As students begin to excitedly look for summer vacation and the end of school, many educators are also looking forward to having a pause in teaching so that they can invest in themselves. Professional development opportunities are easier to seize when they happen over the slower days of summer, when the responsibilities of teaching a group of students stop for a while. There are several ways to move through our teacher-training course, Teaching Writing: Structure and Style. You can complete it on your own, through a summer workshop, or through The Great TWSS Adventure.
Over the past few summers, we have thoroughly enjoyed hosting The Great TWSS Adventure. This annual online summer event is a great way for you to tackle Teaching Writing: Structure and Style, IEW’s teacher-training program. Whether you are viewing it for the first time or for the fortieth, it is always good to have support. Scholarship flourishes in groups, and The Great TWSS Adventure will supply plenty of fellow professionals and parents with whom to share your insights as well as your questions.
Here is how to get started:
- Sign up for the weekly email reminders.
- Join the Facebook Live each Monday at noon CT, where Andrew Pudewa will introduce the new unit for the week.
- Have access to the Teaching Writing: Structure and Style video seminar and your own Seminar Workbook. If you own the DVDs, enhance the fun by inviting your fellow educators over to watch them each week. Serve tea or coffee and snacks to create your very own “TWSS party.”
- Schedule time each week of the event to view that week’s video. The reminder email will describe which segment to watch.
- Stop by the Facebook event page to say hello and share your insights, comments, and questions with the group.
- Have fun! Be sure to share photos of your party. (Parties of one count too!) We will be awarding a $50.00 IEW gift certificate to one lucky adventurer each week. You can enter the drawing by clicking on a link in the reminder email or by sharing a photo of your party on our dedicated Facebook thread. Each Monday morning we will draw one winner from the previous week’s entries.
Here is the schedule for this year’s event:
- June 7 is Video 1: Introducing Structural Models (Units 1 and 2).
- June 14 is Video 2: Introducing Stylistic Techniques.
- June 21 is Video 3: Retelling Narrative Stories (Unit 3).
- June 28 is Video 4: Summarizing a Reference (Unit 4).
- During the week of July 4, we will have a break.
- July 12 is Video 5: Writing from Pictures (Unit 5).
- July 19 is Video 6: Summarizing Multiple References (Unit 6).
- July 26 is Video 7: Inventive Writing (Unit 7).
- August 2 is Video 8: Formal Essay Models (Unit 8).
- August 9 is Video 9: Formal Critique and Writing about Literature (Unit 9).
After you complete the adventure, there is no better time to submit all of your hard work* to our accreditation team to be considered for accreditation at the Registered Level. Accredited IEW instructors are highly regarded and regularly sought out. Parents recognize that accredited instructors have been approved to teach the Structure and Style writing approach to their students. But that’s just one benefit out of many. To learn even more about IEW’s accreditation process, read this blog post: “Opportunities Abound: How IEW Accreditation Assists Parents and Teachers.”
Are you excited yet? We sure are! We can’t wait to once again gather a group together to voyage on this Great TWSS Adventure. See you then!
*Practicum assignments must be completed individually.
