These couple chapters really shed light to so many of the questions I've had since reading the last couple chapters and our experiences in writing workshop in my classroom. It was nice to know that I wasn't the only teacher struggling with students who gave very empty responses to the question "How's it Going?" It was crucial for me to understand that students need to be consistently coached through writing conversations and that it is not going to just happen overnight. Prior to reading these chapters, I was getting frustrated with the conversations because I felt like they were getting off track and students were more focused on the content of their writing rather than their process as a writer.
Students have to be taught about their role in conferences. I really enjoyed reading about the modeled conference a teacher had with one student. The purpose was for the students, as viewers, to notice the conversation between the teacher and student. Students are able to get a better sense of the expectation of what goes on during writing conferences. This just goes back to the whole idea of the modeling expectations and how important it is for students to see what they are supposed to be doing.
I usually reserve the beginning of writing workshop for mini lessons that reflect a strategy that students should focus on during their independent writing. Using the mini-lessons as an opportunity for students to understand their role in conferences is a great idea and a great start to making sure that writing conferences are set up properly.
I took so much from these chapters but one thing that really stood out and is something I am going to make a copy of to keep in my writing workshop binder is the chart that describes the conversational strategies for helping students talk about their writing work. To be honest, sometimes I just don't know what to say and so these prompts are going to be really helpful in guiding the writing conversations in ways that are beneficial to the writer.
Moving forward, I think now it is important to take time to write goals for each of my students. In this way, I know their most pressing needs before we're engaged in a conference. This is another way to become more efficient with my time in a conference. It has been on my mind a lot to bring back the writing conference record forms and I know it will help to look back at previous teaching points and see if students are continuing to do those things as writers.
Sunday, November 17, 2013
November Conferencing-- How It's Going :) by Allaisia
These chapters were so full of good information and so on time, it's scary! I was able to pull several things that I think will really assist me with my writing conferences in some bug ways.
I could definitely relate to the frustration if those initial conferences where students don't quite know what to say or how to respond to being asked about their writing. I chalked this up as my students just needing time to get used to talking about their writing. I have to admit, though, that although they are more conversational than when we began, I still have several students who seem very passive about conferencing. It's so helpful to realize that mini-lessons that explicitly show kids how to take a more active role in conferencing are not only helpful, but necessary. It helps to know that the fact that we struggle with this is "normal."
I also really benefited from reading about writer's talk, and how it's important to praise kids for using it. I think just naming it will be so helpful for my students. They need to know that there is a certain way that writer's converse about their writing and that, while it's flexible, writer's talk does consist of some structure.
I have been ignoring my students' tendency to eavesdrop on writing conferences with other students. It kind of bugged me because I viewed writing conferences as personal and I wondered if having other kids listening made the student I was actually conferencing with nervous and contributed to the awkward silences. Before reading these chapters I had not considered using eavesdropping as teachable moments and I had definitely not considered inviting other students to listen in on the conversations! This was revelatory for me and I can't wait to start implementing this in my classroom.
I also really benefitted from reading about finding and using mentor texts. I have used mentor texts I. My classroom pretty consistently but I have often been unsure of how effective these texts have been for kids. I wonder how I should use them to guide students and I spend a lot of time wondering where to find them. I really appreciated the suggestions about widening our scope of resources. I hadn't thought to use magazine and newspaper clippings! When I think of mentor texts I think of books. And I hadn't realized how much I was limiting myself.
I'm so excited about the direction that my writing block is going in and I'm really looking forward to reading the rest of the book!
I could definitely relate to the frustration if those initial conferences where students don't quite know what to say or how to respond to being asked about their writing. I chalked this up as my students just needing time to get used to talking about their writing. I have to admit, though, that although they are more conversational than when we began, I still have several students who seem very passive about conferencing. It's so helpful to realize that mini-lessons that explicitly show kids how to take a more active role in conferencing are not only helpful, but necessary. It helps to know that the fact that we struggle with this is "normal."
