CHAPTERS 14 17 19

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.