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What drives conferences is not standards. Student learning is the driver of our conferences with students beginning with wanting to have and sustain healthy and trusting relationships with each child. So, in addition to the Standards-based Checklists I shared, utilize your Conference Record Notes and other check listing systems to focus on the whole child. Very importantly for every conference, think about "What do I need to learn about this student?" to focus your conference conversations.  This question will help you discern the best way and tool to gather the information you most need right now in knowing each of your students deeply.  From what we learn about our students, we can then make responsive, relevant, and compelling teaching decisions.  

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What drives conferences is not standards. Student learning is the driver of our conferences with students beginning with wanting to have and sustain healthy and trusting relationships with each child. So, in addition to the Standards-based Checklists I shared, utilize your Conference Record Notes and other check listing systems to focus on the whole child. Very importantly for every conference, think about "What do I need to learn about this student?" to focus your conference conversations.  This question will help you discern the best way and tool to gather the information you most need right now in knowing each of your students deeply.  From what we learn about our students, we can then make responsive, relevant, and compelling teaching decisions.  

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Research-Decide-Teach Conference

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These also include follow-up notes for learning and teaching based on my conference record notes evaluations of students' growth and development (from a book I co-authored, Standards and assessment: The Core of Quality Instruction (2011).

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CONFERRING Coaching Growing Readers and Writers LB (2)

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Reading Conference with Bella

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Conference with Bella (from Patrick Allen: What Are You Thinking? Conferring in Reader's Workshop)

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www.stenhouse.com/0880.asp Have you ever wanted to sit down beside a master teacher and see how he or she confers? In this DVD, join Patrick Allen, author of Conferring: The Keystone to Reader's Workshop, as he confers with nine different students over the course of two days.

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Writing Conferences

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Reading Conference with a Student Who Really Doesn't Like to Read

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Interviewed by Penny Kittle

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Penny interviews Donald Graves for Inside Writing

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A Learning Conference

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by Sarah J. Donovan, PhD on October 22, 2017

The first quarter of seventh grade has ended. Final grades are due. Students are checking the portal, comparing grades, bartering with teachers for a few more points to bump up this grade or that.

I don't want to talk about grades, but it is part of school culture. I've written about what I call " the ghosts of gradings past " and how so much of our learning mindset is wrapped up in past grading experiences. So, I am trying ways to change the evaluation process by including learning conversations around the mandatory grading periods. In this post, I share a few of those conversations.

The end of a term should be, in my view, a time to celebrate learning, reflect on growth, and give thanks, so I set aside a couple days at the end of the quarter to talk to students one-on-one and try to do all of "that" (celebrate, reflect, and give thanks) in under five minutes. It may seem like an inconsequently length of time, but I think it makes all the difference in our learning relationships.

Prior to conferences, students prepare portfolios in the form of parent-letters and portfolios. I read, view, and listen to these culminating projects throughout the last week of the quarter, and then on the last day of our term, I begin class by asking students to journal for about ten minutes on any or all of these questions:

Then, students work on an alternate project- silent reading, blogging, research, or even writing a novel-while I meet with students one-on-one for our conference. In the three videos offered here with parent permission, I follow a similar format. We talk about their reflection; we decide on a final grade; and I thank them for their contributions to our learning community. Each student offers something unique to our class, and the conference is an opportunity for me to share my observations and gratitude.

Students tell me that they struggled to find time to read but figured out a routine that worked for them. They tell me they are noticing authorial choices in the books they read. They tell me they are learning how to make their stories come alive. They tell me they are writing because they love it and not because it's an assignment. They tell me that they know they are writers because their classmates laugh at their stories, compliment their word choice, and ask them to write a sequel.

A conference should be a conversation to uncover how students see themselves as readers and writer through and beyond the artifacts or evidence. I want insight into their thinking and self-perception, and I want to share with them what I am learning about who they are and are becoming as readers, writers, and class members so that we can build on those experiences.

Below are two more learning conferences. The first minute or so are the most important for me as a teacher. The next two minutes, I do more talking than I'd like, but I think the last 30 seconds may be the most important to students because it's when I tell students how fortunate I feel to be their teacher. For many, this is the first time they've heard a teacher express such gratitude.

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by Sarah J. Donovan, PhD on October 22, 2017 The first quarter of seventh grade has ended. Final grades are due. Students are checking the portal, comparing grades, bartering with teachers for a few more points to bump up this grade or that. I don't want to talk about grades, but it is part of school culture.

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Videos from Columbia University's Teachers College

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Writing Workshop Videos - Shareable Version

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Teaching and Assessing Understanding of Text Structures Across Grades

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Teaching and Assessing Understanding of Text Structures Across Grades

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Boushey & Moser www.thedailycafe.com

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Dr. Bonnie Campbell Hill

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Education Closet

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Using the Conferring Technique to Nudge Students to Success

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Classroom Management Using the Conferring Technique to Nudge Students to Success 6 Min Read * Student Engagement If you're a teacher, "having conversations with kids" is probably something you are an expert at doing. Personally, sometimes it's

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Conferring: The Heart of the Workshop

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Carl Anderson writes: Conferring is not the icing on the cake; it is the cake. Conferring truly is the sweet spot of all that we do.

It is through conferring that we build community with our students; conferring affords us the opportunity to reach into every single reader and writer in our classrooms. Conferring is not just an add-on. It is a critical component of our work in classrooms. But, this is the part of the workshop that is hard for teachers. We often don't know the questions to ask our students.

Conferring: A Conversation

Instead of thinking about the right or wrong questions to ask learners, perhaps we should think about conferring as a conversation. Lucy Calkins tells about working with a group of teachers one day. She read aloud a story written by a child: My grandfather was sick. He went to the hospital. He died. He went to God. Then, she asked the participants how they would confer with that student. Some of the questions they suggested asking were: What would you add to your story? What did the hospital look like? Finally one teacher raised hand from the back of room and said, I am probably wrong, but I think I would just hug the child and say I am sorry about your grandfather.

A Framework for Conversation

In order to help us think about conferring as a conversation rather than a question and answer session, the consultants shared with us a framework for every conference we might engage in with students. The architecture they suggest is:

Someone in the audience suggested that this structure would work for every single conversation we have with children. Listen to what the child has to say; think about what is most important to praise them for and help them with; teach them one thing that is new and give them a way to try it out. We were reminded that the focus should be on the bigger, more global instructional issues-not event-specific tasks. Teach a child a strategy for spelling unknown words; don't teach her how to spell a specific word.

We should keep in mind Donald Murray's wise words when we enter into a conference with a student:

How should we respond to a look, a piece of blackberry pie, a kiss, a death in the family, a joke, to the sneaky warm of the winter sun when it touches a hand? As a human being. There can be no way-no single, correct, preconceived way-for one human being in the dynamic, ever-changing context of a human interaction to respond to another human being.

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Conferring: The Heart of the Work | Center for the Collaborative Classroom

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Carl Anderson writes: Conferring is not the icing on the cake; it is the cake. Conferring truly is the sweet spot of all that we do. It is through conferring that we build community with our students; conferring affords us the opportunity to reach into every single reader and writer in our classrooms. Conferring is not just ...

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Katie Wood Ray ~ Conferring: The Essential Teaching Act

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Katie Wood Ray ~ Conferring: The Essential Teaching Act

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Wondrous Words: Writers and Writing in the Elementary Classroom

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Making Conferring Manageable

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The following has been adapted from Jennifer Serravallo's forthcoming book A Teacher's Guide to Reading Conferences.

When you confer, you tailor your instruction to each student's strengths and needs. But you do so much more than that. Conferring is where the magic happens. It's the heartbeat of the literacy block. Conferring blurs the lines between teacher and student; you become a researcher as you learn about your students, and they learn from you (Morrell 2012; Freire 1998).

Conferring helps teachers do the important work of seeing the rich and beautiful variety of individual students in the classroom, and to honor and cherish where each student is with their learning (Paley 2000). When you work one-on-one or in small groups with students, it allows you to value each child's language and literacy practices, and their own literacy development (Ladson-Billings 2009; Souto-Manning and Martell 2016). In reading conferences, you give a student or group of students your undivided attention, and develop strong relationships with them.

There are a variety of types of individual and small-group conferences, each with a unique structure and purpose and consistent student and teacher roles. During conferences, students are expected to self-reflect, show what they've learned, ask for support, and practice strategies. Teachers offer new strategies or support for ones still being practiced, give feedback, and guide readers.

Where Do We Find Time for Conferring?

When you're conferring with your student or group of students, what is the rest of the class doing? The short answer? Reading. Sure, you could keep the rest of the class busy with other literacy-related activities while you confer, but the most meaningful (and enjoyable!) thing students can be doing is engaging with texts of their own choosing. Instead of spending time at the Xerox machine running off worksheets or spending countless hours creating materials for centers, get books in students' hands and let them read. Once students are set up with books, comfortable reading spots, and uninterrupted time, you can be free to pull small groups and/or to work with students one-on-one.

In A Teacher's Guide to Reading Conferences, Jen recommends trying to check in with each of your students and support their individual reading goals twice a week, somehow. It could be in a small group and a conference, two small groups, two conferences. A good model to start with for a class of twenty-five students is trying to meet with ten students a day (25 kids x 2 times a week = 50 kids a week ÷ 5 days in a week = 10 students a day).

With this ten-a-day aim in mind (adjusted for class size) you'll be able to build students' stamina and set them up to read and practice their strategies independently for a sustained block of time, all in a time-efficient and student-centered approach.

...
Learn more about A Teacher's Guide to Reading Conferences and place your pre-order at Heinemann.com

Follow us on Instagram @heinemannpub to stay up to date on the latest books, your favorite authors, and upcoming events

Jennifer Serravallois the author of New York Times bestsellerThe Reading Strategies Book as well as other popular Heinemann titles, including The Writing Strategies Book; Teaching Reading in Small Groups; Conferring with Readers; and The Literacy Teacher's Playbook, Grades K-2 and Grades 3-6. Her newest book is Understanding Texts & Readers. She is also the author of the On-Demand Course Teaching Reading in Small Groups: Matching Methods to Purposes where you can watch dozens of videos of Jen teaching in real classrooms and engage with other educators in a self-guided course.

Jen began her career in education as a teacher in Title I schools in NYC and later joined the Teachers College Reading and Writing Project at Columbia University. Through TCRWP and now as an independent consultant, she has spent over a decade helping teachers across the country to create literacy classrooms where students are joyfully engaged and the the instruction is meaningfully individualized to students' goals.

Jen holds a BA from Vassar College and an MA from Teachers College, where she has also taught graduate and undergraduate classes on urban education reform and children's literature.

Learn more about Jen and her work at www.jenniferserravallo.com, or connect with her at@jserravallo

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The following has been adapted from Jennifer Serravallo's forthcoming book A Teacher's Guide to Reading Conferences. When you confer, you tailor your instruction to each student's strengths and needs. But you do so much more than that. Conferring is where the magic happens. It's the heartbeat of the literacy block.

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4 Ways to Take Conferring Notes Like a Pro

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4 Ways to Take Conferring Notes Like a Pro

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Gravity Goldberg & Renee Houser

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When we meet with our students to talk about reading, there are hundreds of questions we could ask. But rapid-fire questions from us could leave our students wondering if perhaps we've had too much caffeine. Instead, we want to get super streamlined, and focus on a single purpose. By being clear on our goals for students, note-taking becomes purposeful and powerful. The following are 4 favorite strategies for using conferring notes that will yield the richest information for your follow-up teaching. Check out our FB Live on the topic right here, too.

1. Know what you are looking for.

In a unit of study I taught recently, the sole goal was to really understand characters so that we could become more empathic in our everyday lives. Mini-lessons, discussions, and book choices were all connected back to that main focus. So, as I conferred and listened to students' discussions, my notes pertained to the degree to which individual readers and the collective whole of the class were thinking about characters' complexity, conflict, and growth. The upshot? The more you know what you are looking for, the tighter your conferring is, and the more your notes to help with your next day's instruction.

2. Use categories and checklists.

Rather than go into a conference with every possible teaching option in mind, it helps to create checklists with categories of what you are trying to uncover about your student readers. This is not about forcing students into a checkbox. It's just a more simplified note-taking system that allows you to look for patterns, trends, and gaps in students' thinking.

As you can see in this sample clipboard checklist, there are six behaviors we are looking for related to students' reading notebook entries.The first five are precisely what we have modeled in mini-lessons. When we confer, we are seeing how well readers have "caught" our teaching-and we are also reflecting on the effectiveness of our own recent teaching. The "other" box? It's an important nod to the fact that whenever we kid-watch, we want to look for and record whatever else comes up about the student as a person, reader, and learner. We encourage students to create their own reading notebook entries and make space for their unique ways of reading and thinking.

3. Read notes before and after meeting with a student.

The more prepared we are when meeting students, the less anxious we are going to feel, and the more students will take from these precious moments with us. As you take notes in the midst of a conference, be sure to include details specific to that particular meeting, which you might bring up at your next meeting with that same student. In other words, conferring notes are there to help you plan instruction, sure, but they are worth their weight in gold in terms of helping each student feel seen and heard. Good, specific notes help you string together a series of conferences that build upon the previous. When you begin a conference by saying, "Last time we met we talked about..." it shows student readers you are picking up where you last left off.

4. Plan tomorrow's lesson based on today's learning.

When we read our notes, notice patterns, and identify students' current thinking, we have all the information we need for responsive teaching. Rather than paging through teacher manuals, searching online, or playing what feels like Pin the Tail on the Donkey by guessing what your students need next, you can use what you already uncovered about your student readers to hit the mark. We do most of our planning for tomorrow's teaching in the moment of sitting with our students in conferences. Right after a conference, jot down what the reader would benefit from learning next. This saves us time and energy by making our instructional decisions as close to our students as possible.

Become a pro at conferences by taking our four tips into your own classroom. Know what you are looking for, use checklists and categories to take notes, read your notes before and after the next conference, and use today's learning for tomorrow's teaching.

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4 Ways to Use Conferring Notes Like a Pro - We Are Teachers

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When we meet with our students to talk about reading, there are hundreds of questions we could ask. But rapid-fire questions from us could leave our students wondering if perhaps we've had too much caffeine. Instead, we want to get super streamlined, and focus on a single purpose.

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Guiding Student Learning Through Conferences

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Guiding Student Learning Through Conferences

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Teaching Channel

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Discussion and Supporting Materials

Thought starters

1. What is Mr. Knutson's role in the conferences?

2. What types of questions does Mr. Knutson ask his students?

3. How could you adapt this conference process for your own classroom?

School Details

Horning Middle School
2000 Wolf Road
Waukesha WI 53186

Data Provided By:

Teachers

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Guiding Student Learning Through Conferences

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Enjoy your first video for free. Subscribe for unlimited access. Have questions about subscribing? Click Here to learn more. Enjoy your first video for free. Subscribe for unlimited access. Have questions about subscribing? Click Here to learn more. What is Mr. Knutson's role in the conferences?

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An Overview of Conferring

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*For the Math Classroom and Other Content Areas

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How is it going? Those four little words can be one of the best questions you ask your students each day.

As educators we are always looking for the best resources, strategies and lessons to use when teaching our students. But I can tell you one thing that we often overlook is conferring. In my classroom, I conferred with students daily on their reading, writing and math. Conferring with our students can be beneficial for many reasons and can easily become a part of your classroom routine too.

Conferring is simply having a discussion with your students to exchange ideas and gather input from them about their own learning. It can be used in reading, math, writing or with any other content area. Conferring can help build community and positive relationships with your students, as well as give you and the students insight into how they learn best.

During a conference you can offer differentiated instruction as you monitor each student's individual growth, provide him or her with specific feedback and set goals for improvement. Conferring is also useful in helping you plan instruction for your students.

How do you confer with a student?
For an effective conferring session - or conference - start with the location. You can go to the individual student where he or she is already working. Sit beside the student one-to-one to show your attention is focused on the individual. This is a great set up for sharing books or materials. It makes for a more relaxed discussion and allows you to really listen to what the student shares.

