In this episode, I speak with Dr. Leslie Laud. She is the founding Director of ThinkSRSD, a writing program built upon Self-Regulated Strategy Development (SRSD). The discussion covers ThinkSRSD’s key strategies, including mnemonics and how to apply them across different grade levels and writing genres. Furthermore, Dr. Laud addresses implementation challenges and provides advice for teachers, emphasising a gradual release of responsibility, the significance of teacher collaboration and the need for professional development that respects teachers’ unique contexts.
Resources mentioned:
- thinksrsd.com
- Facebook Group: think SRSD “Self-Regulated Strategy Development”: Releasing Writers
- Facebook Group: ThinkSRSD New Zealand and Australia
- SRSD
- Charles Haynes from Talking to Writing
- Judith Hochman
- Writing Revolution
- Karen Harris
- Steve Graham
- Amy Thomas
- Pooja Patel
- Nate Hanford, Leslie Laud, and Elizabeth Rinstra: ThinkSRSD A Secondary Analysis Cohort Investigation
- Carol Sue Engler
- Linda Mason
- Linda Darling Hammond and Anne Lieberman
- Dr. Charles Haynes
- Dr. Kay Wijekumar
- Gemma Maddocks – GEM Literacy
You can connect with Leslie:
Twitter: @LeslieLaud
Bluesky: @leslielaud.bsky.social
You can connect with Brendan:
Twitter: @learnwithmrlee
Bluesky: @learnwithmrlee.bsky.social
Facebook: @learningwithmrlee
Website: learnwithlee.net
Support the Knowledge for Teachers Podcast:
https://www.patreon.com/KnowledgeforTeachersPodcast
About Leslie Laud
Dr. Leslie Laud has taught students how to write for nearly 20 years as a classroom teacher. She has researched and developed writing instruction methodology, and now serves as a nationally recognized writing-staff instructor and consultant to hundreds of schools.
Dr. Laud holds a doctorate in curriculum and instruction from Columbia University, where she also taught teacher education courses. She conducts empirical research studies on the most effective ways to teach writing, publishes her findings in peer-reviewed journals, and presents 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: Evidence-Based Strategies for Developing Self-Regulated Writers (2017), she also published Using Formative Assessment to Differentiate Middle School Literacy Instruction (2012). She is currently conducting an empirical research study about structured ways to teach sentence writing. She is the author of multiple journal articles.