Winter 2015/2016: Two OWP Writing Coaches Recently Published

Chris Hawking, an instruction and equity coach in the North Clackamas School District, published “Cracking the Box: The Personal Cost of War” in the winter issue of Rethinking Schools. In this moving essay, Chris shares mementos from his father, who was killed in Viet Nam, to open up discussion about the long-lasting pain of war. This is also a great teaching article about using Tim O’Brien’s story and/or novel The Things They Carried. 

Martha Sanstead, a language development specialist and instructional coach at Ventura Park Elementary School, published “Cutting Watermelons” in the most recent issue of Educational Leadership. Martha’s piece explores her experience as an educational coach and the ways she gains teacher trust. In this piece, Martha uses the metaphor “Cutting Watermelon” which comes from our OWP coaching model. The quote, which Martha effectively uses in her article, comes from a quote by Lawrence Guyot, who was a grassroots organizers during the Civil Rights Movement: “You don’t alter the basic format that you walk into. Let’s say you are riding past a picnic, and people are cutting watermelons. You don’t immediately go and say, “Stop the watermelon cuttin’, and let’s talk about voter registration.” You cut some watermelons, or you help somebody else serve ‘em.”

To learn more about the OWP Certificate in the Teaching of Writing, see: https://graduate.lclark.edu/programs/continuing_education/certificates/oregon_writing/