Conferring with Students

Should be done daily in reading Should be done daily in writing What is the purpose?

Counterfeit Beliefs

If I meet with small groups, I don’t have to meet with individuals.

If I don’t meet with every child every day, I am not doing a good job .

I should do a running record every time I meet with a child.

I should talk about all the errors a student makes while he or she is with me.

Counterfeit Beliefs (continued)

I have to take an expert stance in each conference.

I need to focus on skills and fluency, comprehension comes later.

When I am talking to a child about his or her learning, I am conferencing.

I’ve tried conferring suggestions and they just don’t work.

Counterfeit Beliefs (continued)

I need to confer with every student the same number of times for the same amount of time each week.

I need to give the rest of the class something “to do” so they’ll stay busy and leave me alone so I can confer.

Conference Structure RIP Model

Review, Read Aloud, Record

Instruction, Insights, Intrigue

Plan, Progress, Purpose

Review, Read Aloud, Record

Consider learning from a previous conference or strategy instruction

Reader can read aloud a short portion of a text and discuss

Reader might answer teacher’s questions or ask one he is trying to figure out himself

Instruction, Insights, Intrigue

Reader shares his application of current thinking strategies he is using

Student will discuss specific wonderings you are having or he himself is having

Discuss something that you both noticed during the conference

Plan, Progress, Purpose

Reader shares what he will work on before you meet again

Reader might consider how a strategy might stretch him to better understand his own reading process

End with a discussion of purpose and leave the reader thinking about his next steps as a reader

Five Instructional Ashlars

Defining Trust, Respect, and Tone Strengthening Endurance & Stamina Discussing Purpose & Audience Exploring Gradual Release Model Focusing on Workshop Structure

Define Rigor, Inquiry & Intimacy

Cultivate Rigor

Teach the thinker and thinking Nurture Inquiry

Using meaningful, documentable data

Develop Intimacy

Commit to the idea all children can think at high levels

What emerges in a conference?

History Teaching Processes Records Experiences Rapport Goal Setting

Strategy Knowledge Listening Patterns Talk Challenges Instructional Points Our Own Learning

History

How does this conference compare with previous conferences?

Have any negatives transformed into positives over time?

What historical perspectives are being gleaned about the student as a reader?

Teaching

What is the student’s purpose? Who is the decision maker?

What does the student need from you at that moment?

What is one thing the student will leave the conference with and be able to apply immediately?

Processes

How does the student describe the act of reading?

How does the student describe his reading process or metacognition?

What does the student’s process say about his learning style?

Records

Who are the records for? What is the purpose?

How will your information you gather be used? How could it be used?

How will the records be shared with the student? How about others?

Experiences

How have conferring experiences changed over time?

What characteristics are gleaned about the student’s previous literacy experiences?

What reading experiences has the student found most rewarding?

Rapport

How do our conferences reflect our rapport with students?

How do conferences reflect our relationship between student and teacher?

What issues of trust need to be further explored or developed?

Goal Setting

What goals is the reader setting for himself?

What goals is the teacher setting for the reader?

What goals can be set for the entire class as a result of an individual conference?

Strategy Knowledge

How is the student explaining his use of thinking strategies?

How does the student explain his metacognitive process as it relates to a specific strategy?

What strategies are becoming engrained and applied? What is the proof?

Listening

Who does most of the talking? When should a teacher jump into the

conversation? How does the student explain his

thinking or understanding? What does the teacher hear?

Patterns

What instructional patterns are being seen in the conference?

What is the reader consistently showing the teacher about ways his reading is changing over time?

What growth patterns are noticeable?

Talk

What are the reading “words” or “sense of language” evident in the conference?

Who does most of the talking? How can we extend the talk from

individual conferences into the classroom?

Challenges

How do we handle conferences that slip away from our intended goals?

What outlets do we establish for conferees who struggle?

What challenges might we expect? What might we face when we confer

with students?

Instructional Points

What would help the student progress most efficaciously?

What would challenge the student to stretch his thinking?

What are the student’s next steps?

Our Own Learning

How does the conference impact the student’s learning beyond the conference?

What is student learning about his reading process while he’s talking to others about his reading process?

What is the student getting better at doing?

Conference Walk-Aways

Walk-Aways are tools or strategies used or discovered as students negotiate text and develop independence

What do students walk-away with after a conference?

What do you walk-away with as a teacher?

What is the rest of the class doing while I confer?

Developing stamina and endurance

Putting strategy work into practice

Conferring with peers or other adults as needed

Responding to reading experience in a reader’s or writer’s notebook

Improving vocabulary

Developing metacognitive skills

Building fluency Solving problems that

arise in their reading Evaluating book

choice Demonstrating wise

reading behaviors Maintaining long-term

thinking and depth