Author, writing educator and Shenandoah University alumna, Mary K. Tedrow ’99, is passionate about teaching people to learn better through writing.
A longtime local educator and graduate of Shenandoah University’s Master of Science in Education, Emphasis in Teaching program, Tedrow recently released a new book, “Write, Think, Learn: Tapping the Power of Daily Student Writing Across the Content,” which is a practical and theoretical text for teachers on how to incorporate and manage daily writing for students, from middle school through the university level.
“Writing is an important processing tool,” said Tedrow. “Although it appears time consuming, the work students do in writing has a lasting effect on learning content as well as practicing and developing the skill of writing itself. There are ways to provide writing time without overtaxing a classroom teacher. Those are the steps outlined in the book.”
“Write, Think, Learn,” thoughtfully outlines how to manage expectations for daily writing, grade and guide student writing, and incorporate writing across the curriculum to support student understanding of new content.
Tedrow drew on 26 years of experience teaching writing at public schools throughout Winchester and Frederick County, and 18 years of leading professionals in a variety of graduate courses through Shenandoah University, George Mason University and Johns Hopkins University. Currently, Tedrow serves as the director of the Shenandoah Valley Writing Project (SVWP), a professional development program for Pre K-university teachers, based at the Bowman Building, home to Shenandoah University’s School of Education & Human Development, located at 20 S. Cameron St. in Winchester.
SVWP is partially funded by a federal Supporting Effective Educator Development (SEED) grant (Teacher Leadership Development) distributed through the National Writing Project for local school districts. The SVWP goal is to improve instruction in the teaching of writing as well as using writing for learning. SVWP Institutes are offered several times a year, by invitation, to all teachers in any grade and/ or content area.
“Write, Think, Learn,” is available at the Winchester Book Gallery 185 N. Loudoun St. on the Old Town pedestrian mall in Winchester, directly from the publisher or through Amazon.
