Eastern Illinois Writing Project Institute Day

Eastern Illinois Writing Project Fall Institute Day

Friday, October 13, 2017 from 8:30-1:30

Approximately 120 teachers, administrators and interested students attended the Eastern Illinois Writing Project Fall Institute Day on Friday, October 13, 2017, on the campus of Eastern Illinois University in Charleston. Five CPDH's and lunch were also provided. The Eastern Illinois Writing Project presented the annual Institute Day, titled “Argument in the Real World” from 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. in the Doudna Fine Arts Center. 

This year’s Institute Day focused on argument in the real world and highlight teaching authentic argument reading and writing across disciplines and the English Language Arts Common Core Standards. Teachers from across disciplines and grade levels will share teaching ideas in multiple breakout sessions, maintaining a “teachers teaching teachers” model to creatively meet the Common Core Standards.

To highlight this interdisciplinarity across grade levels, the keynote speaker was Dr. Troy Hicks, co-author of Argument in the Real World. His workshop will highlight new ways of approaching argument that consider the digital information inundating students on their devices and provide ways to craft and analyze arguments in a digital world.

In Argument in the Real World, Kristen Hawley Turner and Troy Hicks draw from real world texts and samples of student work to share a wealth of insights and practical strategies in teaching students the logic of argument. Whether arguments are streaming in through a Twitter feed, a Facebook wall, viral videos, internet memes, or links to other blogs or websites, in this workshop Hicks will guide you—and your students— in how to engage with and create digital arguments.

Dr. Troy Hicks is an associate professor of English at Central Michigan University and focuses his work on the teaching of writing, literacy and technology, and teacher education and professional development. A former middle school teacher, he collaborates with K–12 colleagues and explores how they implement newer literacies in their classrooms. Hicks also directs CMU's Chippewa River Writing Project.