Working with classroom teachers is great. Being with them when they learn new things, inquire into their practice, and develop as professionals. I am always inspired by teachers’ thoughtfulness, curiosity, and desire to support students’ learning. The majority of my work is with English language arts, reading, and literacy teachers, though I have also worked with a range of disciplinary teachers. And while I focus on middle and high school settings, I have worked with early childhood through college teachers.
I offer professional development workshops that range from one hour to 5 days long, across a range of topics. My expertise is writing and the teaching of writing, to which I owe a debt of gratitude to the National Writing Project, especially the Heart of Texas Writing Project and the San Antonio Writing Project.
With the new English Language Arts and Reading TEKS, I’ve been working with ELA teachers at all grades to break up with expository writing and toward the diversity of possibilities within informational writing. I presented on this topic at the Texas Teachers of English Language Arts annual conference in 2020 with Katrina Jansky.
Other topics I’ve designed workshops for K-12 teachers include:
- Writing workshop
- Writing cycle, with a specific focus on revision
- Writer’s notebooks
- Nonfiction, informational, feature article writing
- Disciplinary reading and writing, including writing in math
- Multimodal writing and 21st Century skills
- Writing for college, career, and life
- Picturebooks in secondary classrooms
I’ve also designed workshops for administrators, including principals, assistant principals, coaches, and curriculum specialists. These workshops ask questions like:
- What does a classroom look like when high-quality, engaging literacy instruction is happening?
- How can teachers prepare students for standardized writing assessments without teaching to the test?
- What kinds of curriculum and material support do ELA, reading, and literacy teachers need to deliver high-quality, engaging instruction?
If your team, PLC, school or district is interested in personally designed professional development, send me an email [addavid [at] uiwtx [dot] edu] and we can discuss the possibilities.
