Regie Routman is an internationally respected teacher and author who speaks at major educational conferences and conducts full-day workshops for educators. Her current work and focus involves weeklong school residencies where she does daily demonstration teaching in classrooms, coaches teachers and principals, and facilitates ongoing professional conversations and whole-school change. An outgrowth of her residency work, primarily in high needs schools with underserved students, has been to organize a national conference on Urgency and School Change. The first conference took place in March 2011 in Seattle. (See urgencyandschoolchange.com).

Regie's teaching experience of more than forty years includes being a classroom teacher (for most of the elementary grades), a reading specialist, a learning disabilities tutor, a Reading Recovery teacher, a language arts resource and mentor teacher, a staff developer, and a literacy coach. Her books are widely acclaimed as providing a solid, research-based understanding of language learning along with a wealth of practical ideas and extensive, annotated resources. Because Regie writes in an honest, personal, and encouraging voice based on her daily experiences in classrooms, teachers find her books and ideas are easy to read, understand, and apply to their own teaching and learning.

Her latest work, Regie Routman in Residence (Heinemann 2008 and 2009) comprises three ground-breaking, video-based professional development projects for teachers, coaches, and leaders seeking to raise and sustain literacy achievement in their schools. The projects are: Transforming our Teaching through Writing for Audience and Purpose, Transforming our Teaching through Reading-Writing Connections, and Transforming our Teaching through Reading to Understand. For more information on these year-long job-embedded, flexible PD programs for schools or districts, visit www.regieroutman.com/inresidence

Regie's most recent book, Teaching Essentials: Expecting the Most and Getting the Best from Every Learner, K–8, (Heinemann 2008), includes the ideas and principles behind all effective teaching and learning and is the cornerstone book for the Regie Routman in Residence PD series Her companion books, Reading Essentials: The Specifics You Need to Teach Reading Well (Heinemann 2003) and Writing Essentials: Raising Expectations and Results While Simplifying Teaching (Heinemann 2005), were written to provide clarity, support, and specific demonstrations to educators so they can teach reading and writing in a manner consistent with research and learning theory as well as respectful of all students' needs, interests, and abilities. Reading Essentials and Writing Essentials are easy-to-read, highly practical texts that will help educators sort out what's most important in teaching reading and writing and put the joy back into teaching, too. Research-based, easy to apply, and respectful of teachers' busy lives, Regie's books provide lots of lesson plans, sample lessons in action, specific guidelines, suggested teacher language, teaching tips, and a DVD (with Writing Essentials) so you can see and hear examples of expert teaching.

Conversations: Strategies for Teaching, Learning, and Evaluating (Heinemann 2000) is a follow-up book to her now classic Invitations: Changing as Teachers and Learners K–12 (Heinemann 1991 and 1994). Conversations describes and demonstrates the theory and practice in a comprehensive literacy program and was written to help teachers become more effective and knowledgeable professionals.

Literacy at the Crossroads: Crucial Talk About Reading, Writing, and Other Teaching Dilemmas (Heinemann 1996) is a political book that was written to clarify issues in teaching and learning, offer specific suggestions, and provide impetus for change. Her first book, the ground-breaking Transitions: From Literature to Literacy (Heinemann 1988), has helped countless elementary teachers make the journey to literature-based teaching and more meaning-centered approaches.

Regie is also the author of Kids' Poems: Teaching Children to Love Writing Poetry (Scholastic 2000), separate volumes written for kindergarten, grade 1, grade 2, and grades 3–4 to inspire ease and joy, and immediate success in writing poetry.

Additionally, Regie sponsors a Teacher Recognition Grant through the International Reading Association. The annual $2500 award honors an outstanding elementary classroom teacher dedicated to improving the teaching and learning of reading and writing. At least 60% of the school's students must be eligible for free or reduced lunch. For complete information and an application, see www.reading.org/resources/awardsandgrants/teachers_routman.aspx

Regie Routman, through her workshops, conferences, books, and resources speaks, writes, and demonstrates on the following topics:

• Whole-School and District Change: Creating a schoolwide culture that promotes deep, lasting change for more meaningful and effective teaching and learning, instituting excellent coaching at the school and district level, effectively dealing with the politics of literacy, teaching as a highly knowledgeable profession (the importance of professional reading, collaboration with colleagues, ongoing professional development and conversations, understanding and dealing with the latest research including knowing how and when to question research), establishing teacher networks, communicating effectively with parents, being an advocate for best practices and taking a political stand, dealing with testing and standards, bonding with students, using an optimal learning model that makes sense, maximizing our time and using professional common sense, simplifying our teaching lives, and integrating assessment and high stakes testing into daily teaching.
• Teaching Reading: Bringing the joy back into teaching reading, raising expectations for all students, teaching to kids' needs regardless of the reading program in use, effectively teaching English language learners and struggling readers, connecting reading with writing to maximize achievement, knowing and applying current research, small-group guided reading (fiction and nonfiction), reading for deep understanding, teaching phonics and other necessary strategies, establishing and monitoring a classroom library and an independent reading program, shared reading and shared reading aloud, teaching comprehension sensibly and effectively, teaching how to do informal reading evaluations on books/texts students are reading, carefully matching all children with books, linking assessment with instruction throughout the day, embedding skills instruction in meaningful contexts, making management easier and more meaningful, and getting high test scores and preparing for high-stakes testing in a sensible and sane manner.
• Teaching Writing: Bringing the joy back into teaching writing, raising expectations and results for all students, teaching quality writing in real-world genres, effectively teaching English language learners and struggling writers, knowing and applying current research, connecting writing with reading across the curriculum throughout the day, journal writing, shared writing, poetry writing, writing with voice, writing with description and detail, revising and editing including teaching correct grammar and spelling, and holding students accountable, organizing the writing workshop including conducting effective conferences with students, embedding skills instruction in meaningful contexts, writing on demand, linking assessment with instruction throughout the day, creating useful, child-friendly rubrics, developing school-wide writing assessments, publishing student writing for varied and authentic audiences, and getting high test scores and preparing for high-stakes tests in a sensible and sane manner.

Announcing Regie’s New Column for IRA Members!

Regie has an exclusive new column for International Reading Association members called Simply Regie…. The quarterly column features take-to-the-classroom teaching strategies in Regie’s signature style: candid, approachable, and most of all, highly practical. The first installment, Must-Know Tips for Shared Writing, is available now in the Members-Only area of www.reading.org.

• April 14, 2012
  Oregon Reading Association
  New Teachers Conference: Creating Engaged and Independent Readers, Writers, and Thinkers
  Portland, OR (Concordia University)
  Opening keynote
• April 29–May 2, 2012
  International Reading Association Annual Conference
  Chicago, IL
  Featured speaker
• June 25 and 26, 2012
  National Literacy and Leadership Institute
  Madison, WI
  Keynotes and workshop sessions
• November 17, 2012
  National Council for the Social Studies Annual Conference
  Seattle, WA
  Keynote
• February 9, 2013
  Wisconsin Reading Association
  Milwaukee, WI
  Keynote/workshop