Jennifer Orr

Jennifer Orr has been an elementary school classroom teacher for more than two decades in Fairfax County, Virginia, teaching kindergartners through fifth graders. Her classroom is student-focused and often student-driven as she refuses to do anything for her students that they can do for themselves. 

Jennifer earned a B.A. in music from Mary Washington College and an M.A. in Social Foundations of Education from the University of Virginia. On occasion, she still brings her harp to school to share with her students and she brings music into the classroom regularly. 

She has been a National Board Certified Teacher for twenty years, a Teacher Consultant with the Northern Virginia Writing Project, and a frequent mentor to new and pre-service teachers. Over the years, she has realized that the more she is collaborating with and supporting other teachers, the more she is learning and growing. 

She writes and presents on topics ranging from academic conversations to technology use to writing authentically and more. Any topic on which she focuses ultimately comes back to students and their independence and personal and community development. 

Jennifer lives in northern Virginia with her college professor/administrator husband and their children, if they aren’t off at college at least.