classroom experience or less are eligible to apply for this fellowship.

Finally, the cornerstone of the CIL 618 experience in the spring will be the development and implementation of a community writing program.  SNWP is committing resources to cover the cost of new-TCs implementing these programs in the Spring of 2021.  Our goal is to recruit at least an additional five educators for this cohort in addition to those who are selected as fellows for the Panda Cares Foundation grant.

Click here if you’d like to nominate an educator for the Writing Institute or the Panda Cares Fellowship. The nomination form will close on Monday, July 20th.

Click here if you’d like to apply for the Panda Cares Fellowship (new career elementary teachers only) or register your interest in the Writing Institute so that one of our co-directors may get in contact with you about how to get signed up (open to all educators). This form will close on Monday, July 27th to allow time for interviews for the fellowship and time to register for the classes in UNLV’s system.

Calling for Justice

“The events of the past week hang heavily on our hearts. We are a nation mourning a staggering loss of life to COVID; we are a nation rocked by economic hardship and financial insecurity; we are convulsed by a troubling disunity, and now we are righteously enraged by the continuing loss of Black lives to racialized violence. In all the ways we can, we must also be a nation calling for justice. Black lives matter.” -Elyse Eidman-Aadahl, Executive Director, NWP

The Southern Nevada Writing Project stands firmly against racism in all of its forms and calls for justice for George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and all Black lives lost to racialized violence. Black lives matter.

Anti-racist education through reflection, discussion, and writing are of the utmost importance to SNWP. This summer, we will use this space to share resources for educators and invite SNWP teacher-leaders to engage in conversations with one another about actions we can take in our classrooms and communities. Please message this page or snwp1984@gmail.com if you have a resource to share or wish to be a part of leading these conversations.

Click here to read the full statement from the National Writing Project and here to read the full statement from UNLV.