Applause, applause, applause for everyone involved in
the Amazing Race at the OKC Zoo on Tuesday.  A total
of 29 teachers and parents and 89 students
participated in the fall writing conference.

Audra Plummer pulled off another miracle in planning
the elementary conference. To design such a
complicated program takes time and energy.  She
divided all the registrants into teams according to
their grade level, so the presenters could teach them
at their own level.

The students raced around the zoo, folders and pencils
in hand, to make it to the next station first.  They
focused on their writing, taking their assignments
very seriously.  They all had a chance to begin
several pieces of writing to enter in the Centennial
Writing Contest.

All the presenters were exceptional, designing
creative lessons for the students and modeling
excellent teaching techniques to the teachers. The
student packet is a keeper, and the teachers' guides
were exceptional. We hope to post them on the OWP
website soon so that everyone can download them and
use them in their classrooms.

Much thanks to Jamie Johnson, Jeannie Rhodes, Lori
Newmark, and especially Johnnie Keel, who stood in as
a replacement teacher at the very last moment.
Thanks, too, to Debbie Thompson Moore, formerly of
McKinley Elementary and now a part of the Idaho
writing project, who showed up to help us make it
through the day.

Thanks to the teachers and parents who brought their
students to the event.  We will study your evaluations
to make next year's event even better.  For those of
you who have never had the chance to bring your
students to this event, please try to plan on it for
next year!  You don't know what you're missing.

Thanks again to everyone that made the whole day a
grand success!





Janis Cramer
Co-Director of Inservice
Oklahoma Writing Project
"Teachers Teaching Teachers"
820 Van Vleet Oval
University of Oklahoma
Phone and Fax (405) 495-4903
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