Listening during the conference is key. You may ask the student a question to get started, but leave it very open ended. I find it best to simply ask "How is it going?" and then give him or her time to answer. As I listen, I focus on what the student is telling me and make simple notes, but at the same time I stay focused on the conversation.

I honestly don't know the second comment or question I will ask in a conference because it is specific to what the student shared. This can make it very difficult in knowing how to continue a conference once you begin, so here is some advice "listen, think, teach, try."

I found these words in an article by Isabel Sawyer, a regional director at the Center for the Collaborative Classroom. Sawyer said, "Listen to what the child has to say; think about what is most important to praise them for and help them with; teach them one thing that is new and give them a way to try it out." In other words, there is no way to predict what you will say or teach in a conference because it is based on the student's needs.

What do you teach during the conference?
Think about how you can best use the conference to meet the needs of each student. During a conference you may hear several things you want to discuss or teach the student, however, only focus on one. Decide on the one strategy or skill that will be most beneficial or effective to him or her. Maybe the student needs to practice decoding words, drawing out mathematical thinking or adding dialogue to their writing. Keeping the conference focused on one teaching moment will help the student feel focused and not overwhelmed.

How long should a conference be and how often should they occur?
A typical conference should be about 5 to 7 minutes long. I know it doesn't seem like much time, but those few minutes can have great rewards. Keep in mind that you won't be able to sit down with every student every day. With planning, however, you can reach many students each day and throughout the week.

I kept a list of my students and recorded who I had conferred with and when. Each day I would have a goal of reaching out to three to four students; sometimes I would get in more and sometimes less. But for those I was able to reach, the time was well spent.

How do you keep documentation during conferences?
You can use a binder, notebook, clipboard or even technology. Just make sure that you have a place where you can record each student's conference notes. I used a binder for each subject that was divided by the students in my class. Each section had several sheets for me to record the student's progress, my teaching and the goal or next steps.

In reading, I carried the binder with me from student to student. However, in math I found it more useful to carry a clipboard with a single sheet for the whole class and a few sheets for individual students. On the whole class sheet I could record notes about each student and where they were in the lesson. On the other sheets, I could record specific notes about each pair of students who were working together that I conferred with too. The key is to do what works for you and your students.

So, how is it going? Has your interest in conferring been piqued?

Even if you aren't able to commit the time for conferring with students every day, try giving it some time each week. The more you are willing to try, the easier it will get. Remember that those four little words - how is it going - can help you get to your ultimate goal of improved student learning.
Belinda Furman is beginning her first year as the curriculum specialist at Mason-Corinth Elementary School (Grant County). She is in her 18th year at Grant County Schools. She taught last year at Sherman Elementary as a 2nd-grade teacher and her first 16 years at Dry Ridge Elementary. Furman earned her bachelor's degree from Northern Kentucky University, her master's degree in instructional leadership from Eastern Kentucky University and achieved her Rank 1 through National Board certification. She is the 2018 Kentucky Elementary Teacher of the Year.

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How is it going? Those four little words can be one of the best questions you ask your students each day. As educators we are always looking for the best resources, strategies and lessons to use when teaching our students. But I can tell you one thing that we often overlook is conferring.

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Smore

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Conferring is not just for writing. Conferring is a high-impact instructional move that you can use to move student learning forward in math.

Many teachers had the opportunity to hear Carl Anderson speak about conferring with student writers. The power of conferring is not limited to writing instruction. It is a powerful tool for teachers in all subjects. Here is how this tool can be used in your mathematical community to address the needs of individual students and have a high impact on learning.
Why confer in math?

It's targeted - focused on one math goal of content or practice.

It's individualized and differentiated.

It creates the timely opportunity to immediately impact student learning.

What is a math conference?

It is a conversation about math.

The point is to help students become better thinkers about about math.

The math conference has a predictable structure, similar to writing.

In the math conference teachers and students have predictable roles, as with writing.

It's an opportunity to meet individual students at the edge of their understanding and move their learning forward.

1. Ask a question. The question you ask will help you discover what the student is doing and understanding about the math. The question may lead you to a discovery of deeper understanding that needs to be fostered or a misunderstanding that needs to be addressed. You might find the student understands the procedure, but not the math concept. You may discover the student doesn't understand that what they are doing fits into a larger picture of the concept. Let the student have the opportunity to tell you what they know, need, or don't understand. This is powerful in helping all students develop self-efficacy for learning. See a list below of questions to get you started.

2. Assess understanding. Use the conversation to assess the student's edge of understanding. It's an opportunity to discover the student's ability to model and explain the math. Getting a right answer is necessary, but not sufficient.

3. Teach for improvement. The goal of a conference is to move a student's understanding forward in math. This takes explicit teaching. Just as Anderson suggested, cue the student that you are about to start teaching by saying, "There's something I want to teach you today..." Then, name the strategy you are teaching. Next, explain the strategy including what it is and why it is important to learn. how to do it. Give examples and use the strategy, Now, let the student try the strategy. All students learn by doing. End the conference reminding the student to use this strategy when faced with similar math.

4. Document the work. Create a simple system to record conferences. This will help you track student progress, give feedback, and direct your instruction. The information may give guidance to creating flexible groupings for small group instruction or partnering students to maximize learning.

When do I have conferences with students?

How do you have a math conference?

Anytime students are working independently in math. A conference can take place in 5 minutes or less, but have a powerful impact on learning. If you confer with 4-5 students a day, you can connect with most students each week, giving feedback and individual instruction.

Questions to Get the Math Conference Started

Tell me about the problem you are solving.

What are you working on?

How can you model that?

What strategy are you using to solve?

What do you know about this problem?

What other math does this make you think of?

What do you do when you get stuck?

How will this work help you answer the essential question?

What patterns do you notice?

What is another strategy that will allow you to solve?

Is there a more efficient strategy? (a quicker way)

Have you found a possible rule?

What is the problem asking?

Does this make sense, and how do you know?

What is confusing?

How can I help you?

Why did you choose this strategy?

What kind of errors have you made?

What can you do to correct your errors?

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Many teachers had the opportunity to hear Carl Anderson speak about conferring with student writers. The power of conferring is not limited to writing instruction. It is a powerful tool for teachers in all subjects. Here is how this tool can be used in your mathematical community to address the needs of individual students and have a high impact on learning.

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twowritingteachers.org

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Posts about conferring written by Lanny Ball, Kathleen Neagle Sokolowski, Stacey Shubitz, guestteacher, Elizabeth Moore, Anna Gratz Cockerille, Lisa Keeler, Betsy Hubbard, Dana Murphy, and Deb Frazier

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The Power of Student Conferencing

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If we want to empower students to own the assessment process, we need to incorporate meaningful self-assessment and peer assessment into our lessons. However, students still need guidance from their teachers. This is why I love five-minute conferences. Unlike a deep dive tutoring session or a longer conversation, these 5-minute conversations provide a quick opportunity to guide reflection, provide feedback, discuss the mastery of standards, or simply do a pulse check. In this article, I share strategies for implementing a five-minute student conferencing system.

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The Five-Minute Conference

When I teach our lesson planning and assessment courses, I make it a goal to have two 5-minute conferences with each student over a period of six classes. Note that it's easier when the classes are in person but it still works well via Zoom. We just have to get a little more creative with the process. While ten minutes of one-on-one conferencing might not seem like a big deal, it's often the very thing that students mention in course evaluations. In other words, it matters to my students.

I actually began this conferencing process about fifteen or sixteen years ago and it's one of my favorite ways to engage in meaningful feedback.

During these conferences, students are empowered to ask questions about their work and to reflect on both the product and the process. They are able to navigate how they are doing and what they need to do to improve. This can help build metacognition.

My goal is for students to know the following:

What they know

What they don't know

What they need to know

What next steps they need to take

Where they can get help (including help from me)

When teachers use these short conferences, assessment moves from a teacher-directed monologue into a back-and-forth dialogue. As this occurs, teachers get the chance to know the students on a more personal level. This allows for a better approach to differentiated instruction. But it also increases engagement. Research has demonstrate that the teacher-student relationship plays a vital role in student engagement. Students feel known on a deeper level, which then increases trust. This, in turn, leads to a higher level of student self-efficacy and helps prevent discipline issues. But it's more than that. In my own experience as a middle school teacher, it was a chance to get to know quieter students. I experienced this firsthand. Before doing one-on-one conferencing, I accidentally ignored some of the quiet kids who were doing just fine in class. The five-minute conferences helped guarantee that I met with each student every week. It was a safety net for a student who might slip through the cracks.

Meanwhile, this saved me time. Every conference was essentially a chance for ongoing formative assessment. As a result, I spent less time grading (especially leaving feedback on student work). Meanwhile, it allowed me to thrive as an introverted teacher. I need this time one-on-one with students because the large crowd can feel exhausting. As an introvert, I could recharge while meeting one-on-one with students.

The Four Types of Conferences

The following are the four types of conferences I use with students:

Advice Conference: This conference is all about learning specific skills that students are missing. Each student must ask the teacher a series of questions based upon an area where he or she is struggling. This is a chance for targeted one-on-one attention and explicit help with a strategy. Students guide the process, tapping into the teacher's expertise. This has the added bonus of encouraging students to embrace the idea that mistakes as a part of the learning process. It sets up a classroom culture where every student must be humble enough to admit that they are still struggling in some area of reading.

Reflection Conferences: Instead of telling students what to do, the goal is to draw out student reflection. The teacher uses a series of reflective questions to lead students through the process of metacognition and into the setting and monitoring of goals. As the year progresses, the teacher asks fewer follow-up questions and the students begin sharing how they are doing without the aid of pre-chosen questions.

Mastery Conference: Unlike the reflection conference, the focus here is less about reflecting on the process and more about students judging their own mastery of the content. We use the Standards-Based Assessment Grid as a way to figure out the level of mastery on particular standards.

Pulse check: This is an informal conference in which the teacher simply checks in to see how a student is doing. This is the most open-ended of the conferences and does not require a particular protocol. These are ideal when a student is suddenly missing work or seeming to struggle. However, they can also be helpful in general just to see how students are doing. Students might talk about how they feel about the class and the subject or their group members. Often, a teacher guides students on reflecting around SEL components, like empathy, awareness, communication, etc.

The Logistics: When and How to Run These

The following are some of the questions you might have about running a conferencing system:
Do you meet with every student?
When I taught middle school departmentalized (one subject), I had a goal of meeting with each student every other week. When I taught self-contained (all subjects), I met with every student every week. I often scheduled 1-3 conferences per day with students who needed additional support. Ultimately, you know your students the best and you can devise a system that works for you.
When do you run these conferences?
Find the best moments where kids can be talking to each other while working independently. This allows for the class to work at a buzzing, not-too-loud noise level while I talk to students individually. It might be during a warm-up, during independent practice, or during extended project times. You might excuse a student from the exit slip at the end of a class period and do a quick pulse check meeting. As you start running conferences, you'll start noticing those little moments when conferencing makes sense.
How do you find the time for this?
If you want to meet with each student each week, you'll need to plan out five or six mini-conferences per class period each class period. Each conference lasts about 5 minutes. If you teach self-contained (all day), you might aim for one short conference each hour. In a class of twenty-five, that would be a meeting with each student each week. Here's a snapshot of one week. Note that I taught students in a 75-minute block, so 25 minutes still allowed for plenty of time devoted to direct instruction, small workshops, helping groups, etc.

While that's ideal, you might teach larger classes or you might have shorter class periods (around 45-60 minutes). In this case, you might aim for three conferences per class period and meet with each student every other week.

It helps to give students specific days when they know they will have a conference. This allows students to feel prepared ahead of time. Over time, it becomes a habit. A student knows that Wednesday is her day. Still, you might put a schedule up on your board or in the area where you hold your conferences. If you're really on top of it, you could schedule reminder emails to your students. Confession: I was never that organized or proactive. I kept a schedule on the wall but then called students over by saying their name aloud.
What's the best location?
Every teacher is different. Some love to pull students over to the kidney-shaped table and lean in while they talk. This allows the teacher to still see the entire class. Others might walk over and sit next to a student at their desk or table. When I taught middle school, I had a spot in front of the board that worked as a standing center. I could look out at the class and stand directly next to the student in the conference. We shared a laptop computer screen and we were side by side chatting. It comes down to whatever allows you to feel comfortable while still monitoring the rest of the class.
What do you prepare ahead of time?
Students don't like to feel caught off guard and sometimes the phrase, "Can I see you up front?" leads to a panic. This is why it helps to explain the conferencing purpose and process. Students should know that it's not disciplinary and it won't be graded. They should also know ahead of time when they will meet with the teacher. You might provide optional handouts for students to use. These can function as a blueprint for the process. The pulse check option doesn't require a handout but you might use an emoji chart answering "How am I feeling?" or you might give a student a survey ahead of time. This gives you something to discuss when you meet together.

Get the System for Free

It's funny how much can be accomplished with a simple five-minute conversation. It can be a chance to guide students in self-reflection, help provide needed advice, or work provide a chance to review mastery of standards. This is why I tend to schedule short, five-minute conferences with students in each class period. If you're interested in the Five-Minute Conferencing System, you can download it by filling out this form below:

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If we want to empower students to own the assessment process, we need to incorporate meaningful self-assessment and peer assessment into our lessons. However, students still need guidance from their teachers. This is why I

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Conferring: The Keystone of Reading Workshop

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In his workshops with teachers over the years, Patrick Allen has encountered a long list of "counterfeit beliefs" about the process of conferring with students, including such comments as: "I don't have time. I don't know what questions to ask, It's too hard, I don't know what to write in my notes, I don't even take notes, I don't know how to go deep. . ." In Conferring: The Keystone of Reader's Workshop, Allen argues that the benefits of conferring are well-worth the effort of learning to do it well. And then he sets out to show teachers how to overcome all of their perceived obstacles, and make the somewhat intangible aspect of conferring tangible.

Just as the keystone-a symmetrical, wedge-shaped stone at the center of an arch-forms the foundation of a structure, conferring lays the groundwork for effective reading instruction. Allen defines the word confer as a verb "meaning to consult together, compare opinions, or carry on a conversation." Conferences with students are purposeful conversations that scaffold reading comprehension strategies that guide the reader's progress, and ultimately, through the gradual release of responsibility, create independent readers.

Allen begins by explaining what conferring is and what it's not, and then unpacks the essential components of the process: intimacy (the social context of conferring); rigor (the cognitive context); and inquiry (the analytical context). He explores the guiding principles of conferring-including goal setting, instruction points, listening, rapport, challenges, and teacher learning-and provides questions that lead teachers through the reader's conference from start to finish.

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conferring: the keystone of reader's workshop

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education / teaching methods & materials / reading & phonics

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teaching methods & materials - reading & phonics

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workshop; student conferences; independent reading; conferring; goal setting; listening; teacher learning

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education / teaching methods & materials / reading & phonics

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teaching methods & materials - reading & phonics

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Conferring: The Keystone of Reader's Workshop

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Buy Conferring: The Keystone of Reader's Workshop: Read Kindle Store Reviews - Amazon.com

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We Teach NYC

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Return to the WeTeachNYC homepage to search for the resource by entering keywords or the resource name into the search bar. Visit the Instructional Leadership Framework page for ILF resources and ILF Webinars. Search the Library for Science Scope and Sequence resources, Social Studies Scope and Sequence resources, and more!

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Effective 5-7 Minute Conferences

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By Jennifer Serravallo
In the Reading and Writing Strategies Facebook Group, a member recently posted this question:
I started conferring this week and I can't seem to keep the conferences to the recommended 5-7 minutes. What tips and tricks have you implemented to help you keep your conferring times down to the recommended time? I would set a timer, but I feel like it would be disrespectful to the student that I am with...Any suggestions would be appreciated. -Jenny H.
I promised Jenny and others who expressed an interest that the question deserved a whole blog post....so here it is!

It's hard to argue with the power of conferring: individualized instruction where teachers provide meaningful targeted feedback to each student. But to ensure that all children benefit - and that each student can have regular reading conferences with you - it's important to keep them focused and to be mindful of your time.

Here are my tips for being time-efficient while not sacrificing impact or feeling rushed. (Click images to enlarge.)