I also really benefited from reading about writer's talk, and how it's important to praise kids for using it. I think just naming it will be so helpful for my students. They need to know that there is a certain way that writer's converse about their writing and that, while it's flexible, writer's talk does consist of some structure.
I have been ignoring my students' tendency to eavesdrop on writing conferences with other students. It kind of bugged me because I viewed writing conferences as personal and I wondered if having other kids listening made the student I was actually conferencing with nervous and contributed to the awkward silences. Before reading these chapters I had not considered using eavesdropping as teachable moments and I had definitely not considered inviting other students to listen in on the conversations! This was revelatory for me and I can't wait to start implementing this in my classroom.
I also really benefitted from reading about finding and using mentor texts. I have used mentor texts I. My classroom pretty consistently but I have often been unsure of how effective these texts have been for kids. I wonder how I should use them to guide students and I spend a lot of time wondering where to find them. I really appreciated the suggestions about widening our scope of resources. I hadn't thought to use magazine and newspaper clippings! When I think of mentor texts I think of books. And I hadn't realized how much I was limiting myself.
I'm so excited about the direction that my writing block is going in and I'm really looking forward to reading the rest of the book!
Friday, November 15, 2013
Gotta work on my matchmaking (Kelsey Ferguson)
My students are continuing to love writing! They are continually eager to write and work on their pieces. Often during writing block, I think back to the struggle that I constantly had with students last year as I tried to persuade them to complete writing prompt after writing prompt- often expressing to them that they needed to be ready for a test. What a mess that was! Having said that, while my students are loving writing, I still have a long way to go as a writing teacher. I often do not know how to teach the specific techniques that help my students to become better writers such as tone and writer's voice. I constantly feel stuck in guiding them to better their concrete strategies rather than helping them revise their writing. There are two things in these particular chapters that helped me think more deeply about my writing instruction and the parts that I need to and want to improve for my students - conversational strategies and mentor texts.
The chart outlining conversational strategies on page 97 provided a deeper view of what TYPES of conversations help with what STRATEGIES. I often struggle with writing conferences when they get stuck and I am often not sure how to guide the conversations from there. Different students are able to express on different levels and with different articulation. Having a pocket full of strategies to use in our conversations helps me to better understand what they need for me to say in order to have the most productive type of conversation.
I have noticed that most of my students want our conversations to be guided by what they are writing and not HOW they are writing. This is an important distinction that I do not always notice because I get as entranced in what they are writing as they do. Redirection allows me to validate their thoughts while still encouraging them to move away from content topics and into process. Taking a tour of their writing gives me time to peruse what they have been working on in class and use more pointed questions to help the conversations about their writing flow. I do use the "taking a tour" strategy often but the discussion of it helped me to understand its uses more fully. Finally, the conversational strategy of amplification will be extremely useful with my students in helping them understand how to use academic language. Being able to name what they are doing is extremely powerful for them. When my students are able to talk about figurative language and why its uses help our writing to become more effective or methods of structuring their writing, they are able to set themselves up for success as writers as they move out of my classroom and into middle school.
The chapter "Matchmaker, Matchmaker" really struck me. I have come to a much better understanding of mentor texts and the importance of students having them over the last year but this brought it into a whole new light for me. The idea of my students having text sets that outline different authors and a mentor texts on the strategy that they are working on at all times actually blew my mind a little bit. It changes the way that I think about mini-lessons and the way that I choose mentor texts. As the book discussed, we should have a set of about 25 culturally relevant texts that cross an array of writing strategies to support our students' writing process. This chapter made me want to get more familiar with more literature that could be useful for my students. It also pushed me to come to better understanding of what it means to help a child develop a writer's voice and tone and strategies for compelling their readers to continue. For me, so much of that is intangible and therefore, more difficult to teach and more difficult for me to wrap my brain around.
