Susan has just completed the book, Peer Coaching for Adolescent Writers, (Corwin Press - www.corwinpress.com), due for publication in the fall of 2009.  With a little luck, Peer Coaching for Young Writers will follow soon after.  See the Articles and Publicity tab for more about Susan and Peer Coaching for Adolescent Writers.  See the General Information tab to find out where you can take a free workshop, then go to the Blogs and Free Materials tab to upload free materials.  (Get a sneak peek at the upcoming book while you're in there!)

Susan Ruckdeschel began her career teaching in public schools.  With a heavy writing background in place (writing since the age of eight), she took her passion for the muse with her, manifesting in the pioneering of school writing programs, to include the Young Writers’ Club at the Glens Falls Middle School in Glens Falls, NY.  Her first position in 1990 to 1992 as Reading/English teacher in the Naples Central School District was the first “pilot” for student peer coaching.  But it was at the Glens Falls Middle School in Glens Falls, NY where Young Writers’ Club and the peer coaching model really took its roots, from 1992 to 1997, where the model quickly grew into classroom use and regional popularity.  Susan has organized and maintained the student peer coaching model in Gloversville Central School District, Norfolk Public Schools, Yonkers Public Schools, the City of Beacon  through the Howland Library, and other districts throughout the mid-Hudson Valley region.  She currently maintains student peer coaching workshops at the Howland Public Library in Beacon, NY, and Butterfield Library in Cold Spring, NY, teaching students in Dutchess, Putnam and Orange counties how to love writing more, write more and better through an empowered process of giving and receiving feedback.

While Susan completes doctoral work in education, she continues to teach graduate literacy courses, consult, lecture and present at conferences and universities throughout the country.  She has also directed programs to include English Language Arts, Academic Intervention Services, and English as a Second Language.  Now, consulting with districts throughout the United States, professional development workshops have included differentiated instruction, brain-based learning, student peer coaching, and formerly product training for Pearson Education and Houghton Mifflin.  Her own publications include numerous professional publications, opinion editorials throughout the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic, entertainment reviews, and lesson writing for www.readwritethink.org,  along with some poetry here and there.