Tip #1: Stick to a structure

When you know how you want the conference to go, it's easier to adapt, adjust, and be responsive within the conference. I recommend the Research-Compliment-Teach (R-C-T) structure, something I learned from Lucy Calkins almost two decades ago that I still use today. I spend about a minute researching or checking in to see how the student is doing, then I decide on one thing to compliment and one thing to teach. Next I compliment in a sentence or two, reinforcing a strategy the child is already using.

Then I teach by offering a step-by-step strategy and supporting the student as they have a try. Finally, I link to their independent work with a quick reminder of what we worked on, leaving the student with a simple visual reminder. You might even keep these steps in front of you on a table tent as you work!

Tip #2: Don't open too many cans of worms

During the research phase of the conference, it can be tempting to ask a lot of questions, look at all the artifacts (Post-its, notebook entries, etc.) that the student has produced since the last time you met, and get into the weeds. It can be overwhelming to get so much information because it makes it harder to focus and choose what to teach. It also makes the conference feel less like a conversation, and more like you're grilling the student.

Instead, begin the conference with the student's goal in mind. Research only connected to that goal. For example, if the student is working on improving fluency, then just have them read aloud. If the student is working on better understanding the plot, then ask them to retell.

Tip #3: Keep skill progressions in mind

Conferences are most impactful when they are focused on a student's goal. Though the goal is something the student cannot yet do, there is a progression of skills within the goal. The best targeted teaching leans on what a student can already do (where they are on the progression of skills) and nudges them toward deeper work. For example, if a student is working on a goal of understanding text features, the progression might look something like this:

If you determine the student is able to offer multiple details from the feature, you might think, "What's just a little more than what they are doing now?" and help the child with a strategy to connect the information from the feature to the information in the rest of the text.

In doing so, you've based a teaching opportunity on a strength. You're working within the child's zone of proximal development. Doing so boosts a student's confidence and makes it more likely that the child will be able to approximate in the few minutes they have with you, and continue independently when you move on to another child.

Tip #4: Teach one thing

Teachable moments abound in every moment of the teaching day, and conference time is no exception. It's inevitable that you'll be in the midst of teaching a student about improving fluency by noticing mid-sentence punctuation when they get stuck on a word. You might be tempted to switch gears and teach a decoding strategy. In most cases, my advice is to stay focused on the one thing you taught, make note of what else you noticed, and plan to support what else the student needs in a subsequent conference.

© Serravallo, 2019. A Teacher's Guide to Reading Conferences

Tip #5 Don't model (or if you do, keep it short)

I used to do a lot of modeling/demonstrating in conferences and would spend two or more of my five minutes doing a lot of talking, showing, and telling. My experience tells me that in a one-on-one situation, it's just as effective (and much more efficient) to get the student to just try what you want them to do and give them coaching and feedback as they work. No demonstration needed.

So now, I always try that first-I just tell the step-by-step strategy, and get the student to practice while I coach. If the student needs a quick example or demo, I'll do it only after I've given them a chance and they show me they need more support. And even then it's short-just one quick example.

Tip #6 Let it go

Conferences are an opportunity to give the student some supported practice. It's ok to leave before the student masters what you've taught. Like with piano lessons where the teacher leaves when time's up even if the piece isn't perfected, in conferences we need to move on to other students and trust that there is value and potential for progress in the independent practice time in between each session.

Leave the student with a sticky note or book mark to remind them of what you worked on (just as a piano teacher leaves sheet music with marginal notes) and plan to see them a few days later.

Tip #7 Confer in groups when more than one student needs the same strategy

As you set goals with students and see them regularly, you'll start to notice patterns in your class. "Hey, these three are all working on retelling the plot of simple chapter books" you might notice, or "These two are both trying to infer character feelings." It makes great sense, then, to pull students together to save time.

In a small group conference (AKA "strategy lesson") you can start by telling the children why you've pulled them together, offer a strategy that everyone will practice on their own, and move around the group coaching and giving feedback one-on-one. These small group conferences last about the same amount of time as individual conferences, but you can work with two or three children at a time.

Learning to use less time...takes time!

Just as your students need to practice strategies to work toward their goals, you'll likely find that getting your conferences focused and short will take time, too. Be as patient with yourself as you are with your students. Work on one of these tips one at a time, reflect, improve!
Read Rita Platt's review of
A Teacher's Guide to Reading Conferences
Jennifer Serravallo is a literacy consultant, author, and speaker and the author of several popular titles including the NY Times Bestselling The Reading Strategies Book and The Writing Strategies Book. Her newest professional books include Understanding Texts & Readers and A Teacher's Guide to Reading Conferences, Grades K-8.

Jennifer was a Senior Staff Developer at the Teachers College Reading and Writing Project and taught in NYC public schools. Find her on Twitter @jserravallo, Instagram @jenniferserravallo, or the web at www.jenniferserravallo.com, and join the Reading and Writing Strategies Facebook Group to have your questions answered.
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Jen Serravallo: Effective 5- to 7-Minute Reading Conferences

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Literacy expert Jen Serravallo shares seven reading conference tips to help teachers be efficient with their time without sacrificing impact or feeling rushed.

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Learning in the Primary Pond

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A writing conference, like any type of one-on-one instruction, can be truly powerful.

It gives us an opportunity to pause and really notice what a child is doing. We see where they are with their writing. We better understand how they feel about writing.

And it also gives us a chance to provide just-right instruction. Because we all know that what we teach in whole group or even small group just can't reach all of our students every single day.

I've always valued one-on-one writing conferences. But actually making them happen has been a challenge for me.

Before I became a literacy specialist, I taught grades Pre-K through 2nd. And I spent most of that time teaching Kindergarten. I struggled with questions like these:

How many students should I confer with each day?

How often should I meet with my struggling writers?

What should happen during a conference?

How will I know what to teach during a conference?

How do I get my kids to work independently so that I can stop putting out fires and actually have time to confer?

In this post, I'll share my own answers to all of these questions, as well as what I've learned from some outstanding professional development books (see my references section for some good reads). My answers may not provide perfect solutions for you, but I hope that they will at least get you thinking about what might work in your own classroom.
Photo Credit: Monkey Business Images, Shutterstock

How many students should I confer with each day?

You should confer with all of your students every single day.

.......JUST KIDDING! 🙂

Unless you have about 5 kids in your class, you will make yourself crazy if you try to meet with all of your students every day! I know that I couldn't possibly have meaningful conversations if I tried to meet with every child just for the sake of doing so.

Instead, I select just a few students to confer with each day.

I do try to have a "touch point" with most students throughout the day's workshop - but that can be by calling on them during a minilesson, smiling and making eye contact during independent writing time, "calling them out" for good behavior/good writing, flashing a quick "thumbs up," having them share with the class during sharing time, and so on.

I want every child to feel "noticed" - but that doesn't have to be through a writing conference.

But back to the original question - how many students should we confer with each day? I wish I could give you a solid number, but that answer is "it depends."

It depends on:

How long your independent writing time is each day

How many small groups you're meeting with that day

Where you are in the school year

If you are launching a unit, in the middle of a unit, or finishing up a unit

A "typical" conference usually lasts 4-5 minutes for me. (Use a timer! This has really helped me stay on track during conferences!)

If your independent writing time is about 25 minutes long, then you might get through 4, maybe 5 students each day.

But then there's the consideration of small groups. Although I love individual writing conferences, small group instruction can be a more efficient way of meeting students' needs (more on small groups in next week's blog post). So you might have fewer individual conferences because you spend some of your time teaching a small group.

You also have to think about where you are in your school year. At the beginning of the school year (especially in Kinder), I get through very few writing conferences each day. For the first couple of weeks, I don't do writing conferences at all. And after a long holiday break, I scale back the number of conferences I conduct so that I can get kids re-settled in their routines.

Last, the number of conferences you'll conduct will also depend upon where you are in a particular unit. If you use my writing units, then you know that I like to give kids more guidance in getting started at the very beginning of the unit. We move through the processes of brainstorming and drafting in a more uniform way at the very beginning.

During that first part of the unit, I do briefer "check in" conferences to make sure that everyone is on the right track. It's not a good use of my time to help only 4-5 students if the other 15-20 are floundering! For the first couple of days that we're working in a new unit or genre, I usually forego my typical conferences so that I can check in with a greater number of students.

As students get the hang of things (and are all working on different pieces, and are at different places in the writing process), I go back to my usual number of conferences and small groups.

But when we're ready to wrap up a unit, the balance shifts again. Kids may need help getting their writing polished up for publication, so I do more check-ins than true conferences. (This only lasts for a day or two).

So....now you understand why I don't have a simple answer to this question. It really depends upon so many factors!

The one thing I always try to do is to confer with all of my writers either individually or in a small group throughout the week. And if I only meet with a child in a small group setting one week, then I try to balance that out with an individual conference the following week.

If you're struggling with balancing individual and small group instruction during writing workshop, check out this post for more ideas. That post is about reading workshop, but many of the same principles apply.

And here's a free PDF that you can use for tracking your writing instruction over time (click on the image below to download). I usually track how I meet with students for 2-3 weeks, and then I take a look at the "big picture," using this sheet:

How often should I meet with my struggling writers?

Again, my answer is, "it depends." (Sorry!!) I do try to meet with my struggling writers more often than I do with those students who can work more independently. But it doesn't mean that I spend the majority of my time with students who struggle.

Often, I will schedule conferences and small group instruction for these students (just as I do with all of my students) but also plan for more frequent "check-ins." A check-in is not a complete writing conference. I just pop over to see how the writer is doing - and then I give a quick compliment or maybe remind the student to apply a strategy we discussed in a previous conference. This doesn't take more than one minute.

Sometimes I have students in my class who consistently have trouble getting started. Instead of running back and forth between them at the start of independent writing time, I have them begin work time at my small group table.

They all grab their writing folders and sit down at the table to begin working. While the other students are getting settled and beginning their work, I sit down with that small group and help them start writing. I may have them read their work from a previous day to a partner, do a little oral storytelling, or simply give them a nudge to get going again. I'm not teaching them anything new - the purpose of this "get going" group is just to, well, get them going!

Then, once a child is writing successfully, I dismiss her to return to her seat and continue writing independently. Within a period of 5-7 minutes, all of the students should have been dismissed so that I can begin conferences and small group instruction.

If you want to try out a "get going" group in your own classroom, be sure that students don't become overly dependent upon this support. Over time, conduct your "get going" groups less often (maybe alternating days, eventually just once a week, and then only on an as-needed basis). Eventually, the goal is for the kids to be able to get going on their own. So don't forget to remove the scaffold!

What should happen during a conference?

Generally speaking, my conferences (both reading and writing) follow this series of 3 components:
The "observe" component:
When I first sit down to confer with a child (and I do literally sit down on a chair - I used to stand or crouch, but sitting is more comfortable and puts me at eye level with the child), I observe what she is working on, what strategies she is using/not using, etc.

I may have the student read aloud a portion of her writing to me (this is especially helpful if you teach students who aren't yet spelling traditionally!). Or I may quickly skim the piece of writing silently. Or I may ask her if she's applying a certain concept or strategy to her writing (and if so, how).

During this observation component, I'm trying to gather information. I want to figure out what my compliment is going to be, as well as what I'm going to teach during the rest of the conference. I may also jot down anecdotal notes or complete part of a checklist.

Sometimes, however, this observation component actually happens before the conference begins. I may have picked up the child's writing folder the previous night and read through it, so I already know that she needs to work on writing strong introductions.

Choosing the focus of the conference beforehand can be very helpful in saving time. When I already know my compliment and teaching point, then I just skip the observation component entirely. (However, if the child has a concern or question, you may need to save your plans for another time. I think it's important that we are flexible enough to recognize what's important in the moment, even if it means deviating from our original intentions.)

Oh, and one last thing about observing - don't forget to respond to the content of the child's writing as a reader! If the piece made you laugh, say so. If the child is writing about something sad or difficult, express your concern. If you can relate to the piece of writing or a challenge the child is having, make a comment about this.

I say this because I am guilty of thinking SO hard about what my compliment and teaching point that I completely forget to respond to the writing as a human being. Kids need to hear your reactions as a reader - they are not little writing robots, so we have to avoid becoming teaching robots, too. 🙂
The "compliment" component:
I like to think of this part as a "Keep doing x" rather than just an opportunity to say "good job!" Because I want to provide positive feedback and build a relationship with the child - but I also want the student to continue doing the "good thing!"

For example, if a student is successfully using transition words, I might say something like: "Wow, you are really using our transition words anchor chart! I see you've included 'first,' 'next,' and 'also,' in your piece. This helps the reader understand that you have three different ideas to share. I know you will continue using transition words in other pieces you work on, too. Keep up the good work!"

I could have said, "Good job using transition words!" But instead, I reinforced the student's use of an anchor chart, explained why it was important, and encouraged her to continue doing it - all in just a few sentences.

If we're being completely honest with ourselves, sometimes it's hard to come up with a compliment for a student. We notice that a writer has been goofing off and barely has anything down on the page - and what IS written is completely incorrect!

In order to give a compliment and provide students with the affirmation that many of them so desperately need, we have to train ourselves to momentarily look past all those mistakes. Here's a quote that I love about this topic:

On p. 17 of their book Conferring with Young Writers (2016), Kristin Ackerman and Jennifer McDonough quote Ayres and Overman (2013, 87-88):

We choose joy about the excess of periods in a student's writing, because a month ago there were none. We choose joy about the three meager lines of writing, because yesterday there were crushed pencil points and tears. We choose joy about the misspellings, because all the sight words are accurate. In the face of so much need, we can make a choice to celebrate.

I know it feels nearly impossible some days - but when I choose joy, it's better for both the student and me.
The "teach" component
During this part of the lesson, I choose a strategy to teach the student that's within reach. I can:

Encourage the student to try out a new strategy that she's not applying yet (one that would be applicable to her work)

Encourage the student to focus on using a strategy consistently, if she's using it inconsistently right now

Follow up on previous instruction by reminding the student how to apply a strategy OR encouraging the student to apply the strategy in a new way

I might start by saying...

I noticed that...

Do you remember the lesson where I showed...

Your piece reminds me of the mentor text...

Have you ever thought about trying...

Let's look at the anchor chart titled...

I also explicitly state what I want the student to try, and I'll give an example. The example can come from a published book, a piece of writing we did as a class, a piece of writing I modeled during a lesson, an exemplar from another student, or a sample mentor text I create (check out this resource for lots of sample mentor texts you can use for this purpose).

I may also do some writing to show the student what I mean. BUT I don't write on students' work. This is my personal preference - I want to give kids ownership over their writing. They have the final say in whether or not they use a certain strategy. So I write down ideas on a sticky note, and the child can choose to include them (or not).

Last, I have the student try out the teaching point in some way. This may be by adding to or correcting her own work, or by writing something on a sticky note that she might choose to include later. (If it's a strategy that the child REALLY needs to use, and it's a non-negotiable, I will request that she fix her own work right then and there, and it's not a choice.)

At that point, I give some sort of encouraging statement ("Keep using the _____ strategy as you write! Thanks for showing me what you are working on today!") and move on.

Whew! As you can see, this is a LOT of stuff to fit into just five minutes. So when I sit down to confer, I need to have my "stuff" all ready to go. There's no time to run around the room searching for my clipboard (definitely guilty of doing that).

So I like to keep a conferring tote bag for my writing conferences. In the bag, I place:

Sticky notes

Writing utensils

Anecdotal note forms and previous notes

Mentor texts (published books, student samples, my own samples, etc.)

A notebook (if I'm working with 2nd grade and up, so that I have more room to write than what fits on a sticky note)

How will I know what to teach during a conference?

Now that we've gone over the different parts of a conference, you might be wondering what you should teach during the actual conference! I will be going more in-depth on this topic in a post two weeks from now. However, here are some tips to get you started:

Choose a SINGLE focus. Don't try to teach more than one thing at a time!

Focus on your unit goals. Keep a checklist or rubric next to you that you can quickly scan if a teaching point doesn't come to you immediately.

Remember that you can teach a strategy more than one time! Most kids (especially our little ones) need lots of reinforcement. You can have 2-3 conferences with one child on the same strategy!