Since these things are so intangible, the importance of having mentor texts becomes increasingly important. Here, students are able to SEE the strategy in use and make it their own to use in their writing. Just like teachers do not need to recreate the wheel, neither do my students as writers. They can take what is already there and formulate it to fit their style, their topic, and their writing while simultaneously working to enhance their pieces. I want to focus more on the use of mentor texts in my writing block moving forward. Their use for my students is invaluable in improving the more intangible skills of writing.
The chart outlining conversational strategies on page 97 provided a deeper view of what TYPES of conversations help with what STRATEGIES. I often struggle with writing conferences when they get stuck and I am often not sure how to guide the conversations from there. Different students are able to express on different levels and with different articulation. Having a pocket full of strategies to use in our conversations helps me to better understand what they need for me to say in order to have the most productive type of conversation.
I have noticed that most of my students want our conversations to be guided by what they are writing and not HOW they are writing. This is an important distinction that I do not always notice because I get as entranced in what they are writing as they do. Redirection allows me to validate their thoughts while still encouraging them to move away from content topics and into process. Taking a tour of their writing gives me time to peruse what they have been working on in class and use more pointed questions to help the conversations about their writing flow. I do use the "taking a tour" strategy often but the discussion of it helped me to understand its uses more fully. Finally, the conversational strategy of amplification will be extremely useful with my students in helping them understand how to use academic language. Being able to name what they are doing is extremely powerful for them. When my students are able to talk about figurative language and why its uses help our writing to become more effective or methods of structuring their writing, they are able to set themselves up for success as writers as they move out of my classroom and into middle school.
The chapter "Matchmaker, Matchmaker" really struck me. I have come to a much better understanding of mentor texts and the importance of students having them over the last year but this brought it into a whole new light for me. The idea of my students having text sets that outline different authors and a mentor texts on the strategy that they are working on at all times actually blew my mind a little bit. It changes the way that I think about mini-lessons and the way that I choose mentor texts. As the book discussed, we should have a set of about 25 culturally relevant texts that cross an array of writing strategies to support our students' writing process. This chapter made me want to get more familiar with more literature that could be useful for my students. It also pushed me to come to better understanding of what it means to help a child develop a writer's voice and tone and strategies for compelling their readers to continue. For me, so much of that is intangible and therefore, more difficult to teach and more difficult for me to wrap my brain around.
Since these things are so intangible, the importance of having mentor texts becomes increasingly important. Here, students are able to SEE the strategy in use and make it their own to use in their writing. Just like teachers do not need to recreate the wheel, neither do my students as writers. They can take what is already there and formulate it to fit their style, their topic, and their writing while simultaneously working to enhance their pieces. I want to focus more on the use of mentor texts in my writing block moving forward. Their use for my students is invaluable in improving the more intangible skills of writing.
November writing! Margaret
These chapters provided a lot of needed information for me. I really enjoyed reflecting on the use of mentor texts and my mini lessons. I have already found that creating a common language in a classroom is pivotal in helping create a space for the right conversations to happen. I need to make sure I am modeling and explicitly talking about a writer's language! By doing this, my students and I will be able to have more fruitful conferences. I also think that by having this common language and my other students observing each other's conferences will help each writer grow. I have found that students often take a lot of their tips from other students while I am complementing their choices as a writer.
I really enjoyed reflecting on the use of mentor texts and my mini lessons.I also have found that mini lessons on mentor texts can happen all the time! Sometimes some of my kids most interesting questions during a read aloud can serve as a mentor text. For example, if a student asks why pictures in a book are in black and white, I can use that as a time to talk about a choice the author made. Anderson made a lot of points about mentor texts that cemented them in my mind as a great tool to use for especially our earliest writers.
Additionally, am I putting my students first during conferences? I usually have them come to my table but that isn't putting them first and is also putting all the power in my teaching station! Dr. Fisher taught us a lot about positiionality in a classroom and I am choosing what is easiest for me over what's best to make a comfortable writing space. I feel like after reading these chapters I am especially ready to have my kids writing anywhere they want in the room. I can move around and meet them to conference. I am excited to put these points into action right before our break!
