I love the quotation:
"When I confer with you about your writing, you are more important than the writing."
I really think we need to think this way on everything. There's been so much stress with state assessments that I would hate being a kid. They need to know they are more important than the tests.
p. 206 "Always begin with something you notice that the child has done well."
p. 224 "Always start with a compliment....we have the power to encourage the writer for the whole year or destroy his desire and energy to write with one negative comment."
p. 225 "Note everything the writer has done well..."
I'm putting all of these as a reminder in my teacher folder.
This entire chapter validated that conferences are not 24 kids/24 conferences which I've always thought that it was. I am guilty of having a list on the board to see kids on a one on one for 5 minutes or so. I work and work on getting through the list but it never goes away when kids want to know how they're doing in their writing. I love going around the room and helping but I never saw that as the same as conferencing.
I also want to work on moving the writer forward. I will keep in mind that our goal is to have student monitor their own writing and problem solve independently so they can eventually draft, rewrite, revise publish and edit mostly on their own.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
8 comments:
I agree with her outlook that the kid is more important than the test or assignments. I liked all the reminders you added to start positive.
Thanks for saying that the child is more important than the assessment. Teachers with such philosophy can relate to students as "people" - - and I think that's the most important part of teaching!
That quote about the student being more important that their writing, is invaluable. And I agree with the need to keep this foremost for our students on a daily basis (and especially for assessments).
Yes, Yes, Yes! Thank you for pointing that statement out. As an upper grade teacher who has to give 3 state assessments. It is a daunting task. All I want to do is focus on my students and their individual needs. I want to get to know them as people and listen to them. Above all impact their lives. The only way to do that is focus on the child not the assessment.
Jera,
Actually, this chapter was just a reminder that Writing Workshop is a fabulous time to spend time with just one child at a time. What a wonderful way to make them feel even more special!
Jera,
I'm glad that you recognized and value the statement from pg. 6 that reminds us that we should always begin with something the student has done well in their writing. This was the first thing my writing trainer in KY taught us. It has stuck with me always.
I'm just impressed that you conference with each kid. How do you find time? And your kids are very lucky to have a teacher who finds time!
I too was relieved to read that you don't have to sit down with every kid and do a fix all in order for it to be considered a conference. This chapter helped ease my mind about conferencing.
Post a Comment