Make a plan beforehand for your conferences. You can determine what to teach by reading students' writing or by reviewing your own anecdotal notes from previous conferences. Sometimes, your plan may be to just observe and decide on a teaching point during the actual conference.

When I'm conferring with a student and need to choose a teaching point, the easiest thing for me to do is focus on writing conventions.

Missing periods, or misspelled words, or incorrect capitalization just jumps off the page at me. I see those mistakes immediately, and I don't really have to think about what to teach.

However, as important as correct conventions are, many of our writing conferences should focus on content. We have to be able to intentionally ignore the misused question marks and think about the strength of the introduction, the absence of a conclusion, the use of transition words, inclusion of details, etc. These content-focused lessons are what can really move our students forward in their writing.

How do I get my kids to work independently so that I can stop putting out fires and actually have time to confer?

Gosh, this question alone could fill up so many blog posts! But in a nutshell....getting kids to "leave you alone" so you can confer comes down to establishing consistent routines and classroom management.

Whether you're establishing routines for the school year or reworking your workshop mid-year, brainstorm possible problems that students may encounter. These can include things like...

Getting stuck or not knowing what to write about

Not knowing how to spell a word

Needing a drink/bathroom break

Running out of paper

Needing a new pencil or eraser

Ripping a piece of writing

Being bothered by a peer

Plan a lesson about each problem that you come up with. During the lesson, work with students to create an anchor chart that the kids can use to solve these problems (independently!) in the future.

And when the problem actually arises for a student, require the student to use the anchor chart to solve it! If you solve the problem for the student (or even just suggest a solution), she'll learn to rely on you and continue interrupting your conferences.

Also, remember that it's okay to backtrack at any point during the year. Decrease the amount of time students write independently. Revisit those expectations. Stop conferring and meeting with small groups so that you can focus on classroom management. The time you spend establishing procedures will pay off immensely in the future!

In addition to establishing a strong management system, giving students supportive tools will also help them work more independently, thereby freeing you up to confer. Differentiated writing paper (which I'll talk more about in future posts) and supports like an alphabet chart or checklist can make a big difference in how much students can accomplish independently.

My free writing folder set includes tools like an alphabet chart, vowel chart, genre mini-anchor chart, checklists, and more. If you don't already have it, get it HERE!

Conclusions

This was a long post, considering it's about an instructional practice that takes only 5 minutes! But I think that this just goes to show how complex writing conferences really are.

Conferring, whether it's during reading or writing, is something I'm always working on. Give yourself some grace if your conference accidentally takes 10 minutes. Or if you start with only one conference per day.

Small steps in the right direction can make a big difference for your students. Happy teaching!
References
Ackerman, K., & McDonough, J. (2016). Conferring with Young Writers. Portland, ME: Stenhouse Publishers.

Mermelstein, L. (2013). Self-Directed Writers. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

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How To Conduct Writing Conferences with Students in the Primary Grades - Learning at the Primary Pond

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A writing conference, like any type of one-on-one instruction, can be truly powerful. It gives us an opportunity to pause and really notice what a child is doing. We see where they are with their writing. We better understand how they feel about writing. And it also gives us a chance to provide just-right instruction.

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Taylor & Francis

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Conferring with Intermediate/ Upper Elementary Grade Students

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Conferring with Intermediate/ Upper Elementary Grade Students

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The Literacy Loft

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Writing conferences are the most organic way to differentiate your writing instruction. These one-to-one moments give us the opportunity to really see our students as writers and give specific instruction to them on how they can grow as writers. Giving our students' feedback and direct instruction on their writing is the most impactful way to help them grow. But, it can be pretty challenging to making it happen. So, I wanted to share with you some things I've learned along the way to making writing conferences work - even when you only have 30 minutes of actual Writing Workshop.

And here's the thing I think a lot of teachers tend to forget. Yes, the writing conference is about helping your students grow. But they have an amazing side effect of helping YOU grow as a writing teacher. The more experience you have directly coaching and working with students, the deeper your toolkit becomes at teaching writing.

During the one-to-one conference, you'll research specific student needs. BUT, I like to sweep the whole room first. I like the big picture, bird's eye view of what is actually going on in my classroom. (I do that for small groups and planning - more on that next week! ?) Over time, you get really good at this and you have that teacher "knowing." You KNOW what is going on in your classroom without having to intentionally do it. It comes natural and part of what you do. But no matter how long you've been teaching, it's ALWAYS a good idea to pause, observe, and reflect. So research the room, especially at the beginning of the year.
Research the Room
While spending some time talking to students about their writing is essential and offers so many benefits, I find it especially helpful to research the room. What does this mean? Initially, I do this at the beginning of the year and then sometimes once a week just to observe and note what my students are doing. Honestly, you could even do this at the very beginning of independent writing. The purpose is to simply observe what students are doing. It's about slowing down and really thinking about what is happening in your classroom. Ask yourself:

It sounds like a lot, but it doesn't have to be. Take notes on what stands out. These notes don't have to be fancy. It could be a simple list of students who all seem to be having the same difficulty. I like to use a big table/spreadsheet with student names so that I can easily see take notes for every student. After I have a conference with this student, I highlight it or just put a big check through it. As you can see, I also use a plus (+) and deltas (Δ) to note what they are doing well and then what I think they could work on next/what I might teach them. During this research, I also use this to look for trends. In my example chart below, I have several students that are not using transition words and several other students who have no paragraph structure.

Using an engagement tool can also help you observe writing behaviors with your students. I like to use this tool to keep track of students' behaviors during independent writing. This helps you decide if maybe you need to have a conference based on behaviors, rather than specific writing skills. For example, if you notice that a student has difficulty staying on task most of the time, then your conference will be more about what his/her next steps need to be. Or maybe they are having difficulty staying focused, so they may need to find a better writing spot. Oftentimes, when students are off task when it comes to writing, there is an underlying issue that can be addressed through a conference.

Another way that I like to use this tool is to use it as an individual or class reward. This is really helpful when preparing for a standardized test. For example, when we practiced for the FSA (Florida State Assessment) for writing, I used this tool to observe my students during practice. They knew that I was using this tool for one purpose only - just to observe whether they were focused and working on writing. Since it was practicing for an end of year test, I made it a big deal and told them our assistant principal would reward them with ice pops if ALL of my students were on task. Of course, this can be adjusted for your group of students. You could even make it a percentage, just so it's fair if one child isn't on task and it hurts the rest of them. This tool is so simple, but so effective at keeping your students engaged. It also helps you really see which students aren't making the most of their writing time. This is important so that you can then figure out WHY and HOW to help them.

Okay, so now you've done some observations and research with what's really going on in your classroom. Let's talk about what a writing conference actually looks like. Writing conferences follow a basic structure: research, decide, compliment, teach.

Research: This is isn't as intensive as it sounds. Before you begin conferring with a student, you want to have an idea about what you might teach them. Spend some time observing the student with what they are doing as a writer. Sit next to them whether they are on the carpet or at a table. This is more comfortable and sets the tone that the conference is more of a conversation. You might use a rubric or checklist to help you make these decisions quickly or you might spend a day taking notes, collecting student samples, and then making a plan for conferences the following day. You have to do what feels right for you and your students.

You can have the student read aloud part of their writing to you. You can also just read over their shoulder and let them continue writing as you observe. During this time, you are simply observing what they are working on and what they are doing well. You might take some anecdotal notes to decide what your compliment and teaching point will be.

Decide: Initially, you will probably think there are ten things you can teach your student. It can feel overwhelming to you. And if you teach all ten of those things - you're going to overwhelm your students. Choose just ONE thing to teach your students. Don't worry about it being the perfect thing to teach, but select what you think is the next best step. Trust your teacher gut and use a checklist if you need to develop that teacher gut. Think, "What is this student already doing well? What would be their next step?"

Compliment: Before you jump into teaching a new strategy, start with a compliment. Point out something the writer is doing well. Specifically name what it is they are doing well. This is important because if they know they are doing something right, then they will continue to repeat it. Here are some examples of what that might sound like:

"I love how focused you are on your writing. You've ignored all distractions around you."

"Wow! Look how you have already organized your writing into paragraphs. Writers do that so the reader has room to think.

Teach: After you compliment what the writer is doing well, use that to lead into a teaching point. You can use language such as:

"I'd love to teach you something else that writers do..."

"You are doing ___ so well that I think you're ready for the next step..."

"May I teach you something else that writers do..."

Link: Connect to ongoing work and remind them they can use this strategy forever. "So remember you can always chunk your writing into paragraphs to give your reader space to think."

Because this is a one-on-one conference, it is very delicate and you want to really be careful about the language you choose. You want the writer to feel safe to try out new things in their writing. You want your teaching to come from a place of "you're doing this well and here's what's next for you." You DON'T want to come from a place of "you're not doing this and you should be." We don't want our students to feel bad about their writing or that they're not good writers. We NEVER want that. We want them to feel confident in their writing and ready to grow.

You can use this free template to help you with the structure of the conference and keep your teaching tight and focused. I like to think of a writing conference as an individualized minilesson. As you continue to follow the structure and model of the writing conference, you eventually won't need to use this cheat sheet.

This is one of my favorite ways to keep track of individual student conferences over time. On one page, you have a snapshot of 6 different conferences that you have had with a student. This comes in really handy during parent conferences, data meetings, and just overall notes on your students. I keep all of these in a binder or folder. Each student has their own page and I copy these front and back, so then I have 12 conferences on one page for each student. And when it comes to conferences, it's okay to embrace your inner doctor penmanship. As long as you can read your notes, you're good to go! ?

This conference form has the same idea, but gives you a few cheat sheet teaching points at the bottom so that you can prioritize your process when teaching individually. You can grab all of these conference forms and checklists for free by clicking any of the images or boxes throughout this post.

I also really like using this grid/calendar template because I can look at a glance and see which students I still need to meet with. It makes it really easy to take notes. It's almost like a game because I want to fill up the grid with all my notes because that means I've met with all of my students and time to meet with them again.

The actual teaching in your conference can be done in several ways. You can use the following materials to teach:

Keeping your notebook and/or conferring binder stocked with possible writing lessons and teaching points will help you be ready to individualize your instruction.

Compliment Conferences

Compliment conferences set the tone of positivity in your classroom and there is a subconscious connection that relates writing time with positive feelings. The more that students enjoy the writing process, the more motivated they become and as a result - they grow as writers. If that's not enough to persuade you, here are 3 big reasons why you should start the year with compliment conferences:

1. To build relationships with your students - If you start the year focusing on what they are doing well, then they are going to be more likely to listen when you teach them something new or coach them on a specific strategy. Also, instead of looking for what students are not able to do, you can focus on what skills they are bringing in with them. Think about this as a time to research and observe your students. You're using this time to learn about them as writers.

2. To focus on what they are doing well. - It's so easy to focus on what our students don't know how to do or aren't doing when they come into our classroom. This can create a negative outlook on our teaching of writing and focus on our students' lack instead of what they already know how to do. Even if it is below grade level. By focusing on what they already know how to do, you can then determine what to teach next. Train your brain to think, "Awesome! My students know how to ____. What can I teach them next?" That sounds and feels way better than, "My students can't complete a sentence." or "My students don't know how to create paragraphs."

3. Lets other writers around them know what writers do. Most likely when you are conferring with students, other little ears around them will perk up and pay attention. While you may be focused on what one student is doing well, 2-3 other writers around them may hear what you say. Whether they do it now or 3 months from now, they soak that in and they're hearing you deliberately state what effective writers do.

What does a compliment conference look like?

Compliment conferences are a MUST at the beginning of the year. if you are also having a day where you feel stuck in WHAT to teach during conferences or small group, focus on compliment conferences so at the very least you are touching base with your students.
Structure of a Compliment Conference:
Questions: Begin with a simple open-ended question such as, "What are you working on today?" or "How's it going?"

Research: Make notes of what the writer is doing well or almost well.

Name: Pick one thing to focus on and give it a name. Point to where the writer did this in their work. If you don't know the name of what the writer is doing - just make it up. Generalize the strategy to all writers do this and explain why.

"I see you put some spaces in between paragraphs. That's called chunking. Writers organize their writing into paragraphs or chunks to give the reader space to think."

Link: Connect to ongoing work and remind them they can use this strategy forever. "So remember you can always chunk your writing into paragraphs to give your reader space to think."

Creating a weekly/monthly schedule can help you better plan when you will meet with students so that you can already have a plan.

You can also use a checklist to simply keep track of who you are meeting with each week. I also like to code with C= Conference or SG=Small Group. This way I can keep track of who I'm meeting with whether it's 1:1 or in a small group. (More about small group conferences to come!)

The questions that teachers frequently have about writing conferences are listed below and my response based on my experience and research.

A writing conference does not have to be long because you want your student to have time to apply what you teach them or be able to take action shortly after you have taught them. But you don't want your conferences to be short and rushed so that you can meet with other students. In the book, "How's it Going?" Carl Anderson recommends between 3-8 minutes. The average is 5 minutes per conference.

There is no magic number with how many students you confer with each day. What I will say is this: the more touchpoints and interactions you have with a student, the more of an impact you are making. And it won't be immediately. You're building a long runway of a relationship with each child. Every time you compliment them or offer them something new to learn, you are helping them take one step forward in growing as a writer.

How many students you meet with depends on how much time you have during independent writing. A typical writing workshop is a 45 minute block of time. However, many districts have cut that back to 30 minutes. So teachers have to get pretty creative with the use of their time. So if you have 20 minutes of writing time, and each writing conference lasts about 5 minutes, then you can meet with 3-4 students each day. When this doesn't happen - don't beat yourself up over it! If you have only a few minutes left of writing - not enough for a conference, but too much time to waste- this is the perfect time for a compliment conference.

Meeting with your struggling writers is probably at the top of your to-do list. I do meet with these students more often - maybe 2-3 times a week. But remember, there are other ways to scaffold instruction besides individual conferences. Just like you would form small groups in reading, you can also use small groups in writing. One thing that I have always found helpful is to keep my struggling writers on the carpet with me after the minilesson so that I can help them get started immediately. I also will typically bring these students to my small group table. I might have conferences at the table with other students, but they are right next to me and it is simply the zone of proximity that helps them stay focused and positive. After some time

Another way to meet the needs of these students is by checking in with them frequently to compliment or support them in any way. It may not need to be a long conference, but just a quick check-in.

When it comes to conferring with your students, remember that we are always learning. We are always trying to figure out how to best meet the needs of our students. The best way we can help our students grow is by growing ourselves! I've shared some of my favorite books for conferring with writers below. And don't forget to grab your free writing forms and checklists by clicking the link below:

Some of my favorite resources when it comes to conferring with writers are the following:

How's It Going by Carl Anderson

One to One by Lucy Calkins, Amanda Hartman, and Zoe White

You might also like these other related blog posts:

5 Ways to Differentiate for Stronger Writers

How To Tackle the Issue of Time in Writing Workshop

How to Bring Craft into Your Writing Instruction

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How to Conduct Writing Conferences in Upper Elementary

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Writing conferences are the most organic way to differentiate your writing instruction. These one-to-one moments give us the opportunity to really see our students as writers and give specific instruction to them on how they can grow as writers. Giving our students' feedback and direct instruction on their writing is the most impactful way to help them grow.

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Conferring Techniques to Nudge Students to Success

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Conferring Techniques to Nudge Students to Success

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Education Closet

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Using the Conferring Technique to Nudge Students to Success

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Classroom Management Using the Conferring Technique to Nudge Students to Success 6 Min Read * Student Engagement If you're a teacher, "having conversations with kids" is probably something you are an expert at doing. Personally, sometimes it's

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Source: Education Closet

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Mandy Gregory

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Erik Francis, ASCD

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by Erik M. Francis

You are teaching a unit on the themes of heroism and courage using different texts of literary fiction and nonfiction. Your students are expected to do the following:

Analyze how and why individuals, events, or ideas develop and interact over the course of a text. (CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.R.3)

Interpret words and phrases as they are used in a text, including determining technical, connotative, and figurative meanings, and analyze how specific word choices shape meaning or tone. (CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.R.4)

Analyze how two or more texts address similar themes or topics in order to build knowledge or to compare the approaches the authors take. (CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.R.9)

Write informative/explanatory texts to examine and convey complex ideas and information clearly and accurately through the effective selection, organization, and analysis of content. (CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.W.2)

Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research. (CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.W.9)

Your students will address and respond to the good questions in Figure 1.1 during the unit.