After reading the two chapters I found that most of the information were strategies that pointed me in directions that I can use in my classroom.. One is how to have relaxed conversations with students during conferencing. One quote that really stuck out to me was "If we identify the conditions that enables them to learn how to participate in various conversations, we can then make sure those conditions exist in our classrooms" (p.82). If I focus on having relaxed conversations with students instead of trying to tackle their writing so quickly I believe my writing conferences will be a lot better and students will share more. I also thought going out to the classroom to confer was really great idea. I always visioned conferencing at a quiet table in the back of the room away from everyone else and sitting down and talking to one child for a good 5 mins or so. However, I believe for my students going around the classroom and doing quick check- ins with students will work best. My students are really busy and they are not overly excited about writing. Therefore, I think conferencing with them a little quicker and stopping by their desks will be a great way for us to connect and I can get a good sense of how they are feeling about their writing.
Some of the conversational strategies that Anderson mentions have squared my thinking and I currently use with my students. For example, redirection and show and describe are some that utilize regularly with their writing. However, I like some other strategies that are mentioned that I believe I will try with my students. For example, providing suggestive options for students who sometimes struggle with discussing their work. I also like amplification strategy of pointing out what students are doing well with in their work. I believe this will give them confidence in their writing and encourage them to try different techniques.
I realize that I also need to expose my students to more mentor text. I've never thought about allowing my students to have writing mentors. I really love the strategies on pages 130-131 to start building a collection of mentor texts. Strategies that I believe can work well in my room are: involving kids in finding great texts (this will help involve student interest) and asking the media specialist for support. Luckily we have a wonderful media specialist who is always willing to help and I think she will be a great resource.
This book has been really helpful in that I learned how to help my students become better writers. Some of them are still struggling with enjoying writing but I know it's a process that with time they will progress and learn to enjoy it more if I continue to support them and provide them with the resources they need.
Some of the conversational strategies that Anderson mentions have squared my thinking and I currently use with my students. For example, redirection and show and describe are some that utilize regularly with their writing. However, I like some other strategies that are mentioned that I believe I will try with my students. For example, providing suggestive options for students who sometimes struggle with discussing their work. I also like amplification strategy of pointing out what students are doing well with in their work. I believe this will give them confidence in their writing and encourage them to try different techniques.
I realize that I also need to expose my students to more mentor text. I've never thought about allowing my students to have writing mentors. I really love the strategies on pages 130-131 to start building a collection of mentor texts. Strategies that I believe can work well in my room are: involving kids in finding great texts (this will help involve student interest) and asking the media specialist for support. Luckily we have a wonderful media specialist who is always willing to help and I think she will be a great resource.
This book has been really helpful in that I learned how to help my students become better writers. Some of them are still struggling with enjoying writing but I know it's a process that with time they will progress and learn to enjoy it more if I continue to support them and provide them with the resources they need.
Next Steps - Kelsey Mitman
These chapters were really helpful and made me think about my writer's conferences in a very different light. Since I do not teach writing it is not expected of me to necessarily conference with my students and therefore it is not something I have necessarily done a lot of in the past. My team teacher who does teach reading and writing is awesome about taking the time to actually have meaningful conferences and conversations with my students about their writing and how it is coming along. When I read How's It Going I came across a quote on page 82 that said "first we need to immerse them in conference conversation at every opportunity." I never thought about this until I read this quote and realized that I can conference with them about their math or science writing simply by saying hey how's it going and hearing what they have to say. We do writing in math and science all the time and we talk about different ways to become better mathematicians and scientists and how our writing can express this - this is what writing conferences are all about. Our students are only going to live up to the expectations that we set for them. If we don't expect them to be master writers who are aiming to be published then they will never writer like master writers who deserve to be published. It is our job to help them realize their potential at all times in all subject areas through writing.
I realized that I ask the question "How's it going" a lot with my students and I think that with just a little more focus and direction that phrase can really do a lot of great things for my students in terms of their writing. I also think that when students are able to hear the feedback being given to other students (eavesdropping) that a lot of good can actually come from that. Think-pair-shares are great for if not other reason than it gives students a starting point and a place to begin thinking about things without the individual pressure - eavesdropping on conferences and hearing advice being given to other students in my opinion is the same thing.
