It never crossed my mind to have a whole-class conference. I really like that idea, and think that would definitely work wonderfully for the beginning of the year to transition into conferences. It sets the expectation and creates an environment for the students to not only share, but learn how to help one another with suggestions for writing. Having the students reread their work before sharing is also a fantastic idea. When I had done this before, my students would hand me their work and I read it. I don't know why I didn't think to have them read their work to me. It would take longer, but if the students had reread their paper then it would be likely they had caught some errors which would save time for me. Also, I like the use of the "author's chair." I think it is a cute idea, but is it too elementary for sixth grade?My problem would be those students who are painfully shy that won't want to sit at the chair and read their paper aloud. If that were to happen, I think I would arrange for those students to share in a small group until they gained confidence in their writing.
The idea of doing a shared writing of what to expect when writing and conferencing is another great management technique. It would set the precedence of the guidelines and expectations for their writing behavior and conference etiquette. This would be a great time for students to ask questions, for the teacher to explain the different conferences, and emphasize that when the students want to meet one on one they must have given it their all. One of my biggest pet peeve'swas when a student would come up and expect me to do all their revisions. It was even worse when I made suggestions and the student took none of my suggestions and made absolutely no revisions. Hopefully that will diminish with the conference forms, which I like much more than what I have at school. There are some great resources in the book, has anyone found time to watch the DVD? I am a visual learner and think that I could really benefit from watching it.
Monday, June 27, 2011
Conferencing
Chapters eight and nine really sparked some ideas for my writer's workshop; there are several things that I would like to try in the fall. I like how these two chapters always start off with the problems that teachers are having with writing, especially this chapter with the questions of how to fit the conferences in and what to do with the other kids while you are conferencing? I tried having the one on one conferences, but was never able to get to every student, and found myself revising and editing. I eventually quit because I couldn't keep my eye on the troublemakers as well, and shifted to the "roving" conferences where I felt I had more control of my classroom. Class ran more smoothly, but I was not able to have the conversations with students like I had with the one on one conferences.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Comments by Jacinda:
ReplyDeleteI completely understand your frustration of not having enough time to conference with everyone in your class. I have problems with that too!
I want to find an author’s chair for my classroom. The Kindergarten teacher I work with has one in her room and the kids love it. They use it for sharing things, reading stories, and just for playing teacher. I think it would be a great addition to any classroom.
Leslie,
ReplyDeleteI feel the same frustrations when it comes to conferencing. I can't seem to meet with each student, but the idea with whole-group conferencing does seem intriguing. I wonder how it would work in a classroom.
I have an author's chair in my room, which is really just a big teacher chair that my students love to sit in. They adore sharing their writing. Even my less proficient writers love to share and the class really comes together as a community. I would encourage you to try an author's chair in your class!
A first grade teacher at our school gets a molded plastic yard chair and her husband cuts the legs down for first-grade height. The first time a child has a turn in the chair he or she signs it, and eventually it is signed all over, and then they have some kind of contest at the end of the year and somebody takes it home to be their reading chair. I think she gets them at discount at the end of the summer.
ReplyDelete