Figure 1.1. Good Questions: Heroism

How do characters develop and interact over the course of a text?

How can words and phrases be interpreted as they are used in a text, including determining technical, connotative, and figurative meanings?

How do two or more texts address similar themes or topics in order to build knowledge or to compare the approaches the authors take?

How do narratives use effective techniques, well-chosen details, and well-structured event sequences to develop real or imagined experiences?

How can evidence from literary or informational texts be drawn to support analysis, reflection, and research?

How could you create a character who does the following?

Embodies the qualities and traits of a hero

Reflects your personal beliefs and traits of a hero

Represents your culture or generation's beliefs and ideas about heroism

Who is the hero in a story?

What are the character traits of a hero?

What are the different types of heroes?

Who is the hero in the texts read or reviewed as part of this unit?

What is a "mirror character"?

What words do the authors of these texts for this unit use to describe the hero in the story, the situation encountered, or the actions and deeds committed by the hero?

What distinguishes a hero from the main character or protagonist in the story?

What are the similarities and differences among different types of heroes?

What distinguishes the hero from all other individuals in a text?

What is the difference between a hero and an idol?

How does the author characterize, describe, or portray the hero in the text?

What is the tone of texts that express and share acts of heroism and courage?

What does it mean when a hero "falls from grace"?

What is the relationship between the hero and the villain? The hero and the literary foil?

What influences do tales of heroes, heroism, and courage have on an audience?

What influence does time, geography, and social factors have on the definitions and perceptions of a hero, heroism, or courage?

What effect does the language the author uses have on how a hero or heroic act is presented or portrayed?

How could a hero be tempted or "fall from grace"?

What could turn a hero into a villain?

How could a villain become a hero?

How could the flaws of a character make the character more heroic?

How could a hero and villain be "mirror characters"?

How could a hero and the foil be "mirror characters"?

What if the hero or villain was female and a male character was in peril?

Are the protagonist and antagonist of a story also the hero or villain, or do they have different meanings?

Must a hero be perfect or can a hero be flawed?

Must a hero be fearless in order to be heroic, or can fear help the hero become more heroic?

Is there a universal understanding of what makes someone heroic or courageous, or does it depend upon certain factors (e.g., people, place, time)?

What do you think it means to be a hero?

What do you think makes someone heroic or courageous?

Who is your hero and why?

What is a heroic act committed by a real person or group of people that deserves to be acknowledged or recognized? How would you clearly and effectively share this act of heroism with an audience?

Is the hero in the story you are reading a hero or an idol?

Is the hero in the story you are writing a hero or an idol?

Take a look at the questions that students will address as part of this literary genre study (set aside the figure's format for now). Notice how the questions engage students to do-or demonstrate-the following:

Recognize and understand data, definitions, and details.

Apply concepts and procedures.

Analyze and evaluate causes, connections, and consequences-actual, hypothetical, or potential.

Think creatively about what they personally can design, develop, or do with what they have learned.

Demonstrating thinking is half the battle. These questions also encourage students to communicate the following:

What is the knowledge that must be read, researched, and recognized?

How can this knowledge be used to answer questions, address problems, accomplish tasks, and analyze texts and topics?

Why can this knowledge be used to study phenomena, solve problems, and solidify ideas?

How else could you use this knowledge in different academic and real-world contexts?

These are the actions and conditions that define rigor-and in particular instructional rigor-that challenge students to learn concepts and retain content at higher and deeper levels (Blackburn, 2008). When we describe a learning experience as rigorous or having rigor, we are talking about its level of cognitive rigor-the extent to which students are challenged to demonstrate higher-order thinking and communicate depth of knowledge.

What Is Cognitive Rigor?

Cognitive rigor has received increased attention primarily due to instructional shifts in K-12 education that place importance on developing 21st century skills, which are generally agreed to be skills that prepare students for college and career success. As a result, greater expectations are now placed "on education systems around the world to teach in ways that produce the knowledge workers and innovators businesses need to compete in the 21st century knowledge economy" (Trilling & Fadel, 2009, p. 61). Students still need to acquire and apply knowledge accurately. However, they must also be able to analyze and articulate knowledge authentically through critical thinking and problem solving, collaboration and communication, and creativity and innovation.

Cognitive rigor measures the depth and breadth of topics that should be taught as part of an educational experience based on the following criteria:

Complexity of the concepts and content taught and obtained

Kind of knowledge acquired

Type of thinking demonstrated

Depth of knowledge communicated (Hess et al., 2009a, 2009b; Walkup & Jones, 2014)

Cognitive rigor provides this enhanced educational experience by superimposing two academic frameworks that define how deeply students demonstrate their knowledge-Bloom's Revised Taxonomy and Webb's Depth-of-Knowledge (Hess et al., 2009a, 2009b). Bloom's taxonomy categorizes the kind of knowledge and type of thinking that students demonstrate to answer a question. Webb's Depth-of-Knowledge model designates the depth of knowledge that students express in a given context to answer a question. By aligning these two frameworks, cognitive rigor acts as a high-quality instructional tool to ensure teachers prepare their students for success in and out of the classroom. (We'll discuss how these two frameworks work together to promote cognitive rigor in just a bit.)

Another important aspect of cognitive rigor is that it promotes intellectual involvement by challenging students to explain what they have learned in their own unique way. Students must learn how to become meaning-seeking critical thinkers who can sift through and process vast amounts of information and then use the deeper knowledge they gain in a variety of academic and real-world contexts. It is the job of educators to provide learning experiences that encourage such deep examination of knowledge. In this way, the use of cognitive rigor as a measurement tool supports the use of cognitive rigor as the comprehensive learning goal for students.

Later in this chapter, we will discuss how this learning goal promotes cognitive rigor through better classroom questioning (i.e., asking good questions). First let's take a look at how cognitive rigor fosters authentic teaching and deep learning experiences for teachers and their students. Refer to Figure 1.2.

Figure 1.2. Good Questions and Bloom's Taxonomy

Source: Categories adapted from Anderson & Krathwohl, 2001

Higher-Order Thinking

The revised version of Bloom's taxonomy developed by Anderson and Krathwohl (2001) models cognitive rigor by clearly differentiating knowledge ( What is to be learned?) from thinking ( How is learning to be demonstrated?) by splitting both into two dimensions. The Knowledge Dimension defines the content or subject matter students need to learn-the facts, the vocabulary, the concepts, the procedures, and the criteria for using all four. The Cognitive Process Dimension describes the thinking or skills students must develop and demonstrate. Anderson and Krathwohl's (2001) revised version rephrases these cognitive skills as verbs to help teachers develop learning goals and performance objectives, which is the intent and purpose of both the original taxonomy and its revised version. However, as formatted and presented, the taxonomy still remains limited as a resource for classifying and creating good questions.

To develop good questions with Bloom's Revised Taxonomy, we can use the basic categories from Bloom's Questioning Inverted Pyramid to replace the cognitive verbs of performance objectives with the following question stems:

Recognize: Who? What? Where? When?

Understand: How? Why?

Apply: How does it work? How is it used?

Analyze: Why does it work? Why is it used? What does it imply/infer? What does it mean? What does it suggest? What is the cause? What is the connection? What is the influence? What is the reason? What is the relationship?

Evaluate: What is the effect? What is the impact? What is the outcome? What is the result? What if? What would happen? What could happen? What do you believe about it? How do you feel about it? What do you think about it? What is your opinion about it?

Create: What can you create? What can you design? What can you develop? What can you plan? What can you produce? How could you innovate? What could you invent? How do you? How could you? How would you? How could you develop and use a model? What kind of original text could you produce? What kind of problem could you present?

By replacing the cognitive verbs with the correlating question stems in Figure 1.2, students will be challenged to demonstrate-or show-and also to communicate-or tell-the depth of their knowledge and understanding. Figure 1.3 demonstrates how rephrasing questions creates more cognitively complex performance tasks.

Figure 1.3. Good Questions and Learning Objectives

Determine the central idea and themes addressed in the novel The Outsiders.

How does The Outsiders address the following themes: stereotyping, wealth and poverty, honor and loyalty, friendship and family, book smart vs. street smart, school vs. experience?

Analyze the role of women in Romeo and Juliet and how that affects the development of the plot and characters.

What role do women play in Romeo and Juliet and how does that affect the development of plot and characters?

Solve these equations.

9 x 2 = 5 x 6 = 7 x 3 = 4 x 6 = 10 x 8 =

How can multiplication be used to solve these equations?

9 x 2 = 5 x 6 = 7 x 3 = 4 x 6 = 10 x 8 =

Use the four operations to solve word problems involving distances, intervals of time, liquid volumes, masses of objects, and money, including problems involving simple fractions or decimals, and problems that require expressing measurements given in a larger unit in terms of a smaller unit.

How can the four operations be used to solve word problems involving the following?

Distance

Intervals of time

Liquid volumes

Masses of objects

Money

Simple fractions or decimals

Converting smaller or larger measurements

Compare and contrast family life historically and presently among various cultures. Consider such things as communication, technology, homes, transportation, recreation, schools, and cultural traditions.

How has family life among various cultures changed or remained the same (historically and presently) in regard to

Communication

Technology

Homes

Transportation

Recreation

School

Cultural traditions

The performance objectives in column 1 of Figure 1.3 provide explicit learning expectations. They also challenge students to demonstrate-or show-how deeply they can think about the texts and topics they are reading and reviewing in class. However, performance objectives are limited in engaging students to communicate-or tell-the depth and extent of their understanding, which is a key component of teaching and learning for cognitive rigor. With good questions such as the ones posed in column 2, students are prompted to think deeply and share the depth of their learning by explaining how and why the answer is correct.

Depth of Knowledge

Depth of knowledge designates the context in which students will demonstrate and communicate their learning. The context is situational and depends upon the extent the text, the topic, or even the teacher expects the student to demonstrate and communicate learning. Is the student expected to develop deep knowledge and understanding of the text or topic being read and reviewed? Is the student expected to demonstrate and communicate how or why the concepts and content can be used to attain and explain answers, outcomes, and results? Is the student expected to transfer and use the concepts and content to address academic and real-world ideas and issues across the curriculum and beyond the classroom? When we refer to depth of knowledge, we're determining not only how much a student knows but also how extensively he understands and is aware of the concepts and content he is learning.

Teaching and learning for cognitive rigor uses the Depth-of-Knowledge (DOK) model designed by Norman Webb (1997, 2002) to designate how extensively students communicate their knowledge and understanding of concepts and content. This model, shown also in Figure 1.4, consists of four levels:

DOK Level 1 (Recall and Reproduction): Students describe what knowledge needs to be acquired and developed in order to think deeply about texts and topics.

DOK Level 2 (Application of Skills and Concepts): Students convey how the knowledge can be used to answer questions, address problems, or accomplish tasks or analyze texts and topics.

DOK Level 3 (Strategic Thinking and Reasoning): Students examine and explain why the knowledge can be used to defend and support responses and results.

DOK Level 4 (Extended Thinking): Students study and share what or how else the knowledge can be used in a variety of academic and real-world circumstances.

Figure 1.4. Good Questions and Depth of Knowledge

The categories in Bloom's taxonomy define the subject matter and describe the skills students must learn, whereas the levels of Webb's DOK model designate the scenario, setting, or situation in which students demonstrate and communicate their learning. Webb's levels do not scaffold in their complexity but indicate four different ways that students share the depth and extent of their learning. Hess (2013) describes the DOK levels as ceilings that designate how deeply students are expected to explain and use what they learn. Therefore, a higher DOK level does not necessarily mean it is "better" or even more desirable than other levels. It just provides a deeper context for the transfer and use of student learning. Consider how the following scenario engages students to share the depth of their understanding of the Pythagorean Theorem and its converse.

You are teaching a unit on the Pythagorean Theorem. Your students are expected to do the following:

Explain a proof of the Pythagorean Theorem and its converse. (CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.8.G.B.6)

Apply the Pythagorean Theorem to determine unknown side lengths in right triangles in real-world and mathematical problems in two and three dimensions. (CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.8.G.B.7)

Apply the Pythagorean Theorem to find the distance between two points in a coordinate system. (CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.8.G.B.8)

Your students will respond to the good questions in Figure 1.5.

Figure 1.5. Good Questions and The Pythagorean Theorem

How can objects in life be categorized, classified, defined, described, determined, and quantified?

How can mathematics be used to solve problems in everyday life, society, and the workplace?

How can the characteristics and properties of two- and three-dimensional geometric shapes be analyzed?

How can mathematical arguments about geometric relationship be developed?

How can you explain a proof of the Pythagorean Theorem and its converse?

What kind of mathematical or real-world problem could you design that would require using the Pythagorean Theorem or its converse?

What is a right triangle?

What is the Pythagorean Theorem?

What is the converse of the Pythagorean Theorem?

What do the lettered sides of the triangle represent?

What is the hypotenuse of a right triangle?

What is a coordinate plane?

How can the Pythagorean Theorem be applied to determine unknown side lengths in right triangles in real-world and mathematical problems in two and three dimensions?

How can the Pythagorean Theorem be applied to find the distance between two points on the coordinate plane?

What is the relationship between the length of sides, the length of the hypotenuse, and the angles of the triangle according to the Pythagorean Theorem?

What effect does the length of the sides and hypotenuse of a triangle have on the angles of the triangle and the type of triangle a shape is?

What if the length of the hypotenuse is given but the length of one of the sides is not?

How could the following individuals use the Pythagorean Theorem in the following situations?

A firefighter needs to determine where to position the ladder on a fire truck to put out a fire and save lives in a burning building.

A baseball player wants to determine where to hit the ball so the infielders cannot catch it in the air or intercept it as a groundball.

A tennis player must determine where to serve a ball.

Katniss Everdeen from The Hunger Games must determine how far to shoot her arrow from her position in a tree at the tributes standing on the ground below her.

Should the numerical value that is determined to be the length of the hypotenuse be rounded to the nearest whole number or should it be expressed in its complete or true form?

Should Pythagoras be credited for founding the theorem or should other civilizations predating Pythagoras be credited?

How would you use the Pythagorean Theorem in the following situations?

Design a project for art class.

Decide how high to extend a ladder to paint the side of a house.

Determine the dimensions of a television, a suitcase, or a computer.

Determine the distance between three points on a map.

Determine how far a quarterback threw a football to one of his receivers.

How could you use the Pythagorean Theorem and its converse to determine what kind of triangle is presented in a given problem?

Notice how the levels of thinking scaffold progressively, moving from basic levels (recognizing, understanding, and applying) to more complex levels of demonstrating learning (analyzing, evaluating). However, the depth to which students express their learning depends upon the context. Some questions focus specifically on reciting and reproducing specific knowledge about the Pythagorean Theorem and its converse (DOK-1). Some questions ask students to explain how the Pythagorean Theorem can be used (DOK-2) or why the theorem can be used (DOK-3) to attain and explain answers and solutions. Some questions ask students to share what else could be done with the Pythagorean theorem and its converse or how else could the Pythagorean Theorem be used (DOK-4) in different academic and real-world situations. Although the level of thinking is progressive, the depth of knowledge is more extensive.

When teaching and learning for cognitive rigor, keep in mind that depth of knowledge is not the same as higher-order thinking. Higher-order thinking defines the action or cognition (thinking). Depth of knowledge designates the context or scope in which the cognitive action is performed. Together, higher-order thinking and depth of knowledge promote cognitive rigor by setting the instructional expectations for how deeply and extensively students will demonstrate and communicate-or show and tell-what they have learned.

How Can We Promote Cognitive Rigor by Asking Good Questions?

Teaching and learning for cognitive rigor is very different from teaching and learning in traditional educational settings that are driven solely by objectives and outcomes. Cognitive rigor prompts and encourages students to think deeply and to express and share the depth of their learning by addressing and responding to good questions that serve as formative and summative assessments and set the instructional focus for learning.

