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Discover Writing Professional Development
and Special Presentations
Pick the Perfect Presenter for your Inservice Day or School Assembly

Title One and NCLB Funding Eligibility

Discover Writing Workshops are designed to provide a comprehensive and sustained program in professional development for teachers. Consequently, schools and districts are eligible for Title I and NCLB funding for bringing DWC presenters to their locations. Discover Writing provides best practices training in writing and ELA for schools, teachers and administrators throughout the United States.

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Barry Lane
Writing, Revision, Voice and Humor

Gretchen Bernabei
TAKS Test prep and Essay writing with Voice

Carol Glynn
Kinesthetic Learning in All Subjects

Alana Morris
Brain Based Vocabulary Teaching

Geof Hewitt
Poetry Writing and Poetry Slam

Robert Young
6-trait Assessment and Non-Fiction Writing

Bruce Ballenger
The Curious Researcher - Research Writing

Porter Knight
Organizing the Classroom and Your Life

Dr. Denni Kay Scates
Reading Specialist

Madi Coutts
Reading Specialist

	Barry Lane enjoys an international reputation as both a writer and speaker on empowering teachers to help their students become better writers.
"Barry Lane is one of the nation's finest speakers on the teaching of writing. His combination of inspiration, warmth, insight and energy is magical. My colleagues and I left our day with Barry with full hearts and high spirits, ready to bring new strategies and new energy into our writing workshops." ~ Lucy Calkins, Director of Columbia University's Teachers College Writing Project
Barry's Workshop / Keynote Offerings: Voice Lessons in Non-fiction Writing 3-12 Revision: How to Teach it. Learn it. Love it. Writing and Laughing Across the Curriculum Please click here for Short Descriptions of Barry's workshops

Gretchen Bernabei has taught grades 4 - 11 in San Antonio public schools for 18 years and has conducted writing workshops for enthusiastic teacher audiences throughout Texas for the past 15 years. She is co-author (with Barry Lane) of Why We Must Run With Scissors: Voice Lessons in Persuasive Writing. She spent nine months "working backstage" at the Texas Education Agency's Division of Student Assessment, where she participated in the thoughtful test-building process.

Let Gretchen help you with TAKS

Gretchen's Workshop / Keynote Offerings:
Voice Lessons in TAKS Writing 4-12
Reviving the Essay : How to Teach Structure Without Formula

Carol Glynn is a writer, performer, and teaching artist, who works with students K-12 in dozens of classrooms each year and is a sought- after keynote speaker. As one of the country's leading kinesthetic learning experts and author of Learning On Their Feet - A Sourcebook for Kinesthetic Learning Across the Curriculum, her techniques are gathering rave reviews from public school educators. For example: "Our Connecticut Mastery Test Scores have continued to rise since Carol’s ideas have become part of our writing curriculum. Her ideas are a MUST for all teachers who want to meet the state standards while making their classrooms engaging, exciting, challenging and fun." says Karen Loiselle, Director of Curriculum, Instruction, and Professional Development, Colchester Public Schools.

To See a 9 minute QuickTime clip of Carol Glynn in Action please click HERE.

To download the QuickTime Viewer, click HERE

Carol's Workshop / Keynote Offering:
Learning on Their Feet: Kinesthetic learning Across the Curriculum

Alana Morris has been an educator for 17 years and has taught all levels from elementary through high school. She is currently the language arts program director in Aldine Independent School District for grades 5–8. She actively serves on the state board of the Texas Council of Teachers of English Language Arts, is the president of the North Harris County Council of Teachers of English, and is president-elect of C.R.E.S.T. (Coalition of Reading and English Supervisors of Texas).

Her new book, Vocabulary Unplugged: Scientifically-based Strategies in Word Study for Reading and Writing Grades K-12, is now available from Discover Writing Press in our bookstore. Just Click HERE.

Alana's Workshop / Keynote Offering:
Vocabulary Unplugged: Scientifically-based Strategies in Word Study
for Reading and Writing Grades K-12

Geof Hewitt started writing poems as a teenager. Ten years later, he was teaching teenagers and publishing their poems, while publishing and performing his own work in venues as diverse as Harpers, The Paris Review, Exquisite Corpse, the Whitney Museum, and the Honolulu Zoo. Hewitt brings his quirky sense of "poetry" to his workshops with junior high and high school students, and continues to write, publish, and perform his poems wherever he can. Hewitt teaches in the Adult Degree Program at Vermont College and serves as Writing/Secondary English Consultant to the Vermont Department of Education. In 1995, Heinemann published his first book for teachers, A Portfolio Primer: Teaching, Collecting, and Assessing Student Writing

Geof's newest book, Hewitt's Guide to Slam Poetry and Poetry Slam (a Book & DVD Combo) is now available in our bookstore by clicking HERE.