I want to really focus on celebrating those students when I see the writing of scientists or mathematicians and really use that wording to help others who are struggling with it. I also realized that I need to do more referring back to previous things, especially previous connections and writing that have been done. This is their own work and we should really celebrate and build from what they have already done rather than thinking we have to start from scratch each time. I also realized that this is a great way to look at my morning work time. Instead of giving them a different prompt each day, I can give them a prompt or paper for the week and use that as a way for them to edit and revise and conference throughout the week.
The last thing that I really took away was the idea of writing mentors and having students use partners to really help their writing. I remember doing this in school when I was younger but have definitely not given my students the opportunity to really do it in my classroom this year. We talk all the time about CGI and math and how important it is for students to confer after they have solved a problem so it only makes sense that it would be just as important for their writing aspect as well. I am excited to really focus more on what I am doing and how I can take that and apply it in an even more focused manner
I realized that I ask the question "How's it going" a lot with my students and I think that with just a little more focus and direction that phrase can really do a lot of great things for my students in terms of their writing. I also think that when students are able to hear the feedback being given to other students (eavesdropping) that a lot of good can actually come from that. Think-pair-shares are great for if not other reason than it gives students a starting point and a place to begin thinking about things without the individual pressure - eavesdropping on conferences and hearing advice being given to other students in my opinion is the same thing.
I want to really focus on celebrating those students when I see the writing of scientists or mathematicians and really use that wording to help others who are struggling with it. I also realized that I need to do more referring back to previous things, especially previous connections and writing that have been done. This is their own work and we should really celebrate and build from what they have already done rather than thinking we have to start from scratch each time. I also realized that this is a great way to look at my morning work time. Instead of giving them a different prompt each day, I can give them a prompt or paper for the week and use that as a way for them to edit and revise and conference throughout the week.
The last thing that I really took away was the idea of writing mentors and having students use partners to really help their writing. I remember doing this in school when I was younger but have definitely not given my students the opportunity to really do it in my classroom this year. We talk all the time about CGI and math and how important it is for students to confer after they have solved a problem so it only makes sense that it would be just as important for their writing aspect as well. I am excited to really focus more on what I am doing and how I can take that and apply it in an even more focused manner
Thursday, November 14, 2013
Making Connections
By Joy Harrison
Because of schedule changes (testing, International Week, etc.) I haven't been conferring much with my writers, so my writing conferences honestly haven't been on the forefront of my mind lately. Therefore, when I read Chapters 3-4, I was really glad that I had the opportunity to think and learn more about conducting successful writing conferences. My conferences have become so irregular and I have not been able to confer with enough writers in one day or week. The inconsistency in our schedule will not help my writers grow and therefore I have unfortunately seen a lack of steady growth in many of my writers. Reading these chapters helped me refocus and think about how I am going to do things differently so that writing conferences are always a part of our day, no matter the irregularities.
In Chapter 3, I was really grateful for the practical tips that Anderson gave through his snapshot of the logistics around conducting a writing conference. I felt particularly convicted about his discussion of the teacher's positionality (Dr. Fisher word!) when conferring with students. To be honest, I have immensely enjoyed sitting down at my teacher's table and having some private time with my writers, but I know that it's not the best idea if I'm thinking about the power dynamics. I am also not as able to have as many writing conferences when I'm calling students over to my table. So when I start conferring again (next week!), I will make sure to move around the room, confer with writers in a shorter amount of time, and give other students the opportunity to "eavesdrop" on other people's conferences (p. 85). I also thought it was a great idea to have fishbowl conferences, just like I have done with my book clubs. My fishbowl book clubs have been very successful and I think that students learning from other students is super powerful.
