Making Connections

                While reading the chapter on managing predictable distractions I was able to relate a lot to my experience in my field work. I like that this book makes situations very relatable to real life teaching scenarios. I agree that teachers should think in advance about possible issues that might take away from learning. It is our goal to teach children in an environment that promotes positive learning experiences so thinking in advance of ways to cut distractions is very smart and saves learning time in the long run. I have noticed that my teacher does a lot of the things that were discussed. For example she is constantly having conferences with students by moving around the room. I have noticed that if she is on one side and I am on the other children the children tend to stay on task because we are relatively close to all of them. Also students know that they can ask for assistance easily without having to leave their desks. My teacher allows students to sit where they want, as long as they are on task. The class doesn’t have room for a beanbag area but it does have two large tables that the students are allowed to work out if they want to have more room. Noise has been an issue in our class. My teacher is not as lenient as I would be however they do not have to be silent. I have noticed that a lot of the noise is created by students sharing their ideas and getting excited either to me or another class mate. A lot of the children will get excited and talk really loud. I am hesitant to tell them to quiet done when they are getting excited about something educational, but it does get loud sometimes. I think that having quiet zones is a very good idea, but our classroom is kind of small so I don’t know how well that would work. It seems like if it was used for punishment children might not enjoy writing as much, however I do agree that there is a noise level that is negative for those who are concentrating. My teacher is very good at managing transitions. She will usually begin the focus lesson on the carpet, and then allow working time at desks. The children come back to the carpet at the end and a lot of times she will share the work and allow the children to discuss and ask questions. I think having a closing is essential it allows children to talk and gives the children time to hear what their classmates are working on.

                I agree with the author that writing workshop kits are not simply quick recipe guides to the perfect lesson. It takes a lot more than what is simply said in the plan. However I do think they could be helpful in using as a general idea that can be modified. I think that there are some situations that students should have freedom of choice, but I do think that some guidance and suggestions for topics etc. should be given. I know I have had instances in my writing experience where I had no freedom and had to write specific things (I hated it). I also had experience with no structure where I found it very hard to write on “anything”.  Sometimes you just need something to give you that motivation or interest to write. In theory it sounds good to say “just write” but I defiantly appreciate a minimal amount of structure.  

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This Friday I was able to take part and observe in a lot of the practices that were discussed in the chapter titled Conferencing. During writing period my mentor teacher explained to me that she was going to meet with each child and individually help them work on their persuasive pieces that they have been developing. I observed her asking them questions about how their writing was going, and also asking them to explain their pieces to her. This was much like the “research” part of conferencing. She then would pick a mistake that the child seemed to have the most trouble with, ad help them learn how to correct it and why it was wrong. I realized through our reading that this  is the “deciding” part of conferencing. My teacher would write notes on the child’s paper while they were discussing and editing. The child would then use these notes to go back and change and edit their papers. I did not observe my teacher making a record that she was keeping, only one for the child to use for guidance. After I observed my teacher I was able to hold conferences with many children following her same procedure. In one case I worked with a child who was writing a lot, but kept repeating the same ideas. He and I went through his work and highlighted sentences that were repeated throughout the writing. When he saw how many times he repeated the same idea, I told him I would teach him a really cool way to organize his thoughts so that he wouldn’t repeat them. I taught him how to make a graphic organizer, and how he could have multiple ideas and add more details. He was really excited and it seemed to work out very well. I think this would fall under the “teaching” part of conferencing,

                While I was conferencing I was able to observe a really precious moment between two of my children. They were talking really loud and I was going to tell them to quiet down, but when I came to their desk I realized that they were editing each other’s work. I was so surprised when the excited boy said to me “Look Ms. Simons we can help each other!” I realized that such a supportive community could not be fostered if my teacher didn’t allow some type of healthy noise. If the children were told to write in silence something like this would have never happened.  

                I agreed with the way the author suggested to evaluate a writing piece. I have had so many bad experiences with teachers giving me a rubric that was so vague that I didn’t even know what was expected. Having a detailed rubric that allows students to evaluate multiple aspects of their writing is essential for them, because it allows them a chance to learn from their mistakes. It gives them a chance to grow and develop into their full potential.