Friday, July 30, 2021

Writing Prompts from Our Writers Group

As we participated in the Midwest Writers Group this weekend, there were a few items that we wanted to share. The following topics and prompts are ones we've used over the past couple of years...In the coming month or two, Muriel and I will share some of the thoughts that were generated from these prompts. Perhaps others from our group will also share.

Look these over and do a few free writes as you prepare to enter back into the crazy busy world of teaching.
Enjoy!

Minnesota Retired Writers:

Writing Topics/Genres

Chosen by Members

Topics

-Daily Life

-Events/People

Events/Holidays

Nature/Gardening

Reactions to World/National Events

Loss/Challenges

Caregiving/Illness

Emotions/Personal Beliefs

Humorous Incidents

Genres

Fiction - Short Stories

Family Histories

Memoir

Poetry

__________________________________

Sample Writing Prompts

(Usually a 10-15 minute write)

Reactions to magazine

photos/photographs/visuals

(Ex.: Write a response to a picture of a

masked girl; A photo of the bridge to

nowhere)

Write about a piece of furniture

React to a quote or a section of poetry

(Ex.: Poem from Mary Oliver: “Things I

didn’t have to worry about when I was

older”)

General

Write About…

*Things in life that give you hope today

*A Solution for one world problem

*Something that has been a defining part of

whom you’ve become

*An event in your life that had a before and

after

*One profound learning experience

*“In spite of ------, we can build -------.”

*What you have missed most this summer

*What you learned from the pandemic

*The MN State Fair

*“We’ll Cross that Bridge When We Come to

it”

Family

*The first date you had with your husband

*A family tradition.

*Positive/negative aspects of retirement.

*Something that disturbs you

*How you calm yourself

*What you dream about

*An Inexpensive Item that means a lot to

you

*Favorite seasons and how you adjust

*What you are ready to say goodbye

Nature

*A wonderful moment in winter

*The most exciting thing you did this

winter

*What summer means to you

Tuesday, July 27, 2021

Midwest NWP Writing Conference - Minnesota Bio Links

Thanks for following up to our previous post on the Midwest NWP Writing Conference.

Many of you have asked questions about who we are - what our background is - so, this post will give you some bio information as well as ways to contact us individually.


Minnesota Retired Writers

Participant Bios

 

Bev Alsleben:  B.A. English Education, ESL licensure, Masters of Liberal Studies

Retired English Learners teacher, St. Paul Public Schools;  served on the ELL Leadership Team of the NWP, attending many national conferences and writing retreats.  

 Debra Hartley, PhD English

Taught college writing courses and worked in college writing centers; Assistant director of the Center for Writing at the University of Minnesota: redesigned and managed the MWP website and helped plan MWP activities and produce publications.  

 Mary Kirchhof  M.Ed. Special Education/Elementary, Reading Licensure, Writing and Critical Literacy Certificate 

Taught early childhood, elementary, middle high school and universitycourses; continues to write with a dynamic cohort of MWP retired educators and through Pen Pals, a Program of the City of Minnetonka Senior Services and the Minnetonka Public Schools, as well as personal books for the family; co-led MN Writing Project grant for cohort of 22 teacher leaders; helped meld MWP involvement with a two-year study of Writing and Critical Literacy through the University of Minnesota to change writing instruction in Edina Public Schools. 

 Joyce Malwitz. M.Ed. English

Taught high school English for over 30 years; served as a curriculum facilitator and as a consultant for the Minnesota Department of Education; served on the MWP Board of Directors as Outreach Director, assisted with the Summer Institute, co-facilitated various MWP workshop offerings, and led a three-year NWP/MWP action research project for youth workers. Assistant faculty coordinator for the University of Minnesota’s College in the Schools program. 

 Sandy Nesvig – B.S., M.A.,  Administrative Licensure

Taught middle school language arts ; administrator at Annunciation Catholic School. 

 Micki (Margaret) St Sauver: B.S. English/Education, M.Ed. ESL/Reading, PhD Literacy

English Teacher, 7-8; District Program Manager for Literacy 7-12; Literacy Consultant, Institute for Student Achievement, Columbia University; MWP, advisor and presenter; consultant for the Minnesota Department of Education; served on the MWP Board of Directors: Currently working with Muriel Thompson, former Director of MWP in creating a podcast, Breaking the Barriers of the Five Paragraph Essay and a blog, M&M Writing Essentials K12+. 

 Ann Thompson: M.A. Communications

Taught high school English and middle school English, speech and Theatre;. Developed business communications; MWP Continuity Director


Muriel Thompson: B.A. English M.Ed. English

Former Director for the Minnesota Writing Project ; High school Language arts teacher, Burnsville Public Schools; developed district's curriculum work and staff development programs. Micki St. Sauver and I have created a podcast: Breaking the Barriers of the Five Paragraph Essay and more recently a blog: M&M Writing Essentials K-12+. 

 _________________________________________________________________


Retired MWP Writers

Contact Information

 

 

         

         hartley@umn.edu                              (Debra Hartley)

 

         beverlyalsleben@gmail.com           (Bev Alsleben)

 

         sjnesvig@comcast.net                      (Sandy Nesvig)

 

         thomp402@umn.edu                        (Ann Thompson)

 

         mstsauver@me.com                         (Micki St Sauver)

 

         mthompson679@gmail.com           (Muriel Thompson)

 

joycemalwitz@comcast.net             (Joyce Malwitz)




Thanks for checking in with us! We look forward to hearing from you in the future.


 

 

  

2021 Midwest NWP Conference

 How is your summer going? For me...FAST! I thought it used to fly by when I was still teaching and was home for the summer with my kids, but this summer seems so crazy and we haven't even gone on a designated vacation. We are spending time with family and friends and just enjoying seeing people again.

Muriel and I have also found time to prepare for a conference coming up this Saturday:

2021 Midwest NWP Conference

 Muriel and I and five other former MWP members will be presenting information about starting and maintaining writing groups. Hope you can join us!