The Educator's Writing Handbook

by Reep, Diana C.; Sharp, Helen M.

• ISBN13: 9780205285198
• ISBN10: 0205285198
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1998-08-05
• Publisher: Pearson

Summary

Many school professionals, whether on the job or preparing for a career in education, overlook the number and complexity of communication tasks routinely required on the job. They frequently are in the process of writing something, be it a memo, letter, report, news message, agenda, or minutes to a meeting. And they often must deliver presentations to parents, community groups, school boards, conventions, and academic conferences. But how are these professionals to prepare for such specialized speaking and writing requirements? That's what this book is for.This book acts as an easy-to-follow, easy-to-use desk reference, resource guide, and sourcebook for the kinds of writing commonly required by teachers today. The focus throughout is on contemporary educational challenges and clear, effective, and purposeful written communication. It contains 24 letter models, 11 memo models, eight report models, seven community news message models, never before compiled in one book.Educational administrators, teachers, educational personnel, and education students.

Table of Contents

Preface	ix
Introduction	1	(3)
Writing at Work	2	(1)
Communication Pressures on Educators	2	(1)
Benefits from Clear Communication	3	(1)
1 The Writer's Process	4	(10)
One Principal's Writing Process	5	(1)
Planning Your Writing	6	(3)
Analyzing Your Reader	6	(1)
Analyzing Your Purpose	6	(3)
Analyzing Your Writing Situation	9	(1)
Organizing Your Writing	9	(3)
Gathering Information	9	(1)
Grouping Major Topics	10	(1)
Identifying Subtopics	10	(1)
Selecting Appropriate Organization Patterns	11	(1)
Outlining the Document Structure	11	(1)
Writing Your Draft	12	(1)
Revising Your Document	12	(2)
Revising Overall Structure	12	(1)
Editing on the Sentence Level	13	(1)
2 Correspondence	14	(19)
Considering Your Reader	14	(2)
Maintaining Positive Tone	16	(1)
Using Natural Language	16	(1)
Organizing Correspondence	17	(10)
Good News or Information Messages	18	(3)
Bad News Messages	21	(3)
Persuasive Messages	24	(3)
Format	27	(3)
Letters	27	(2)
Memos	29	(1)
E-Mail	30	(3)
Cautions	30	(1)
Style	30	(1)
E-Mail to Parents/Guardians	31	(2)
3 Guidelines and Models for Special Correspondence	33	(55)
Letters	33	(37)
Commendation Letters	33	(3)
Information Letters to Parents/Guardians	36	(1)
Inquiry Letters to Businesses and Services	37	(3)
Invitations to Community Members	40	(4)
Permission Form Letters	44	(1)
Recommendation Letters	45	(10)
Requests to Community Members	55	(5)
Responses to Complaints from Community Members	60	(2)
Responses to Inquiries from Community Members	62	(4)
Responses to Requests from Community Members	66	(2)
Thank-You Letters	68	(2)
Memos	70	(18)
Announcements to School Personnel	70	(4)
Confidential Memos	74	(2)
Instructions to School Personnel	76	(3)
Requests of School Personnel	79	(2)
Responses to Requests from School Personnel	81	(1)
Superintendent Update Memos to School Boards	82	(6)
4 Reports	88	(33)
Informal Internal Reports	88	(4)
Purpose	88	(1)
Organization	89	(3)
Guidelines and Models for Special Reports	92	(29)
Academic Progress Report with Cover Letter	92	(6)
Convention Follow-up Reports	98	(3)
Guidance Reports	101	(12)
Personnel Evaluation Reports	113	(3)
Recommendation Reports	116	(5)
5 News Messages to the Community	121	(22)
Announcements and Flyers	121	(4)
Mission Statements	125	(2)
Newsletters	127	(7)
Policy Statements and Procedures	134	(3)
Policies	135	(1)
Procedures	135	(2)
Press Releases	137	(6)
6 Agendas and Minutes	143	(7)
Agendas	143	(3)
Formal Agendas	143	(1)
School Board Meeting Agendas	144	(2)
Faculty Meeting Agendas	146	(1)
Minutes	146	(4)
7 Career Correspondence	150	(12)
Academic Vita or Resume	150	(8)
Application Letter	158	(4)
8 Oral Presentations	162	(8)
Preparation and Delivery	163	(2)
Organization	163	(1)
Delivery	164	(1)
Question and Answer Session	165	(1)
Speaking to Community Groups	165	(1)
Speaking to Parents	165	(1)
Speaking to School Boards	166	(1)
Speaking to Conventions	167	(1)
Speaking at an Academic Conference	167	(3)
9 Grammar	170	(7)
Agreement	170	(1)
Pronoun Agreement	170	(1)
Subject-Verb Agreement	171	(1)
Modifiers	171	(2)
Dangling Modifiers	172	(1)
Misplaced Modifiers	172	(1)
Squinting Modifiers	173	(1)
Pronoun Reference	173	(1)
Sentence Structure	174	(3)
Comma Splice	174	(1)
Fused Sentence	175	(1)
Hidden Fragment	175	(2)
10 Punctuation	177	(6)
Apostrophe	177	(1)
Colon	178	(1)
Comma	178	(1)
Dash	179	(1)
Exclamation Point	180	(1)
Hyphen	180	(1)
Parentheses	180	(1)
Quotation Marks	181	(1)
Semicolon	181	(1)
Slash	182	(1)
11 Mechanics	183	(8)
Acronyms and Initialisms	183	(1)
Brackets	184	(1)
Capital Letters	184	(2)
Ellipsis	186	(1)
Italics	186	(1)
Lists	187	(1)
Measurements	188	(1)
Numbers	189	(1)
Symbols	190	(1)
Index of Models	191	(2)
Subject Index	193