Twitter, slicing, paperwork... OH MY #SOL16 3/31

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Two Writing Teachers

Most people like to be busy, we like to be involved, and some of us thrive in the chaos!

Some of us think we thrive in chaos, but really, we are simply surviving.

I'm #NEW (only 50-some days left of that hashtag!) to my school and district.  I've taken on a few too many initiatives this month.  Then I added slicing and a twitter class.  Yup - rolling in the deep chaos.  I slipped and missed a bus request.  I apologized profusely, but it's still a slip.

In two weeks, we will have a schoolwide literacy night.  I have shared some of my vision with the staff, and they are completely on board.  Now I just need to convince the linear thinkers to help me make a project plan.... then we will be all set!

In the midst of all this busy-business, I had a pretty productive day at school.  One of our fave subs covered for my colleague.  He ran a few reading groups, and I had some precious time one-on-one with some first graders with high needs.  I could not be more at peace to see the steps and jumps of progress they are making.  

I tried to focus on doing one thing well today.  It worked with lots of support and a good system of piles.  Hahahahaha - you can always count on me for a decorated desk. 

My usual decorated desk.  On this day, a student REALLY needed me to bring a book.
 He used sticky notes to help me remember!

Conferring Part 3: Walk-Aways

I think this is the first professional book that I've read cover-to-cover and used a notebook to track my thinking.  WOW! I can thank all the people participating in the #cyberpd book club for helping me gain deep understanding from the book, Conferring: The Keystone of Reader's Workshop, by Patrick Allen.

Conferring Walk Aways
I wrote this quote from Patrick in my notebook today, "I hope I'm building the capacity for my students to think independently without me there guiding them (p. 157)."  AHA!  We are strong readers who need to teach our students to become thinkers, readers and writers.  Very few students can manage this on their own. I have always believed that my developing readers will eventually grow into stronger readers.  I know I can do a better job of moving them on the reading continuum if I commit to conferring with them.

I really liked the transcripts that Patrick shared in this chapter, especially his thinking bubbles.  These transcripts are the next best thing to being in his classroom (which would be a treat!).  I saw the difference ways Patrick nudges one reader, Jacob, and listens intently to another reader, Mikayla.  The "walk aways" I learned from this section are:  1) ask opened ended questions and listen to the answers with an open mind, 2) give nudges to readers ("conferring is teaching, not fault finding"), and 3) give children time to think.  Many children will use think time to develop deeper ideas, when we give them the time!

Conferring Ain't Easy... but it's worth it!
This statement is catchy and true!  It ain't easy to confer, but I think reading this book has made conferring
less of a mystery to me.  I plan to start with building a strong culture of reading and responding in our notebooks during each session with my groups.  We will build our stamina and our strategy learning s..l..o..w..l..y.  We will take time at the beginning of the year really focus in on why we're working together and what we need to do.  That hard work (if I can really stay focused!) will pay off during the year, as I confer with individual students.

I'm still trying to wrap my head around how this is all going to work in my little resource room, as I have 40 minutes of focused instruction time to respond to the different needs of each student.  Thankfully, I've had the benefit of learning with all of my #cyberpd tweeps, and I hope we'll bring our classroom conferring experiences back to the discussion table throughout the year.

"We need to get back in the business of knowing children, of knowing readers...They need time to develop as readers with us sitting alongside them, nudging them over the hurdles and celebrating their successes" (Allen, p.181)

* * * * 

Want to join in the Cyber PD? Check it out:

July 6th

Part I: What Brings About a Good Conference, Anyway?

Hosted by Cathy Mere at Reflect and Refine

July 13th

Part II: What Are the Essential Components of Conferring?

Hosted by Jill Fisch at My Primary Passion

July 20th

Part III. What Emerges from Our Reading Conferences?

Hosted by Laura Komos at Camp Read-A-Lot

July 21st:

Join us for the final conversation on Twitter using the hashtag #cyberPD.

Nuturing and listening to our reading "apprentices"

Our #cyberpd book club continued to read Conferring: The Keystone of Reader's Workshop by Patrick Allen.  This week's focus was on Part 2:  What Are the Essential Components of Conferring?

Shut Up and Listen
The most essential component jumped off of page 127 for me, "Being a good listener means we do have to 'shut up and listen' or how else will we know what we need to teach!"
As my 13-year-old would say, "DUH!"  As teachers we have a habit of talking all the time.  As I read more about conferring, I've come to realize that this is a time for our students to show us what they are working on.  The more years I spend in the classroom (and as a parent), the more I realize that time spent one-on-one with a child makes such a positive impact on their learning and their self-esteem. 

Our job, as strong readers, is to be a nurturing reading mentor to our students.  Patrick wrote, "Nurturing inquiry comes by sharing our experiences as readers and helping children uncover their own growth and needs and insights." 

Patrick wrote about his father, a bricklayer, in the book's introduction. My family is full of tradesmen - bricklayers, electricians and builders. They all learned their trade from a master when they were apprentices. I have come to see my students as reading apprentices as well. No matter their learning style, we need to show them (modeling, think aloud) and guide them on their decisions about text.

The RIP Model

This was an easy model for my brain to follow.  The model that Patrick recommends we use to confer with students is the way most people approach a conversation with a friend. 
R review, read aloud, record:  start out with what you talked about in your last  conversation.  Ask the student to read aloud from a text.  Record your thoughts.
I instruction, insights, intrigue: not only are you looking for a strategy you can reinforce, you are also looking for the student's insights into the text, and their questions.  (I love the word intrigue!)
P plan, progress, purpose:  The final part of the conversation is to find out their plans as a reader, see what progress they've made on goals they set at the last conference, and set a purpose for future reading.

Conferring Versus Collecting
Oh, boy, did this section ring true with me (you did notice "chaos" in the title of this blog, right!?).  I have tried everything to keep track of anecdotal notes in my classroom.  Patrick lists many ways (binders, index cards) and I've tried them all.  I think that Patrick's conferring form, following the RIP model, will be a great vehicle to try again.  I think I'll make 1" binders for each grade level that I work with (K-5), then put tabs for each student in the binder.  I've tried to store all my student data in one binder, but that got too bulky.  I'm always up for a trip to my favorite office supply store!

"When I sit with my child's teacher..."
On pages 138-139, Patrick poses the question, "How might we make note of what we see and what we've learned?"  He then writes about how we have become data collectors in order to prove our work is helping students improve.  That's fine, but Patrick points out that as a parent, he would prefer to hear from a teacher how his child is connecting with books.  He writes, "I want her teacher to say to me, 'Recently I sat down beside Lauryn and discovered...'  That is the data I want."
As a parent, I can't agree more.  I understand that my child is a dot on a graph, but I really want to know how she is connecting her learning in school to her life experiences. 
When we confer with students, we are giving them a chance to show their learning, and we are giving ourselves a chance to know them as individuals.  Only then can we begin to teach them.