Prior to our New York trip, our Writing Lab professional learning community completed a shared book read, which I felt helped to clarify, synthesize and deepen my thinking about effective reading and writing instruction. In employing action research to "try on" these strategies in the classroom, I was left with greater questions about how students learn and what are best writing practices. These questions led my learning at the Institute as I worked to process how to improve my current teaching methods to impact student achievement. Upon our return from the Institute, the Writing Lab held a series of share-out sessions where we discussed our learning with our fellow colleagues. We posted materials, which we received and developed from the Institute, creating a database of resources that anyone can access. In working with students and examining both their student work and the qualitative feedback I receive from the Writers Workshop, I see how my learning has been beneficial to their developing their skills and identities as writers. Hang Nguyen

The Lucy Calkins Writing Institute validated the work the Writing Lab is implemeting in our classrooms. It furthered our understanding of the Workshop Model and gave us the necessary tools to effectively provide instruction that would allow us to explore reading-writing connections. I immediately applied my new learning to the classroom by utilizing mentor text as a resource to show students how to add some of the craft that they notice their favorite authors using. This added a totally new twist to my students' writing styles as I employed mentor text, the conferring toolkit, journals, and all the resources and strategies I learned at the Institute to develop the writers in my classroom. Given a handful of life-long writing tools and a repertoire of literature from which to pull ideas, my students became more independent authors. Alexia, a first grade student of mine, states in a letter, "I like doing writing because I like the way I do so much actions, feelings, and inner dialogue." Andy once stated that he did not like writing, but now proclaims, "I like writer's workshop because you get to write a lot and I remember stuff of what I did in my life. I get to learn from Kevin Henkes and David Shannon." Teresa Rivas

The Writing Institute changed the way I teach writing. I learned how to develop units of study, improve the management of writer's workshop, use mentor text to teach authentic literacy, encourage students to apply the skills and strategies to their own writing, and more importantly, provide feedback during conferring which develops the writer and not the writing. The Institute not only changed my teaching, but my way of thinking about writing, which has opened avenues for how my students are able to express themselves. Their writing is no longer a formulaic. They are developed pieces that have voice and style. Claudia Martinez

Attending the Writing Institute and openly participating in writing sessions created a change in my teaching that will forever benefit my students. Through the sessions, I learned to coach the students through their writing and letting them discover their own sense of authorship instead of simply correcting and editing with the dreaded red pen. The Institute helped me discover what kind of teacher I was, what I was becoming and what I wanted to be to my students. I can impact and influence my students a lot more by guiding their discoveries through analyzing craft and picture books, which is how my own writing is influenced. The techniques I teach my students are techniques I have learned along the way in my own writing career. Writer's Workshop has become a time in the day when my classroom is most alive with bustling, tiny voices of young writers filling the walls. Making the reading-writing connection has allowed my students to take in craft from their favorite authors, making it their own and use it in their writing, which has been the greatest impact I received through the sessions at the Lucy Calkins' Writing Institute. Maria Alcaraz

I have attended the Teachers College Reading and Writing Project twice now and everytime I come back to my classroom ready to teach. This inspirational conference has given me confidence that I can be a great writer and a great teacher of writing. I have learned awesome strategies on how to problem solve difficulties that arise when implementing this type of rigorous work. I have seen my students grow as writers more than ever within these last few years. I understand that students have a voice that can be amplified. A student writer is no more an no less a writer than a published author. Both have the same purpose in mind when writing to share a story or information. Whether my students are mimicking an author by being innovative, one thing is clear...they truly believe they have the ability and the responsibility to share their thoughts with the world. I am thankful for this experience and am sure to learn more and more as I continue to attend these professional development sessions. Cecy Equihua