Top-of-the-Mitt

Satellite

For an application or additional information,

please contact
Toby Kahn-Loftus, our
Top-of-the-Mitt director, online at:
tobykahnloftus@gmail.com
Applications are due April 1, 2011,
“A curriculum is a design for the future.” If applying, please let Toby know by email that
Guenther Kress, Writing the Future: your application is in progress.
English and the Making of a Culture of Innovation

For 18 years, Red Cedar Writing Project (RCWP), Michigan State University’s site for the National Writing
Project (NWP), has embraced a “teachers teaching teachers” approach to teacher professional development.
During the RCWP Invitational Institute, teachers demonstrate for one another promising approaches to
teaching writing, focus on their fiction and non-fiction writing, participate in writing groups, identify questions
they have related to the teaching and practice of writing, and engage in reading that expands their
understanding of literacy pedagogies and policies.
This year marks the sixth year of Red Cedar Writing Project’s MSU Satellite Site, Top-of-the-Mitt, a funded site
of the National Writing Project hosted by North Central Michigan College in Petoskey, Michigan. This year ten
outstanding teachers of writing who represent a range of grade levels and disciplines will be selected to
participate in the Top-of-the-Mitt Invitational Summer Institute. Teachers selected for participation in Top-of-
the-Mitt receive a tuition waiver of three MSU graduate credits (AL 842), various texts and materials, and a
new technology on which they will focus during the Summer Institute and have available for their classrooms
during the 2011-2012 school year (pending successful completion of the institute).
At the conclusion of their work in the invitational institute, these teachers are recognized as Michigan State
University RCWP Fellows, and NWP Teacher Consultants (TC’s) –a credential that is recognized in all fifty states
and nine foreign countries. As TC’s, many are subsequently invited to share their learning and to conduct
workshops on the teaching of reading and writing for their own and other school districts.
January 9, 2011
Top-of-the-Mitt
Dear Friends and Colleagues:

We are pleased to invite teachers across Northern Michigan, including the Eastern Upper Peninsula, to apply
for our 2011 Summer Institute at the Red Cedar Writing Project’s satellite site, Top-of-the-Mitt.

This year, ten outstanding teachers of writing from all grade levels and disciplines will be selected to
participate in our sixth annual satellite site project of Red Cedar Writing Project, through Michigan State
University. The RCWP “Top-Of-The-Mitt” Invitational Summer Institute hosted by North Central Michigan
College will convene from Monday, June 20, 2011 through Thursday, July 14, 2011.1

Our 2011 cohort of teachers selected for participation in Top-of-the-Mitt receive a tuition waiver of three MSU
graduate credits (AL 842), various texts and materials, and a new technology on which they will focus during
the Summer Institute and have available for their classrooms during the 2011-2012 school year (pending
successful completion of the institute).

This national professional development model of “teachers teaching teachers” is possible through a special
grant from the National Writing Project, along with financial support from Michigan State University and North
Central Michigan College.

Thank you so much for helping to spread the word by sharing this invitation with outstanding teachers in your
school community. Applications are due by April 1, 2011.

Sincerely,
Toby Kahn-Loftus
Director, RCWP Top-Of-The-Mitt

Toby Kahn-Loftus
3741 Marsh Road
East Jordan, MI 49727
231-330-5804
tobykahnloftus@gmail.com

1
We have scheduled a long “Fourth of July” break from Friday, July 1 – Tuesday, July 5, 2011. In order to distribute
important institute materials, we require your attendance at an informal, opening dinner in Petoskey on Wednesday,
May 4, 2011. Also, please understand that the first week of our Summer Institute includes 4 long days in order to fulfill
the time requirements of the National Writing Project. The other twelve days run from 8:30 a.m. – 3:30 p.m. The final
day, July 14, 2011, includes an evening dinner banquet and publishing ceremony.
 Red Cedar Writing Toby Kahn-Loftus, Director
Project RCWP “Top-of-the-Mitt”
Hosted By:
Invitational Summer
North Central Michigan College
Top-of-the-Mitt Institute Petoskey, Michigan
“Top-of-the-Mitt” Application

Each summer, the Red Cedar Writing Project attempts to solicit applications from as diverse a cohort of teachers as possible.
This summer we are seeking applicants from across the northern Michigan and the south-eastern Upper Peninsula for our
satellite site, RCWP: Top-of-the-Mitt, at North Central Michigan College in Petoskey. Please provide us with the following
information and respond to the questions below in a separate letter of application. Also, please include a recent resume
and one example of a teaching artifact you have created (e.g., lesson plan, assignment, sample of student work with your
responses).
Today’s Date:______________________________________
Name:____________________________________________Years of Teaching Experience:_________________________
Home Address:_____________________________________Grades Currently Teaching:____________________________
Home or Cell Phone:________________________________ Subjects Currently Teaching___________________________
Current School:_____________________________________Grades Previously Taught:____________________________
Address:__________________________________________ Subjects Previously Taught:___________________________
School Phone:______________________________________Are you currently in a graduate program?_________________

Primary Email:______________________________________ If yes, where and what program?___________________

Summer Email:______________________________________ ___________________________________________

Teaching Certificate:___________________________________________________________________________________

Bachelor’s Degree:____________________________________________________________________________________

Subjects/ Institution/ Date Earned:________________________________________________________________________

Any additional degrees or certificates?_____________________________________________________________________

Name of your local newspaper__________________________________________________________________________

In a brief letter of application (no more than two, single-spaced pages), please respond to the following:
Describe yourself as a writer and teacher of writing. What kinds of personal and professional writing would you like to
spend time doing during the summer institute?
Explain an approach to teaching writing that you want to think about with others (one you have tried already or are
planning to pursue). Ideally, connect this explanation to your teaching artifact.
Discuss why you want to be affiliated with RCWP Top-of-the-Mitt, a site of the National Writing Project (NWP), and to earn
an internationally recognized credential as an NWP Teacher Consultant.
Please submit this application, along with your letter, resume, and teaching artifact by April 1, 2011 to:
Toby Kahn-Loftus, Director, Top-of-the-Mitt, 3741 Marsh Road, East Jordan, MI 49727

Questions? Please email Toby at tobykahnloftus@gmail.com or by phone at 231-330-5804

RCWP is a site of the National Writing Project, supported through matching grants from Michigan State University, and hosted by
North Central Michigan College in Petoskey. If you received this late, please contact Toby for information after April 1, 2010.
 Top-of-the-Mitt Planning Dates Spring/Summer 2011
May
May 4 (Wed) Opening Dinner, Summer Institute 2011

June
June 20 (Mon) SI Day 1 (long day, 8:30 am – 8:00 pm)
June 21 SI Day 2 (long day 8:30 am – 8:00 pm)
June 22 SI Day 3 (long day 8:30 am – 8:00 pm)
June 23 SI Day 4 (long day 8:30 am – 8:00 pm)
June 24 SI Day 5
June 27 (Mon) SI Day 6
June 28 SI Day 7
June 29 SI Day 8
June 30 SI Day 9

July
July 6 (Wed) SI Day 10
July 7 SI Day 11
July 8 SI Day 12
July 11 (Mon) SI Day 13
July 12 SI Day 14
July 13 SI Day 15
July 14 SI Day 16 (Long day with evening banquet and publishing ceremony.)

July 15 SI Staff meet to debrief and respond to portfolios.

Grades will be sent to MSU the following week.
Please track your personal data online at the MSU website.

Top-of-the-Mitt