This week was greater than I imagined. I've been working through new ideas, sharing my writing and gaining feedback from other participants in the institute. Perhaps, most importantly through teaching demos and other collaborative activities, I am learning more about innovative and effective writing instruction. Understanding how students are making meaning of writing, how they believe writing skills are acquired and their justifications/rationales for the functions of writing will guide my research in the coming year. As a researcher, being in a collaborative space with intelligent and experienced practitioners is not a privilege that I have often. That, in and of itself, being in this environment with these people has changed my thinking about what is practical, what is useful and what is viable in the writing classroom. I'm hoping to explore my inquiry topic more and to be able to communicate my theoretical angles about writing in a way that is concrete and relatable.
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