There were a few other salient topics in Chapter 3 that particularly stood out to me. Anderson discussed the importance of "writers' talk" because that will help students in conferences when they have to share what they are doing as a writer. On page 86, Anderson explains the importance of modeling in our mini-lessons how we expect our students to talk in their conferences. This seems like a fairly obvious point to make, but I realized that I have not intentionally thought about this and therefore I don't think that I have been explicitly modeling the language that I expect to hear from them. This is something that I do a lot more naturally in my read alouds -- it has become something that is almost ingrained in me that I am modeling how I want them to talk to each other in book clubs. So in theory, it shouldn't be too hard to start doing this in my writing instruction -- I just have to start doing it!
When I read Chapter 4, I was forced to reflect upon how much of a novice I am when it comes to mentor texts. I did not truly start using mentor texts until the end of last year, and even then, I never felt completely successful at integrating them into my lessons. Even this year as I have tried to incorporate more mentor texts into my writing mini-lessons, I feel as though there is a disconnect between the mentor text and my writers. As teachers I don't think that we do a good job at teaching students to read as a writer, and I have personally experienced how tough it is to train students to read something with a writer's eye. Anderson talks a little bit about the inexperience of some students who have never used mentor texts to guide them in their writing: "A student may not realize that there is, in fact, a text the class has already looked at that might give her ideas for how she might craft her writing. A student may feel the texts the class has read and studied don't address the craft issues she's grappling with, and maybe unsure of where to find another text that does. Or the student may not realize the benefits of having a writing mentor" (122). To my knowledge, there is only one girl in my class who has ever talked about a mentor text when discussing her writing. I think that the majority of my students have never thought about how the books they read are written by authors. They don't naturally think about the process that goes behind the story -- instead they just focus on the end product, the story. Also, one of the reasons that my kids don't connect well with authors is because they seem out of reach -- to my students, the authors aren't writers who are going through the same process as them (prewrite, draft, revise, edit, publish). My students don't realize that what they're doing every day in Writer's Workshop is what real authors do on a regular basis. I think my job is to help them make that connection so that the process of becoming a good writer is demystified.
Because of schedule changes (testing, International Week, etc.) I haven't been conferring much with my writers, so my writing conferences honestly haven't been on the forefront of my mind lately. Therefore, when I read Chapters 3-4, I was really glad that I had the opportunity to think and learn more about conducting successful writing conferences. My conferences have become so irregular and I have not been able to confer with enough writers in one day or week. The inconsistency in our schedule will not help my writers grow and therefore I have unfortunately seen a lack of steady growth in many of my writers. Reading these chapters helped me refocus and think about how I am going to do things differently so that writing conferences are always a part of our day, no matter the irregularities.
In Chapter 3, I was really grateful for the practical tips that Anderson gave through his snapshot of the logistics around conducting a writing conference. I felt particularly convicted about his discussion of the teacher's positionality (Dr. Fisher word!) when conferring with students. To be honest, I have immensely enjoyed sitting down at my teacher's table and having some private time with my writers, but I know that it's not the best idea if I'm thinking about the power dynamics. I am also not as able to have as many writing conferences when I'm calling students over to my table. So when I start conferring again (next week!), I will make sure to move around the room, confer with writers in a shorter amount of time, and give other students the opportunity to "eavesdrop" on other people's conferences (p. 85). I also thought it was a great idea to have fishbowl conferences, just like I have done with my book clubs. My fishbowl book clubs have been very successful and I think that students learning from other students is super powerful.
There were a few other salient topics in Chapter 3 that particularly stood out to me. Anderson discussed the importance of "writers' talk" because that will help students in conferences when they have to share what they are doing as a writer. On page 86, Anderson explains the importance of modeling in our mini-lessons how we expect our students to talk in their conferences. This seems like a fairly obvious point to make, but I realized that I have not intentionally thought about this and therefore I don't think that I have been explicitly modeling the language that I expect to hear from them. This is something that I do a lot more naturally in my read alouds -- it has become something that is almost ingrained in me that I am modeling how I want them to talk to each other in book clubs. So in theory, it shouldn't be too hard to start doing this in my writing instruction -- I just have to start doing it!