It's an approach that can be applied to both the setting of educational objectives and the development of good questions using the following formula:

Show and tell + HOT Question Stem + DOK Context

The HOT Question Stem correlates to a specific cognitive category of Bloom's Questioning Inverted Pyramid (see the categories in Figure 1.2, p. 12). For example, when a performance objective challenges a student to understand, or one of its correlating verbs in its cognitive category in Bloom's Revised Taxonomy, we can replace the verb with the question stems how or why. These two question stems prompt students to demonstrate and communicate their understanding and encourage them to think strategically (DOK-3) and extend their thinking (DOK-4) beyond the subject matter and situation originally presented in the performance objective-and that's exactly what we want. When converting performance objectives to good questions that promote cognitive rigor, you may find yourself using the question stem how or why often-and that's OK. Challenge yourself, however, to use the other question stems listed within Figure 1.2.

The DOK context addresses both the scope of a learning activity as well as the expected depth of content understanding (Hess et al., 2009a, 2009b). This is typically defined by the noun phrase that follows the verb of a performance objective. It not only establishes the scope of the activity but also sets expectations for how deeply students demonstrate their learning.

Notice how the good questions in Figure 1.6 are derived from performance objectives. The verb of the performance objective is replaced with the appropriate question stem that prompts students to think. The noun phrase following the verb of the performance objective designates the context or depth students must use to explain their learning. These good questions set the instructional focus and serve as formative and summative assessments of a lesson or unit. (We'll discuss how to convert performance objectives into good questions at the end of this chapter.)

Figure 1.6. Making Good Standards-Based Questions

Distinguish long from short vowel sounds in spoken single-syllable words.

Show and tell

what distinguishes

long from short vowel sounds in spoken single-syllable words?

Determine central ideas or themes of a text and analyze their development; summarize the key supporting details and ideas.

Show and tell

can the central ideas and themes of text be determined?

do the central ideas and themes develop over the course of a text?

do the key supporting details and ideas support the central ideas and themes of a text?

Analyze how two or more authors writing about the same topic shape their presentations of key information by emphasizing different evidence or advancing different interpretations of facts.

Show and tell

two or more authors writing about the same topic shape their presentations of key information by doing the following?

- emphasizing different evidence

- advancing different interpretations of facts

Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence.

Show and tell

how could you

write an argument that supports claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence?

Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and phrases by using context clues, analyzing meaningful word parts, and consulting general and specialized reference materials, as appropriate.

Show and tell

what is the reason

the meaning of unknown and multiple- meaning words can be determined and clarified using the following?

context clues

meaningful word part

consulting general and specialized reference materials

Count to 120, starting at any number less than 120. In this range, read and write numerals and represent a number of objects with a written numeral.

Show and tell

how could you

count to 120, starting at a number less than 120?

read and write numerals?

represent a number of objects with a written numeral?

Multiply one-digit whole numbers by multiples of 10 in the range 10-90 (e.g., 9 x 80, 5 x 60) using strategies based on place value and properties of operations.

Show and tell

how could you

multiply one-digit whole numbers by multiples of 10 in the range from 10 to 90 using strategies based upon the following?

place value

the properties of operations

Understand that a function from one set (called the domain) to another set (called the range) assigns to each element of the domain exactly one element of the range. If f is a function and x is an element of its domain, then f( x) denotes the output of f corresponding to the input x. The graph of f is the graph of the equation y = f( x).

Show and tell

does a function from one set (called the domain) to another set (called the range) assigns to each element of the domain exactly one element of the range?

does f(x) denote the output of f corresponding to the input x if f is a function and x is an element of its domain?

How Can We Teach with Cognitive Rigor Questions?

Each type of cognitive rigor question guides students to pursue deeper knowledge and respond insightfully to the questions in their own unique way. These questions also allow teachers to act as both the instructor who provides the information students must learn and the facilitator who encourages students to process information into expertise or other knowledge outcomes (including self-knowledge).

Essential questions set the instructional focus and expectations for students to demonstrate deeper, more authentic learning about universal themes, core ideas, and topical understandings of a lesson or unit in their own unique way.

Factual questions direct students to read, research, and recognize information about who, what, where, or when.

Analytical questions challenge students to examine and explain how and why, what is the meaning or message, what is the intent or purpose, what categorizes or characterizes, what determines or indicates, what are the similarities and differences, and what is inferred, represented, signified, suggested, or symbolized.

Reflective questions engage students to investigate and inquire what are the cause and effects, impact and influences, reasons and results, and advantages and disadvantages.

Hypothetical questions prompt students to imagine what if, hypothesize what would happen, what could happen, how may, and how might, and predict what will or how will.

Argumentative questions involve students in making choices and defending decisions supported with valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence.

Affective questions encourage students to share what do you believe, feel, or think; state what is your opinion, perspective, or thoughts; or show how could you or how would you address a particular issue, problem, or situation.

Personal questions motivate students to take the initiative to explore what do you want to learn about the subjects and topics being taught and then share their learning with their classmates.

These cognitive rigor questions (CRQs) can serve as the essential question for a single lesson or even an entire unit. They can also be grouped together using the CRQ Framework (see Appendix A). Clearly all these questions cannot be answered within a single class period since there are just too many of them! However, each question can be asked individually or paired with other questions to provide a deeper, student-centered learning experience that promotes cognitive rigor.

Conclusion

Questioning for cognitive rigor engages students to demonstrate and communicate the deep knowledge and complex thinking skills they can use in both their academic studies and in their personal lives. We can create these good questions simply by rephrasing academic standards and their performance objectives into open-ended, thought-provoking inquiries or devise our own questions to set the instructional focus and serve as assessments for student learning. The CRQ Framework can be used as a resource that not only identifies the kind of questions to ask but also scaffolds questions based upon their intent, purpose, and level of complexity.

The rest of this book explores each question category within this CRQ Framework and shows how each category builds on the others to increase the level of thinking and depth of knowledge-or cognitive rigor-students are expected to demonstrate. We will also address how students respond to these questions and how teachers can assess the accuracy, acceptability, appropriateness, and authenticity of their responses.

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

How to Develop Good Questions from Learning Objectives
Objective
Develop cognitive rigor questions derived from the performance objectives of college- and career-ready standards that will serve as the instructional focus and formative/summative assessment of a lesson or unit.
Materials

College- and career-ready standards adopted by your state

Curriculum and texts adopted by your school

Good Questions and Bloom's Taxonomy (Figure 1.2)

Good Questions and Depth of Knowledge (Figure 1.4)

Procedure

1. Select the standards that will be addressed as part of the lesson or unit. Using Figure 1.7, insert that performance objective under the column called Learning Objectives.

2. Replace the cognitive verb at the beginning of the performance objective with its correlating HOT Question Stem from the Bloom's Questioning Inverted Pyramid. Place the stem under the column headed by HOT Stem.

3. Identify the subject matter or knowledge that will be learned and the scenario, setting, or situation in which the subject matter will be addressed and used. Place those terms in the column labeled DOK Context. See Figure 1.6 for examples.

4. Rephrase the noun phrase at the end of the performance objective of the standard. Write the phrase next to the HOT Stem converted from the cognitive verb.

5. Combine the HOT Stem with the DOK Context to form your cognitive rigor question. This will be the good question that sets the instructional focus and serves as the formative and summative assessment for the lesson or unit. See Figure 1.6 for an example of a completed chart.

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What Is Questioning for Cognitive Rigor?

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by Erik M. Francis You are teaching a unit on the themes of heroism and courage using different texts of literary fiction and nonfiction. Your students are expected to do the following: Analyze how and why individuals, events, or ideas develop and interact over the course of a text.

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Conferring in the Writing Workshop ~ Writing Workshop Fundamentals

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Conferring in the Writing Workshop ~ Writing Workshop Fundamentals

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Two Writing Teachers

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"Lift the ball with your right hand, and pretend your right knee is tied to your right elbow." Placing the orange ball uncertainly in my right hand, I glanced over at Mr. Brown, my new basketball coach. Fixing his gaze squarely upon me, he added, "You can do this." It was my 8th grade year, and unexpectedly I had been selected for the varsity basketball team. Somewhere during the first week of practice, I found myself working at one of the side baskets of the court with my coach practicing lay-ups - a basic fundamental of basketball. Working with him one-on-one, my coach was talking me through and showing me - step by step- how to make a lay-up.

In the writing workshop, this approach of working with a single student to support his or her writing repertoire is not much different from the individual coaching I received from Mr. Brown those many years ago.
A Writing Conference: What is it?
One of the important goals of writing workshop is to slow down the process of writing so that feedback is possible the process, not just at the end. Feedback has been identified as having a significant effect on student achievement (for more on this, read ). According to Peter Johnston, the purposes of feedback are to: (1) improve conceptual understanding, and (2) increase strategic options while developing stamina, resilience, and motivation (Johnston, 2012).

One effective way to provide feedback to learners is through conferring. Now, I hear many teachers, when discussing conversations with individual writers, use the word "conferencing." But recalling a workshop I took with author Carl Anderson , I remember him pointing out that when we sit and talk with students about their writing, it is called conferring , not conferencing. Conferring is a means of both assessing and providing targeted individualized instruction to students in a way that no whole class instruction can. It is a means by which teachers can quickly gather information about their students to determine where they currently fall on a continuum of learning, and then begin to help them move to the next level of performance.

Conferences are a powerful way to support each student's growth and independence because teachers are able to meet students right where they are and provide instruction that will potentially have the biggest impact.

During the independent time of writing workshop, we want to pull up next to our writers to confer with them about their writing. A writing conference is a one-to-one interaction between an individual writer and her teacher, and it is arguably the single most effective way to help a student improve. During this time, we as teachers assess the level to which a student is currently writing and select one way we can provide feedback that supports the student in lifting the level of his writing. As teachers, we always want to keep in mind that we are working to teach the writer, not fix the writing.

This approach is starkly in contrast to sitting down to fix up what the student has written, or tell the writer everything she needs to add in order to "make it better." During a writing conference, we are not telling students how to "fix" their writing or what they should or should not do to make this particular piece better. Rather, we are aiming to teach them a transferable strategy they might use in any similar piece of writing.

It is also in contrast to sitting down to be an editor. As author Carl Anderson pointed out in his fall 2016 workshop in New York City,

The old thinking was that if teachers are editors, correct everything, and punish students, they will learn how to write; the fallacy there is that teachers already know how to write. It's not fair to be their editor. We need to be their teacher. So we teach one thing in a conference. We assess and teach one thing (Teachers College Reading & Writing Project Saturday Reunion, fall 2016) .

While the approach of editor may serve to make the particular piece of writing better, it does little to support the student in becoming a stronger, more independent writer. Therefore, we focus our conferring energies on the writers themselves.
The Architecture of a Conference: What to Do
While there is indeed no one way to conduct a writing conference, we have found it helpful to follow a few steps to increase the odds that each conference yields an impactful result. The steps of a Research-Decide-Teach ("RDT Conference"), often called an "architecture," are outlined below. There are other types of conferences as well, such as a compliment conference, but the RDT Conference is a good starting place.

Research- One of the goals of the research phase of a writing conference is to nudge kids to talk at a higher level about their writing. Initially, conferences often begin by asking the student an open-ended question, a question that gets them to say a lot about their writing. I'll often initiate a conference by asking, "What can you tell me about the work you're doing as a writer today?" And then listen. Often, students will need further prompting, so we may need to ask a few assessment questions to instigate more talk on the part of the writer, nudging them to provide us with more information about their work (see suggestions below). If we are returning to a student, perhaps from earlier in the week or last week, we want to be sure to check our conferring notes to follow-through on previous conferences. To do this, we might say, "Last time we met we worked on____... how's that going for you?" or "Would you show me a few places where you tried it?"

In addition to listening, the research phase is also a time to read of the student's work. You don't have to read all of it! Frequently, it pays to read the part about which you and the student are conversing. While reading, look for how the student is doing or progressing in the area of writing upon which your discussion is focused.

Compliment- After researching students, we provide them with feedback. And we begin with a compliment. This compliment should be authentic, specific, and serve to acknowledge one thing the writer is doing you would love for them to continue doing. Now, they may not be doing it elegantly or perfectly! But perhaps, they are on what Peter Elbow calls "the edge" of doing it. So compliment them on it!

One way to light someone up is to acknowledge them for something. And a compliment should do both: Light the student up (try to make them smile!) and acknowledge them for a writerly move they are already demonstrating.

Lucy Calkins once said, "A good compliment can accelerate achievement." And when students know they'll be receiving feedback that is positive, they will be glad to see us sit down next to them.

Teach- Following the compliment, writing workshop teachers will often ask, "Can I teach you something?" At this point, we have silently selected in our teacher minds one thing, one method or move, that would benefit this student in his or her writing. This is often in the form of a tip or strategy that we are now going to take some time to teach the writer. It is important to remember that this tip should be something that is (a) within the writer's zone of proximal development, and (b) transferable to pieces of future writing.

So we begin by stating what the writing move or convention is and explaining it. Many times, I'll rely on two basic steps to teach students during a conference:

(1.) Step One: Use a mentor text - Most of the time, I'll begin by saying, "One thing that helps me..." and I'll show the student by way of my own writing (or sometimes I use another writer's text) what it is I am attempting to teach. During this process, it's important to break down the writing move, convention, or strategy into replicable steps that a student can follow.

(2.) Step Two: Ask the student to try - After teaching the student, ask them to try it in their own writing piece. You may ask them to physically write it in front of you or "write it in the air," which means to say what they write, while not physically writing. This often saves time and allows us to assess whether or not students actually understood what it was we were attempting to teach.

Link- Essentially, the link is a recap of what we just taught the writer. Writing workshop teachers often end conferences by saying the words, "So today, and everyday, when you are . . ." and restating the teaching point. It's helpful to leave an artifact, if possible. This may by a post-it with the strategy written on it, or perhaps a copy of a mentor text we used during the conference.
Quick Tips

Aim for three to four conferences per workshop- As a teacher, especially when we are just getting started, it is helpful to set a goal for how many conferences we want to hold during a workshop. This will, of course, depend on our time structure and how many students we teach. Middle school teachers often hold fewer individual conferences and rely more on small groups.

Avoid questioning the conference away- Carl Anderson recommends conferences be around 4-7 minutes long. Be careful not to spend this entire conference time asking students questions! This will negate effectiveness and begin to intrude on actual teaching time (which is a main point of conferring). A few high-leverage assessment questions might sound like:

"How's that going?"

"Can you say more about that?"

"Can you show me where you tried that in your writing?"

Do your homework ahead of conferences- Research often starts by observing the student from afar, looking through past conferring notes and by taking a tour through their notebook/folder/on-demand ahead of time, and/or while they are still writing. Walking into a conference "prepared" can help us feel more confident about how to best support a writer.

Think about what's easy and what's going to be tricky for this writer- Conferences help build important relationship between teachers and writers, so as we get to know our students, we can begin to anticipate what strengths and needs each student has within his or her writing as we approach each conference.

Confer with students, even if you don't feel like you are "good at it" - It takes time to become good at conferring- years, even! But realize that even by the sheer fact that we are sitting down next to students to talk with them about their writing, we are sending a positive message that helps nurture a crucial element to teaching: relationship with student.

Keep records of your conferring - It is helpful to write some things down after each conference. This allows us to both remember what we taught in previous conferences, as well as assess as to what degree our previous teaching "stuck with" our writers.

Next Steps

In your conferences, work to establish multiple lines of inquiry with writers. You might ask, "So that's one thing you're working on. What else are you working on?" Or, "Tell me about how punctuation will help us read this part here?" Or, "Can you say a little about how this part fits with what you know about this type of writing?" Establishing multiple lines of inquiry can help determine what the most appropriate or needed teaching point might be.

Work on building a conferring kit. Often kits include samples of teacher writing, mentor texts that students are familiar with, post-it notes, copies of checklists and/or rubrics, and lists of possible assessment questions.

