Summer Institute

The Greater Madison Writing Project (GMWP) Summer Institute brings together select groups of outstanding educators working with student-writers in all academic content areas and at all grade levels, kindergarten through college.

Supported by the GMWP facilitators and each other, these teachers spend three weeks immersed in writing, reading, and teacher inquiry workshops, ultimately returning to their schools as GMWP Teacher-Leaders. In this capacity they may provide professional development within their districts, present their research in local, regional, and national venues, and contribute to the ongoing growth of the GMWP—to name just a few of countless possibilities. In this way, the Summer Institute represents the first leg in what thousands of Writing Project Teacher-Leaders around the country have described as a career-transforming journey.

Summer 2025 Dates Coming Soon!

Where: Olbrich Botanical Gardens

Cost: All accepted participants will be offered a GMWP Fellowship which covers the cost of participation and three graduate-level credits from UW-Madison. Participants earn credit as UW Madison Special Students.

Apply: Accepting and reviewing applications until April 1, 2025. Selected applicants will be invited to a small group interview experience and acceptances will be made on a rolling basis.

Summer Institute Application

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Letter of Interest
Max. file size: 24 MB.
Please include an essay of no more than 1,000 words in which you address: - how you teach writing and why you teach it that way - your reasons for wanting to become a part of the Greater Madison Writing Project - the attributes that you would bring to the project as a teacher, learner, and writer Special note: Just as there's no one right way to teach writing, there are no right answers to the above prompts. Please be candid and be yourself. In that same spirit, we encourage you to construct your essay in a way that best represents your own talents, interests, voice, and style.
Resume
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Upload a copy of your resume here.
Feel free to attach anything else that you think might convey a sense of who you are as a writer and/or teacher.
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Participants in the GMWP Summer Institute will engage in…

Writing: Teachers of writing must themselves be writers, so we will spend time daily in the practice of writing. Participants will have opportunities to write for themselves and as professionals. As every writer needs a reader, writing-response groups will meet regularly for feedback and discussion.
Reading: Throughout the institute we will focus on texts that center the writer-experience (examples include: Anne Lamont’s Bird by Bird, Stephen King’s On Writing, Lynda Barry’s What It Is) and the experience of teaching writing (examples include: Kelly Gallaghar & Penny Kittle’s 180 Days , Felicia Rose Chavez’s The AntiRacist Writing Workshop, Maja Wilson’s Rethinking Rubrics). Book discussion groups will meet regularly throughout the institute to discuss implications to our own and our students’ writing lives.
Research: The Summer Institute provides time, space, resource, and community to support teacher-driven inquiry. Consider the questions that keep you up at night or the topic you just wish you had more time to learn about. Participants will be guided in their self-selected inquiry around the teaching of writing throughout the course of the institute.
Going Public with Our Practice: Each participant will create a teacher-workshop focused on one area in the teaching of writing. Participants will share workshops with one another as practice for future leadership opportunities at schools / districts as well as conferences.