When I read Chapter 4, I was forced to reflect upon how much of a novice I am when it comes to mentor texts. I did not truly start using mentor texts until the end of last year, and even then, I never felt completely successful at integrating them into my lessons. Even this year as I have tried to incorporate more mentor texts into my writing mini-lessons, I feel as though there is a disconnect between the mentor text and my writers. As teachers I don't think that we do a good job at teaching students to read as a writer, and I have personally experienced how tough it is to train students to read something with a writer's eye. Anderson talks a little bit about the inexperience of some students who have never used mentor texts to guide them in their writing: "A student may not realize that there is, in fact, a text the class has already looked at that might give her ideas for how she might craft her writing. A student may feel the texts the class has read and studied don't address the craft issues she's grappling with, and maybe unsure of where to find another text that does. Or the student may not realize the benefits of having a writing mentor" (122). To my knowledge, there is only one girl in my class who has ever talked about a mentor text when discussing her writing. I think that the majority of my students have never thought about how the books they read are written by authors. They don't naturally think about the process that goes behind the story -- instead they just focus on the end product, the story. Also, one of the reasons that my kids don't connect well with authors is because they seem out of reach -- to my students, the authors aren't writers who are going through the same process as them (prewrite, draft, revise, edit, publish). My students don't realize that what they're doing every day in Writer's Workshop is what real authors do on a regular basis. I think my job is to help them make that connection so that the process of becoming a good writer is demystified.
Monday, November 11, 2013
Conferences as Conversations
I felt like my writing instruction last year was very cyclical. I would have a period of a few weeks when we were solid writers; I felt like my writing instruction was planned and focused. Then I would have a few weeks where it wasn't focused- we would kind of just be writing. I think that a lot of this has to do with the fact that my conferences weren't strong. "How's It Going?" shares that conferences really drive the writing instruction. Last year, I really found that I was doing what Anderson references on pg. 8- I was getting mesmerized by what students were writing about. I found that I always had endless questions about their story and they loved talking about them. But more often than not, I just didn't have conferences. I felt like I didn't know what to do so honestly avoided it all together. I would have informal ones but wouldn't have an agenda set like I should.
I think one point of chapter one that is helpful for me is that both the teacher and the student need to have identified roles and we should each know what they are. Having conversations with my kids about what writing conferences are and what I expect from them and what they should expect from me will not only help the structure of the workshop but also help keep me accountable for meeting with them.
This year so far, my writing conferences haven't moved past rehearsal conferences. I do have kids that are ready for drafting, revision and editing conferences, however. I honestly just never thought that first graders were writing to publish. EEK! I know. That's awful. I thought they always just would sit down to write a new piece each day or add on to another one. I feel like having a new end goal of always publishing will be incredible to help my kids get excited about writing and sharing their work.
I think that these chapters more so helped me rethink my mindset about my workshop. I never thought about my end goal for writing therefore my kids never really had in mind what we were working towards. I always have kept author's share as a special point in every day of my workshop but left it as that. I am excited to share these new goals with my students!
I think one point of chapter one that is helpful for me is that both the teacher and the student need to have identified roles and we should each know what they are. Having conversations with my kids about what writing conferences are and what I expect from them and what they should expect from me will not only help the structure of the workshop but also help keep me accountable for meeting with them.
This year so far, my writing conferences haven't moved past rehearsal conferences. I do have kids that are ready for drafting, revision and editing conferences, however. I honestly just never thought that first graders were writing to publish. EEK! I know. That's awful. I thought they always just would sit down to write a new piece each day or add on to another one. I feel like having a new end goal of always publishing will be incredible to help my kids get excited about writing and sharing their work.
I think that these chapters more so helped me rethink my mindset about my workshop. I never thought about my end goal for writing therefore my kids never really had in mind what we were working towards. I always have kept author's share as a special point in every day of my workshop but left it as that. I am excited to share these new goals with my students!
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