Link Roundup from TWT Suggested Reading
GIVEAWAY: RENEW! BECOME A BETTER AND MORE AUTHENTIC WRITING TEACHER, BY SHAWNA COPPOLA

This giveaway is for a copy of Renew! Become a Better - and More Authentic - Writing Teacher.Many thanks to Stenhouse Publishers for donating a copy for one reader. (If the winner has a U.S. address, you may choose a paper or eBook. If the winner has an international mailing address, then you will receive an eBook.)

For a chance to win this copy of Renew! Become a Better - and More Authentic - Writing Teacher,please leave a comment about this or any blog post in this blog series by Monday, August 7th at 5:00 p.m. EDT. Beth Moore will use a random number generator to pick the winner's commenter number. His/her name will be announced in the ICYMI blog post for this series on Tuesday, August 8th.

Please be sure to leave a valid e-mail address when you post your comment, so Beth can contact you to obtain your mailing address if you win. From there, our contact at Stenhouse will ship your book out to you. (NOTE: Your e-mail address will not be published online if you leave it in the e-mail field only.)

If you are the winner of the book, Betsy will email you with the subject line of TWO WRITING TEACHERS - RENEW BOOK. Please respond to her e-mail with your mailing address within five days of receipt. Unfortunately, a new winner will be chosen if a response isn't received within five days of the giveaway announcement.

For more than 29 years, Lanny has taught, coached, presented, staff developed, and consulted within the exciting and enigmatic world of literacy. With unyielding passion and belief in the possibility of workshop teaching, Lanny has worked to support students, teachers, and school administrators around the country in outgrowing themselves as both writers and readers. Working first as a classroom teacher, then as a coach and TCRWP Staff Developer, Lanny is now a literacy specialist, working and living in the great state of Connecticut. Outside of literacy, he enjoys raising his three ambitious young daughters with his wife, and playing the piano. Find him on this blog, as well as on Twitter @LannyBall. Lanny is also a former co-author of a blog dedicated to supporting writing teachers and coaches that maintain classroom writing workshops, twowritingteachers.org. View all posts by Lanny Ball

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"Lift the ball with your right hand, and pretend your right knee is tied to your right elbow." Placing the orange ball uncertainly in my right hand, I glanced over at Mr. Brown, my new basketball coach. Fixing his gaze squarely upon me, he added, "You can do this."

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Jennifer Findley

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| | Filed Under: Reading

One of my favorite parts of Reading Workshop is doing independent reading conferences. I am an avid reader, so I love getting the chance to talk with students about what they are reading. However, I do remember struggling with when and how to go about doing independent reading conferences in the busy day. I wanted to share some ideas with you about how to get started with independent reading conferences in your classroom.

Figuring out when to do independent reading conferences is the biggest struggle teachers face and one of the reasons many teachers don't do them. I do guided reading groups so my tips are based on that. However, if you use a basal, you may find these helpful as well.

In the first few weeks of school (before guided reading groups start), I focus my energy on independent reading conferences. I use this time to get the students used to them and to get to know my students as readers. In the beginning, your conferences will take a little longer than usual, but once you and your students get used to them, you will have them fine tuned to less than 5 minutes.

Once guided reading groups start, I have my students bring their independent reading books to the guided reading table. They know to continue reading their independent book while they wait for the group to begin.

I do 1-2 reading conferences a day before we start the group. One a day is the best, but if you have a group of more than 5 kids, you have to do 2 on some days.

Now that you have some ideas about when to do independent reading conferences, let's move to the how. When I do an independent reading conference, I try to sit at the student's level and beside him or her. This is not always practical when doing them at the guided reading table, but I try to lean in and really get on the same eye level with the students while we are discussing the book.

Then I follow these general guidelines to conduct the initial conference on a book (printable download available at the end of this post).

Ask the student if you may see the book they are reading. Glance over the front cover and maybe even skim the back of the book. This will quickly give you the gist of the book.

Based on your initial first glance at the book, make a comment about the book followed by a prompting question to start the conversation. Examples:

Oh, I have heard of this book. I have always wanted to read it.

People say _______. What do you think about it?

I read this book last year. What part are you at?

Some of my students really enjoyed this book last year. What do you think so far?

This (mention something on the cover) looks interesting. What is happening here?

I think (topic of the book) is fascinating/intriguing/interesting. What are you thinking so far?

Once you open the conference like this and the students get used to this type of dialogue about books, the conversations will start flowing naturally. However if you still have some reluctant students, I have a list of guiding questions that you can use for fiction and nonfiction. You can download these at the bottom of this post.

Once you do that initial conference, the following conferences on that book will be super easy. Jot yourself some notes on what you discussed with the students to help you remember. I usually ask a question like "What do you think will happen next?" for fiction stories and then quickly jot down what they said.

Then I open the conference with "So last time you said ________. Did that happen?" For nonfiction, I may ask something like "What do you still want to learn?" and then I would ask them if they learned it to open the next conference.

In regards to the form I use, I keep it very simple. I write the date, the title, the page number, quick prompt to get me going on the next conference, the student's plan with the book and any other notes in regards to their reading behaviors or reading strategies. Here is an example.

Before I begin a conference, I turn to my form and quickly reread my last entry to know where to start the conference. This method is super efficient and really helps create a culture of readers.

Independent Reading Conferences Questions and Forms

I hope this post has provided you with some resources you needed to get independent reading conferences going in your classroom. Click here on the image below to download all the forms mentioned in this post.
How I Teach Reading in 5th Grade Holding Students Accountable for Independent Reading Reading Centers for Upper Elementary Guided Reading Binder (FREE Forms) Guided Reading Supplies for Upper Elementary If you are interested in reading about the professional books that guide my reading instruction click here to see my recommendations.
To read more about how I teach reading click on the links below:

Do you independent reading conferences in your room? Do you have any tips that help make them successful and time-efficient? Let me know in the comments!

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Independent Reading Conferences {A Guide to Getting Started} - Teaching with Jennifer Findley

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Filed Under: Reading One of my favorite parts of Reading Workshop is doing independent reading conferences. I am an avid reader, so I love getting the chance to talk with students about what they are reading. However, I do remember struggling with when and how to go about doing independent reading conferences in the busy day.

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The Unexpected Power of Reading Conferences

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The Unexpected Power of Reading Conferences

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Jori Krulder, Edutopia

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A high school English teacher has a single accountability measure for her students' choice reading: talking to them about it.

Teachers face many challenges when it comes to helping students develop a love of reading, some of which I wrote about in " Putting an End to Fake Reading," but one of the most daunting is the accountability piece. How do we know if students are actually reading? How do we assess the learning students are gaining from choice reading? How do we include this in our grade books?

I've tried many accountability measures over the years, including reading logs of various formats, book reports, assorted handouts, and reading quizzes on Accelerated Reader, but Donalyn Miller's The Book Whisperer and Penny Kittle's Book Love helped me realize why those assessments were so unsatisfying. If I wanted my students to become authentic readers, why was I assigning them activities that real readers-including me-would never voluntarily engage in?

I had to ask myself: What do real readers do? And one important part of my own reading life is talking about what I read with others. So I decided to try an experiment and do away with all accountability measures for choice reading except for one-on-one conferences with me.

The results were profoundly positive.

The Logistics of Conferencing

Although the idea of talking about books with students is appealing-honestly, it's one of the main reasons I became an English teacher-the first thing I had to tackle were the logistics of the conferences.

In my on-level 10th grade English classes, I allot 10 to 15 minutes of our 55-minute periods for choice reading, and my students range widely in reading ability and motivation. I was worried that juggling everything going on in my classroom would be overwhelming, but with some structure and fine-tuning, I was able to have great discussions with two to three students each day, and to talk with each of my students at least once a month.

At the beginning of the period each day, I greet students and quickly take down the page number they're on in their books. This serves several purposes. First, it's a reminder for students to have their books out and open for reading right at the beginning of the period. Also, it gives me a quick way of assessing their progress through their book. If a student has read only a few pages over the course of the week, I know they're probably in need of some help in either getting into their books or choosing a new one, and a conference is a perfect way to work out which it is and find a solution.

I then grab my reading conference binder and sit down in one of two chairs I've arranged in a comfy corner of my room, calling over a student to begin our chat. I've established norms for independent work in my classroom, so with occasional reminders, students know that this is a time to work quietly on their own.

Keeping Track of Conversations

To keep track of conferences, I keep a binder with dividers for each class and a note sheet for each student where I record the details of our conversations for future reference.

I always start out by asking each student to remind me what they're currently reading and what page they're on, and I ask what rating they would give their book and why. This gives us a jumping-off point for what to talk about next. I also have some reading conference questions to refer to if I'm stuck for something to ask, but the more I conference with students, the easier it is to know what to talk about. I only need to remember my purpose for reading conferences: supporting students in thinking about their books and helping them find books they enjoy.

Assessing Choice Reading

Real-life readers don't get scored for reading for pleasure, but I do want to encourage students to find books they enjoy and to give them a way to keep track of their own reading progress, so I created a simple sheet for them to record the books they finish, along with their thoughts about what they read. When students finish a book, they complete this sheet and bring it to our conference, and we use it to talk about the book and what they might like to read next.

I don't have a requirement for how many books students must finish, and these sheets are not scored in any way. I simply save them in the student's class file for reflection at the end of the grading period. The only score my students receive for choice reading is this reading reflection each six weeks, in which they write their thoughts and feelings about the books they've read and what they'd like to read next. I give them completion points, not a grade, for doing the reflection.

The Results of My Choice Reading Experiment

When I began this experiment, I was concerned that, without the accountability of points entered in the grade book, my students would not be motivated to read. My fear, however, was proven beautifully unfounded.

More of my students read far more books than ever before, and with our regular conversations, it's far easier to notice and support students who are struggling with finding a book they enjoy. I'm able to tap into some student interests-sports fiction and poetry collections among them-and, most importantly, I've noticed my connections with students strengthening. And that's probably the most important thing a teacher can do to improve learning in the classroom.

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The Unexpected Power of Reading Conferences

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A high school English teacher has a single accountability measure for her students' choice reading: talking to them about it.

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Jori Krulder, Edutopia

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Laura Benson

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Laura Benson

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This is a vital subscription of professional articles, video, and contemporary thinking for your school!

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Tara Barnett and Kate Mills explain how they use examples from YA authors of how to mine everyday life for powerful ideas. They then help students move from ideas to blurbs as they start their realistic fiction drafts.

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Tara Barnett and Kate Mills explain how they use examples from YA authors of how to mine everyday life for powerful ideas. They then help students move from ideas to blurbs as they start their realistic fiction drafts.

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Must have professional text by Catlin Tucker

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Must have professional text by Catlin Tucker

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The Distance Learning Playbook Grades K - 12: Teaching for Engagement and Impact in Any Setting

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The Distance Learning Playbook Grades K - 12: Teaching for Engagement and Impact in Any Setting

# data[].attributes.body
Fisher, Frey, and Hattie

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Conferring with Students for Your Current Unit/Focus 

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Conferring with Students for Your Current Unit/Focus 

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What will you listen for/look for in your students work as you confer with them to know that they are making healthy progress and growth of Unit goals (concepts, skill, confidence)?       To guide your conferring, what are your Listen, Name, and Nudge thoughts?

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As you confer with students, how are you nurturing their independence and agency in having a go key skills or concepts? What do your conferences sounds like when you are helping students engage in essential independent practice?

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Standards-based Checklist: Science Learning and Writing Foci, too

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Standards-based Checklist: Science Learning and Writing Foci, too

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One tool I often use for my conference record note taking and feedback to/with students are standards-based checklist. Check out the examples and development directions below/attached.

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How To Give Effective Feedback To Your Students

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How To Give Effective Feedback To Your Students

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Susan M. Brookhart

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Description

Properly crafted and individually tailored feedback on student work boosts student achievement across subjects and grades. In this updated and expanded second edition of her best-selling book, Susan M. Brookhart offers enhanced guidance and three lenses for considering the effectiveness of feedback: (1) does it conform to the research, (2) does it offer an episode of learning for the student and teacher, and (3) does the student use the feedback to extend learning? In this comprehensive guide for teachers at all levels, you will find information on every aspect of feedback, including

Strategies to uplift and encourage students to persevere in their work.

How to formulate and deliver feedback that both assesses learning and extends instruction.

When and how to use oral, written, and visual as well as individual, group, or whole-class feedback.

A concise and updated overview of the research findings on feedback and how they apply to today's classrooms.

In addition, the book is replete with examples of good and bad feedback as well as rubrics that you can use to construct feedback tailored to different learners, including successful students, struggling students, and English language learners.

The vast majority of students will respond positively to feedback that shows you care about them and their learning. Whether you teach young students or teens, this book is an invaluable resource for guaranteeing that the feedback you give students is engaging, informative, and, above all, effective.

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How to Give Effective Feedback to Your Students (Paperback)

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Properly crafted and individually tailored feedback on student work boosts student achievement across subjects and grades. In this updated and expanded second edition of her best-selling book, Susan M.

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Learner-Focused Feedback and Feedback to Feed Forward

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Learner-Focused Feedback and Feedback to Feed Forward

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Amy Tepper and Patrick

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John Hattie and Shirley Clarke

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Feedback is arguably the most critical and powerful aspect of teaching and learning. Yet, there remains a paradox: why is feedback so powerful and why is it so variable? It is this paradox which Visible Learning: Feedback aims to unravel and resolve.

Combining research excellence, theory and vast teaching expertise, this book covers the principles and practicalities of feedback, including:

the variability of feedback,

the importance of surface, deep and transfer contexts,

student to teacher feedback,

peer to peer feedback,

the power of within lesson feedback and manageable post-lesson feedback.

With numerous case-studies, examples and engaging anecdotes woven throughout, the authors also shed light on what creates an effective feedback culture and provide the teaching and learning structures which give the best possible framework for feedback.

Visible Learning: Feedback brings together two internationally known educators and merges Hattie's world-famous research expertise with Clarke's vast experience of classroom practice and application, making this book an essential resource for teachers in any setting, phase or country.

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feedback; formative assessment; hattie; peer feedback; shirley clarke; student feedback; surface and deep learning; visible learning

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Visible Learning: Feedback [Hattie, John] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Visible Learning: Feedback

# data[].attributes.headline
Feedback That Moves Writers Forward: How to Escape Correcting Mode to Transform Student Writing 

# data[].attributes.subject
Feedback That Moves Writers Forward: How to Escape Correcting Mode to Transform Student Writing 

# data[].attributes.body
Patty McGee

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feedback that moves writers forward: how to escape correcting mode to transform student writing (corwin literacy)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
teaching methods & materials - language arts

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
education / teaching methods & materials / general

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
education / teaching methods & materials / language arts

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
education/teaching methods & materials - language arts

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
english language - composition and exercises - study and teaching

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
english language - rhetoric - study and teaching

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
teaching methods & materials - language arts

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
elementary writing; secondary writing; grammar; writer's identity; writer's block; writing conventions

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
education / teaching methods & materials / general

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
education / teaching methods & materials / language arts

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
education/teaching methods & materials - language arts

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Feedback That Moves Writers Forward: How to Escape Correcting Mode to Transform Student Writing (Corwin Literacy)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Amazon.com: Feedback That Moves Writers Forward: How to Escape Correcting Mode to Transform Student Writing (Corwin Literacy) (9781506349923): McGee, Patty: Books

# data[].attributes.body
Carl Anderson

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Assessing Writers [Anderson, Carl] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Assessing Writers

# data[].attributes.headline
Active Learning Through Formative Assessment

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Active Learning Through Formative Assessment

# data[].attributes.body
Shirley Clarke

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
active learning through formative assessment

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
education / teaching methods & materials / general

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
education / teaching methods & materials / general

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Active Learning Through Formative Assessment

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Active Learning Through Formative Assessment [Shirley Clarke] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Active Learning Through Formative Assessment

# data[].attributes.headline
Formative Assessment in the Secondary Classroom

# data[].attributes.subject
Formative Assessment in the Secondary Classroom

# data[].attributes.body
Shirley Clarke

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
formative assessment in the secondary classroom

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
education / teaching methods & materials / general

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
education / teaching methods & materials / general

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Formative Assessment in the Secondary Classroom

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Amazon.com: Formative Assessment in the Secondary Classroom (9780340887660): Shirley Clarke: Books

# data[].attributes.headline
Kindred Formative Pedagogy - How to Create and Use Rubrics for Formative Assessment 

# data[].attributes.subject
Kindred Formative Pedagogy - How to Create and Use Rubrics for Formative Assessment 

# data[].attributes.body
Susan Brookhart

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What is a rubric? A rubric is a coherent set of criteria for student work that describes levels of performance quality. Sounds simple enough, right? Unfortunately, rubrics are commonly misunderstood and misused.