Geof's Workshop / Keynote Offerings:
The Complete Guide to Teaching Slam Poetry 6-12
Today you Are my Favorite Poet: Teaching Poetry writing 6-12

Robert Young is a curriculum and staff development specialist at the Lane Education Service District in Eugene, Oregon, where he provides language arts support to K-12 teachers in 16 school districts through workshops, technical consultations, and model lessons. He also writes nonfiction for children, and has had 20 books published. His latest, Passage: A dog’s journey west with Lewis and Clark, is an interactive book in journal format. Robert’s books have won numerous honors, including NCSS/CBC Notable Children’s Social Studies Trade Book, IRA/CBC Children’s Choice, and the Public Library Association’s Lifetime Learning Award.

Please click HERE to learn more about Robert's work as a visiting author.

Robert's Workshop/Keynote Offerings:
Teaching the Joy of Non-fiction Writing
Exploring the 6 traits of writing.

Bruce Ballenger is the author of four books, including The Curious Researcher, a student guide to writing research papers, and Beyond Note Cards: Rethinking the Freshman Research Paper. His fifth book, forthcoming from Allyn & Bacon and coauthored with Michelle Payne, is Readings for the Curious Researcher. Bruce's articles and creative nonfiction have appeared in publications ranging from College English to the Boston Globe. He currently directs the writing program at Boise State University.

Bruce's Workshop/Keynote Offerings:
The Curious Researcher: How to teach the joy of Research 6-12 and beyond

	Porter Knight can show you how to tame the clutter chaos in any classroom or office. When she isn't digging clients out from under piles, or speaking from podiums across the country, Porter is a popular radio guest and is featured in and writes frequently for national publications. She also finds time to volunteer at her children's school. She is a popular and dynamic speaker, life-changing consultant, and author of Organized to Last: 5 Simple Steps to Staying Organized (available in our bookstore by clicking HERE) and Get Paid to Win Clients: Public Speaking as Marketing Tool, a workbook for entrepreneurs.
"Porter was the top rated presenter among all 35 of our workshop leaders, including the 2 keynotes!" ~National Association of Professional Organizers, Denver, CO
Porter's Workshop/Keynote Offerings The Organized Educator Organized to Last: Five Simple Steps to Staying Organized Organized and On-Time Overcoming Procrastination with F.O.C.U.S.

Denni Kay Scates, Ph.D.

Denni has enjoyed traveling throughout the United States presenting seminars that motivate and empower teachers and librarians. 20 years as a teacher and librarian in public and private schools, as well as teaching adults Language Arts, Literature, and Reading courses at the university level give Denni insight into the “real world” of educators and their challenges. Denni’s experiences and research in literacy drive her passion for helping all students develop a love for learning.

Fast-moving seminars, packed with literature recommendations, practical strategies, and useful ideas, are designed to make reading and writing connections that are teacher-friendly and easy to implement.

Denni joins the innovative speakers of Discover Writing’s Professional Development team to bring to teachers across the nation her passion for modeling quality literature to develop strong readers, writers, and life-long learners.

Madi Coutts is a successful Reading Specialist and Reading Recovery Teacher. An Adjunct Faculty member at Fitchburg State College in MA and a former elementary classroom teacher (K-8), Madi has become a sought-after presenter and staff developer, who consults with schools and districts across the country. She has directed Staff Development initiatives at Martha’s Vineyard Public Schools for 20 years, where she has been a Reading Specialist. Madi was instrumental in developing and implementing the Martha’s Vineyard Writing Rubrics Assessment Process. She has published many articles about the instruction of reading and writing.

Madi’s expertise in Reading and Writing combines the newest research in reading comprehension and academic writing. This knowledge, combined with her unique, interactive approach to teaching, makes her seminars powerful.

She demonstrates her knowledge by modeling instruction that teaches students how to apply these strategies independently. You’ll be able to use these methods to create a classroom where kids will not only comprehend and enjoy reading, they will be able to reveal their understandings through writing and dialogue.

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