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!
Allaisia,
ReplyDeleteI really love how reflective you have been in these blogs. I too, have shared some of these frustrations that you are reflecting on. Particularly, I viewed writing conferences as personal too, and I didnt pay attention to the idea that students have so much to learn from "eavesdropping" on their peer's conferences. They are definitely teachable moments and can open up new kinds of understandings for our students.
Tenagne
Allaish! WOW! you learneddd so much through this reading, I am so happy that you are sharing every single thing that matter to you, and I cannot wait to hear how will you finally figure out how to develop it in your classroom. Compare to you, I feel like I am still giving primitive steps. So I would love to sit down and talk to you about how exactly you went of to do mini-lesson on conferring, and what writer's talk really looks like in your classroom.
ReplyDeleteThe "eavesdropping" comment was as illuminating for me, as you mentioned. I would sometimes ignore it when it happened, or tell the students to keep working on their stufff, but this really opened my eyes to see every moment as a valuable teaching moment and to be more careful and welcoming to these.
-Laura Arce