ANN ARBOR—Teachers from 15 high schools and faculty from the University of Michigan will meet for the second Writing Across the Millennium Institute on Tuesday (April 18), 10 a.m.-3 p.m., at Rackham Auditorium.

Begun last year as a project of U-M’s Gayle Morris Sweetland Writing Center, the institute is the first of its kind in Michigan. The free institute brings together secondary and post-secondary faculty in English, biology, math, chemistry, history, philosophy, political science and the humanities for a one-day conference focusing on writing across the curriculum and sharing successful writing techniques from a variety of classroom settings.

“I was excited to try some new types of assignments and new ways to grade,” said Marty Sanford, mathematics teacher at Renaissance High School, who attended last year’s conference. “The opportunity to share was very important. Many of us as individuals have good ideas but don’t have a chance to share.”

High schools participating in the April 18 institute include: Renaissance High School, Grosse Pointe South High School, Okemos High School, Cass Tech High School, Pontiac Northern High School, Detroit Country Day High School, Community High School, Pontiac Central High School, Saginaw High School, Andover High School, Cranbrook Academy, Troy High School, Rochester High School, Lahser-Bloomfield High School, and Huron High School. Pioneer High School is still involved but has MEAP testing during the institute.

Ejner Jensen, professor of English and current director of the Sweetland Writing Center, points out another benefit that comes from such a setting.

“It’s important for us all—secondary school teachers and university faculty alike—to recognize that we’re engaged in the same enterprise, that we share values as well as problems,” said Jensen.

David Tidwell, religion teacher at Cranbrook Academy, seemed to mirror those comments when he talked about the institute’s best component: “The tacit recognition from various colleagues that what all disciplines are about is critical thinking, and the expression of that thought.”

Similarly, Robert Megginson, professor of mathematics, involved in last year’s institute said, “I can predict who will do well in my graduate course from a writing sample. If they can express themselves clearly, they know the mathematics clearly. Also, if I can help improve their writing during the course, their mathematics understanding will improve as well.”

Robert Helling, professor of biology, agrees about the connection between writing and science. He oversees an upper level biology course that teaches writing.

“We try to have students write for different audiences. They might write about the same subject but to a newspaper editor, a popular magazine, a colleague in biology, a scientific journal or a grant committee. These are all writing opportunities which present themselves in the real world.”

For further information, contact Ejner Jensen at (734) 764-0429 or Josie Kearns, U-M writing instructor, who helped coordinate both institutes at jakearns@umich.edu, (734) 995-5330 or (734) 764-8057.

Gayle Morris Sweetland Writing CenterEjner JensenRobert MegginsonRobert Hellingjakearns@umich.edu