CA Association of Teachers of English Convention, 2026

The Personal Creed Organization

Los Angeles CA, March 2026 – Creating Nourishing Full-Process Essays to Guide Our Students Across the Engagement Gap

Most high school writing in California is limited to one-page arguments, quickwrites, and CER exercises — with few rich full-process essays to engage students more deeply in the magic of discovering themselves in writing. Are we stifling their voices at the very moment they most need our help to find them? In this session, we’ll:

• share in teams the most engaging full-process writing assignments we’ve run with our students,
• sample inspired student essays culminating the developmentally engaging World Wisdom Project,
• explore a portfolio assignment guiding students to reflect on their twofold yearlong development as writers and human beings.

Participants will leave with fresh insights on cultivating engaged full-process writing, along with sample assignments and student work. Got a full-process assignment of your own? Bring it to share!