Okay I know how's it going....now what? by Tenagne Turner

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.