Professional Development
Structured Writing Instruction that Works
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Write Ahead offers professional learning to elementary, middle, and high school English and History teachers who want to use the same proven, evidence-based writing instruction strategies that we employ. The PL provides insights into the latest research and practices for strengthening student writing. This course draws on approaches such as Self-Regulated Strategy Development (SRSD), as well as wider findings from current thinking in the field of literacy, to guide attendees in building a community of writers who embrace the challenge of writing with success, depth, insight and joy. ​
Date: TBD
Teach Writing With Evidence-Based Practices:
While Building Social-Emotional Learning & Critical Thinking
123
8:30 - 3:00
Wellesley, MA
Grades 3-8
12 PDPs
$435
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This course presents tools and techniques that will help your students write with greater clarity, impact, and depth. Learn easy-to-implement and time-efficient ways to revolutionize and re-inspire how you teach writing, all based on current research. Help your students use their own personalized writing process to:
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advance their learning of content knowledge
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build critical thinking
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nurture social-emotional learning
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strengthen overall mastery of all literacy standards
Rather than teaching writing in ad hoc ways, learn the framework that is driving improvements in nearly 50,000 classrooms across the USA, including the entire state of Tennessee, the 5 boroughs in NYC, and Worcester and Hopkinton elementary schools, spanning both special ed and gen ed classrooms.
Testimonials - after attending Dr. Laud's PL:
“My students who disliked writing now just want to write every day. They love it now. If writing is cancelled, they’re upset! “
-Allison Lienert, Teacher, Nashville, TN
“This is the best PL I have attended in my 30 year career in education. After I saw the gains, every teacher in my district attended!”
- Deb Rude, Curriculum Director, Cumberland, RI
“Our scores increased unbelievably. Now our entire district uses this approach to teach writing.”
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- Deb Mantyla, Coach, Worcester, MA
“This approach is evidence-based. The changes we’ve seen have blown me away. Our students love to write!.”
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- Robert Mitchell, Super-intendent, Cumberland, RI
Dr. Leslie Laud,
Ed.D.
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PL training will be led by Dr. Leslie Laud who has taught students how to write for nearly 20 years, has researched and developed writing instruction methodology, and now serves as a nationally recognized writing-staff instructor and consultant to hundreds of schools. The course will cover the evidence-based approach to writing instruction she continuously refines and optimizes through road testing with thousands of teachers, and incorporating student outcomes and teacher feedback. It is described in her top selling book Releasing Writers: Evidence-Based Strategies for Developing Self-Regulated Writers (2017)”. Her approach is used in hundreds of schools in New England, as well as in over 50,000 classrooms throughout public and private school across the US.
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Dr. Laud holds a doctorate in curriculum and instruction from Columbia University, where she also still teaches education courses. She conducts empirical research studies on the most effective ways to teach writing, publishing findings in peer-reviewed journals and presenting at prestigious conferences such as Learning & the Brain, Society for Scientific Studies of Reading, International Literacy Association (ILA), National Council for Teachers of English (NCTE) and locally at Massachusetts Reading Association (MRA). In addition to authoring Releasing Writers, she also published Using Formative Assessment to Differentiate Middle School Literacy Instruction (2012).