Date: October 22, 2026
Time: 9:00am – 3:00pm
Type: In-Person
Location: WRESA
200 Ridgefield Ct, Suite 206
Asheville, NC 28806
Fee: $45 WRESA Members
$70 Non-members
**NOTE: We have a No Refund policy for our WRESA courses. However, you
are welcome to send a colleague in your place. Contact LaDonna Sluder
at lsluder@wresa.org or 828-774-5681 (ext 102) if you need to change
the name of the person attending.
CEUs: 5 Contact Hours
Limit: 45 Participants
Audience: K-5 Classroom Teachers and Instructional Coaches
What to bring?: your own device
Description:
Many young people love to write. Give them supplies and time and they create
interesting and engaging texts. But there are many more who find writing a dreaded
chore that they can’t seem to finish. For some it has to do with ownership and choice
over topic, genre, and format. For others it may be a feeling that they have nothing of
interest or worth to write about. Many writers get bogged down with the process of
finding focus and narrowing a topic, creating a vision for the scope of their project,
staying on topic, sticking with the project across time, controlling details, working within
the confines of the conventions of language, or bringing the project to a satisfying
closure. Yet, resisting revision is arguably the most common concern I hear from
teachers regarding the roadblocks their students encounter. In my work with teachers, I
frequently hear concerns about student writers reaching a point where they just don’t
know what to do to keep moving forward. Across the day we will write a bit ourselves,
we will examine the work of student writers and explore the roadblocks they have
encountered, and we will work together to create workarounds for those roadblocks and try
a few ourselves.
Presenter:
Lester Laminack, Professor Emeritus, Western Carolina University is a full-time writer
and consultant working with schools, districts, and organizations throughout the country
and abroad. He is an award winning author or co-author of twenty professional books
and eight children’s books. Dr. Laminack has served on several regional and national
boards, has served as the co-editor of the NCTE journal Primary Voices, and as the
editor of the Children’s Book Review column of the NCTE journal Language Arts. He
served several years as the Basic Reading Consultant to Literacy Volunteers of America
and as secretary for the NC Association for the Education of Young Children. He is the
recipient of two teaching awards from Western Carolina University: The Botner Superior
Teaching Award from the College of Education and Allied Profession, and the
Chancellor’s Distinguished Teaching Award from the university. He is an active member
of ILA and NCTE and is a sought after keynote and featured speaker at state and
national conferences.
If you have additional questions , contact Candie Sellers at csellers@wresa.org