The good news is that when rubrics are created and used correctly, they are strong tools that support and enhance classroom instruction and student learning. In this comprehensive guide, author Susan M. Brookhart identifies two essential components of effective rubrics: (1) criteria that relate to the learning (not the "tasks") that students are being asked to demonstrate and (2) clear descriptions of performance across a continuum of quality. She outlines the difference between various kinds of rubrics (for example, general versus task-specific, and analytic versus holistic), explains when using each type of rubric is appropriate, and highlights examples from all grade levels and assorted content areas. In addition, Brookhart addresses

* Common misconceptions about rubrics;
* Important differences between rubrics and other assessment tools such as checklists and rating scales, and when such alternatives can be useful; and
* How to use rubrics for formative assessment and grading, including standards-based grading and report card grades.

Intended for educators who are already familiar with rubrics as well as those who are not, this book is a complete resource for writing effective rubrics and for choosing wisely from among the many rubrics that are available on the Internet and from other sources. And it makes the case that rubrics, when used appropriately, can improve outcomes by helping teachers teach and helping students learn.

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how to create and use rubrics for formative assessment and grading

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
ascd; susan m. brookhart; assessment; report cards; student assessment; teaching for meaning; critical thinking

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
How to Create and Use Rubrics for Formative Assessment and Grading

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How to Create and Use Rubrics for Formative Assessment and Grading [Brookhart, Susan M.] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. How to Create and Use Rubrics for Formative Assessment and Grading

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I Am Reading:  Nurturing Young Children's Meaning Making and Joyful Engagement with Any Book

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I Am Reading:  Nurturing Young Children's Meaning Making and Joyful Engagement with Any Book

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Kathy Collins & Matt Glover

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It's vital that we support young children's reading in ways that nurture healthy reading identities, that foster an attraction to books and a love of reading, and that teach them how make meaning in any text they choose, whether or not they can read the words.
-Kathy Collins and Matt Glover

What do we see when young children interact with books before they can read the words?

Kathy Collins and Matt Glover see real reading, characterized by purposeful meaning-making and opportunities for reading growth and language development.

"One of our biggest hopes," write Kathy and Matt, "is to help you see and value all of the powerful work young children do as readers." With I Am Reading you'll see that fostering what little ones do before they can read the words is important early instruction.

Kathy and Matt show how to nurture, nudge, and instruct young readers to make meaning in any text, whether or not they are reading the words. They share:

observation guides for children reading any kind of book

specific descriptions of language and independence development

sample reading conferences and whole-class minilessons

suggestions for creating reading opportunities in preschool and reading workshops in K-1

action plans to get you going

25 online video clips of children making meaning and teachers supporting them.

I Am Reading pairs two important voices in early literacy to remind us that we're teaching children, not reading levels. "In the rush toward ever higher reading levels in the early years," write Kathy and Matt, "we may fail to value the strategy use and high-level thinking children do before they are reading conventionally." Join Kathy and Matt and look anew at your young readers so you can provide the kind of support that gets them off to a great start.

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i am reading: nurturing young children's meaning making and joyful engagement with any book

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
teaching methods & materials - reading & phonics

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
education / teaching methods & materials / reading & phonics

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
education/teaching methods & materials - reading & phonics

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
teaching methods & materials - reading & phonics

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
education / teaching methods & materials / reading & phonics

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
education/teaching methods & materials - reading & phonics

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
I Am Reading: Nurturing Young Children's Meaning Making and Joyful Engagement with Any Book

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Amazon.com: I Am Reading: Nurturing Young Children's Meaning Making and Joyful Engagement with Any Book (9780325050928): Collins, Kathy, Glover, Matt: Books

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Grading and Reporting Wisdom

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"Supporting effective communication of achievement and grades that are accurate, consistent, meaningful and that support learning"

...is an independent consultant who specializes in issues related to the communication of student achievement, especially grading and reporting. Through books & articles, presentations and working with small groups, Ken helps individuals, school and school districts to improve communication about student achievement.

In 1995, Ken developed eight guidelines for grading, and he has continued to refine those guidelines. In 2007, the same ideas were organized fifteen fixes for broken grades. He has also designed eleven guidelines for standard based reporting. He is now generally acknowledged to be one of a small group of leading experts on how to grade and report effectively.

Ken is a sought after speaker on the topic of grading & reporting. Over the last 19 years he has worked in 47 states, 9 provinces and one territory, and in 25 countries outside North America. Read more about Ken's keynote presentations, workshops and other group consultation services.

Publications

As a widely recognized expert on grading & reporting, Ken has three main books currently in print, numerous published articles and several other resources. Find out more about these publications and where to purchase them.

Resources

A comprehensive list of Grade Doctor approved resources for educators.

PowerSchool

Read more about Ken's recommended gradebook that includes all the necessary features to support grading for learning.

""Better grades for me means making them accurate, consistent, meaningful, and supportive of learning.""

- KEN O'CONNOR, How to Grade for Learning, 4th Edition, Corwin, 2018, 2

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is an independent consultant who specializes in issues related to the communication of student achievement, especially grading and reporting. Through books & articles, presentations and working with small groups, Ken helps individuals, school and school districts to improve communication about student achievement. In 1995, Ken developed eight guidelines for grading, and he has continued to refine those guidelines.

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Already Ready: Nurturing Writers in Preschool and Kindergarten

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Already Ready: Nurturing Writers in Preschool and Kindergarten

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Katie Wood Ray & Matt Glover

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From the very first chapter of this informative and inspiring book, a clear picture emerges of how even three- and four-year-olds' capacities for serious authorship can and should be supported.
Coauthor of Young Investigators: The Project Approach in the Early Years

By the time they reach preschool or kindergarten, young children are already writers. They don't have much experience, but they're filled with stories to tell and ideas to express - they want to show the world what they know and see. All they need is a nurturing teacher like you to recognize the writer at work within them. All you need to help them is Already Ready.

Taking an exciting, new approach to working with our youngest students, Already Ready shows you how, by respecting children as writers, engaged in bookmaking, you can gently nudge them toward a lifetime of joyful writing. Katie Wood Ray and Matt Glover guide you through fundamental concepts of early writing. Providing numerous, helpful examples of early writing - complete with transcriptions - they demonstrate how to:

make sense of children's writing and interpret how they represent sounds, ideas, and images

see important developmental signs in writers that you can use to help them grow further

recognize the thinking young children engage in and discover that it's the same thinking more experienced writers use to craft purposeful, thoughtful pieces.

Then Ray and Glover show you how little ones can develop powerful understandings about:

texts and their characteristics

the writing process

what it means to be a writer.

You'll learn how to support your writers' quest to make meaning, as they grow their abilities and refine their thinking about writing through teaching strategies such as:

reading aloud

working side by side with writers

sharing children's writing.

Writing is just one part of a busy early childhood classroom, but even in little doses, a nurturing approach can work wonders and help children connect the natural writer inside them to a life of expressing themselves on paper. Find that approach, share it with your students, and you'll discover that you don't have to get students ready to write - they're Already Ready.

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already ready: nurturing writers in preschool and kindergarten

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composition & creative writing - general

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composition & creative writing - general

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
education / teaching methods & materials / general

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
education / early childhood (incl. preschool & kindergarten)

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education/teaching methods & materials - language arts

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language arts & disciplines / composition & creative writing

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
methods of instruction in early childhood education

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teaching methods & materials - language arts

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
education / teaching methods & materials / general

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
education / early childhood (incl. preschool & kindergarten)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
education/teaching methods & materials - language arts

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
language arts & disciplines / composition & creative writing

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
teaching methods & materials - language arts

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
methods of instruction in early childhood education

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Already Ready: Nurturing Writers in Preschool and Kindergarten

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Amazon.com: Already Ready: Nurturing Writers in Preschool and Kindergarten (8601419153053): Ray, Katie Wood, Glover, Matt: Books

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About the Authors: Writing Workshop with Our Youngest Writers

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About the Authors: Writing Workshop with Our Youngest Writers

# data[].attributes.body
Katie Wood Ray & Lisa Cleaveland

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About the Authors is about the littlest authors - those in kindergarten through second grade. Based on a profound understanding of the ways in which young children learn, it shows teachers how to launch a writing workshop by inviting children to do what they do naturally - make stuff. So why not write books?

Gifted educator and author of the best-selling What You Know by Heart (Heinemann, 2002), Katie Wood Ray has seen young authors do just that. And she wants your students to be able to do the same. Beautifully describing young children in the act of learning, she demonstrates what it takes to nourish writing right from the start:

a supportive environment that enables even the youngest students to write

respect and sensitivity to the way children really learn

inviting instruction that both encourages and elevates young writers

rich language that stimulates writing

classroom talk and children's literature that energize young writers

developmental considerations that shape the structure of the workshop, making it natural, joyful, and absolutely appropriate.

What's more, Ray explains step by step how to set up and maintain a primary writing workshop, detailing eleven units of study that cover idea generation, text structures, different genres, and illustrations that work with text. She also draws on data, projects, and the language of teaching used in the classroom of first-grade teacher Lisa Cleaveland. Ray allows readers to "listen in" to Lisa as she helps her young students learn from professional writers, work with intention, and think about their own process.
Chockfull of examples of little books by young children, About the Authors is proof positive that a primary writing workshop is a smart writing move.

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about the authors: writing workshop with our youngest writers

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english language;composition and exercises;study and teaching (early childhood)

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education / teaching methods & materials / general

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
english language - composition and exercises - study and teaching (early childhood)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
english language;composition and exercises;study and teaching (early childhood)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
language arts & disciplines / study & teaching

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
education / teaching methods & materials / general

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
language arts & disciplines / study & teaching

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
About the Authors: Writing Workshop with Our Youngest Writers

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Amazon.com: About the Authors: Writing Workshop with Our Youngest Writers (9780325005119): Ray, Katie Wood, Cleaveland, Lisa B: Books

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In Pictures and In Words: Teaching the Qualities of Good Writing Through Illustration Study 

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In Pictures and In Words: Teaching the Qualities of Good Writing Through Illustration Study 

# data[].attributes.body
Katie Wood Ray

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
in pictures and in words: teaching the qualities of good writing through illustration study

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
teaching methods & materials - arts & humanities

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
education / teaching methods & materials / arts & humanities

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
education/teaching methods & materials - language arts

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
teaching methods & materials - arts & humanities

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
teaching methods & materials - language arts

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
education / teaching methods & materials / arts & humanities

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
education/teaching methods & materials - language arts

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
teaching methods & materials - language arts

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
In Pictures and In Words: Teaching the Qualities of Good Writing Through Illustration Study

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Amazon.com: In Pictures and In Words: Teaching the Qualities of Good Writing Through Illustration Study (9780325028552): Ray, Katie Wood: Books

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Get Set, Go!: Creating Successful Grading and Reporting Systems 

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Get Set, Go!: Creating Successful Grading and Reporting Systems 

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Thomas Guskey

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Whenever the topic of grading comes up, nearly everyone teachers, parents, students, and educational consultants will have an opinion about what should be graded, how grades should be calculated, and what the grades mean. Some grading practices are rooted in habit ( This is how I have always graded ); some are dictated by technology ( Our grading software requires us to include six grades that are averaged ); and some are informed by district or school policies ( No zeroes allowed ). The result can be a confusing and often contentious cacophony of positions regarding grading policies and practices.

Dr. Tom Guskey is a recognized scholar who has studied the extensive research base associated with all aspects of grading and reporting. However, he is not just a renowned researcher Guskey's long-standing work with schools and districts has equipped him to offer the eminently practical guidance needed to overhaul outdated and misaligned grading and reporting principles and practices. The sage advice he offers in Get Set, Go will make it much more likely that resulting grading reforms are research-based, understood by all stakeholders, and likely to endure. Simply put, if you want the most comprehensive and authoritative treatment of this topic, then you need this book! -- -- Jay McTighe, educational author and consultant

As an education consultant and reformer-at-heart, I loved On Your Mark, but as a classroom teacher, I wondered how exactly to put his innovative grading ideas into practice. Enter Get Set, Go, a step-by-step roadmap for educators looking to reform their grading and reporting policies and practices. In the tradition of great reformers, Guskey does not sugarcoat the problems or offer platitudes to appease all kinds of educators. Instead, he gets right to the heart of the assessment conundrum: how our common grading practices misrepresent students abilities and how we can fix them. I read this book in one sitting thanks to Guskey's crisp writing, pragmatic solutions, and real-world examples. I found myself nodding along on nearly every page. Get Set, Go is a must-read for any educator who knows the system isn't fair and wants solutions for how to change it. This one has a permanent place on my bookshelf. -- Alexis Wiggins, author of The Best Class You Never Taught: How Spider Web Discussion Can Turn Students into Learning Leaders (ASCD, 2017)

Get Set, Go is essential reading for any education leader or leadership team contemplating a review of grading and reporting policies and practices. In this well-written book, Guskey offers solid research (rather than opinion) and presents validated evidence (rather than anecdotes), which serve as a firm foundation for this important and challenging work. He also provides helpful, user-friendly guidelines for a disciplined, thoughtful, and coherent way forward. This book not only belongs on the shelf but also in every practitioner's hands. -- -- David Chojnacki, executive director emeritus, NESA Council of Overseas Schools

Get Set, Go is an essential read for educators taking on the challenge of transforming their grading and reporting systems. Author Tom Guskey delivers the bridge from the theoretical to the practical based on a solid foundation of research. He candidly points out pitfalls and articulates next steps, providing the how to implementing the grading reforms we have envisioned. Delivered through a passionate and committed voice, the text leaves readers feeling inspired and prepared to lead change for the benefit of students, parents, and educators. -- Katherine T. Smith, high school administrator, educational consultant, and author

What if grading reform myths were debunked and, in their place, a clear, organic, and approachable process was offered to tackle grading and reporting reforms? In his latest magnum opus, Get Set, Go, Tom Guskey does just that by laying out a refreshing approach to developing, bringing clarity to, and implementing an inclusive, comprehensive, and evidence-based grading reform process. This is the quintessential book for the Coalition for Change that will serve as a school's guiding force in thoroughly examining grading biases while forging ahead with implementing effective grading and reporting reforms that are both formative and informative. -- Michael L. Smith, director, American School of Valencia, Spain

Get Set, Go delivers the practical, comprehensive, and evidence-backed action steps educators need to make impactful and lasting changes to their grading and reporting practices. Guskey helps us understand why we need to make grading improvements and how to successfully accomplish them. We learn that it takes understanding key stakeholders perspectives, clarity of purpose, assessment and instructional alignment, and a shift in how we report nonacademic factors to get grading right. Get Set Go is the ultimate grading resource and will have readers returning to it time and again. -- Laura Link, assistant professor, educational leadership and policy, College of Public Service

While Dr. Guskey and others have made the case for grading reform elsewhere, and how-to recommendations abound, Get Set, Go skillfully weaves the research evidence into eminently practical advice for doing the work. I have been studying and participating in the conversation on effective grading practices for almost twenty years; and the very first chapter of this book yields multiple concrete actions for our district's grading and assessment taskforce. Get Set, Go has leapt onto my personal list of essential reads for educators committed to making grading practices work for student learning. -- Andrew Maxey, director of special programs, Tuscaloosa City Schools

Get Set, Go! Creating Successful Grading and Reporting Systems is one of those rare books that artfully bridges the divide between research and practice. In the introduction, Dr. Tom Guskey shares his hopes that this sequel to On Your Mark will be the most helpful book you can read on grading and reporting reform, and it does not disappoint. Quelling any notion of a perfect grading system, Guskey builds a balanced case for research-based better practices that are good for students and contribute to their learning. I often work with courageous school leaders who are determined to transform grading systems. From now on, I ll start those conversations with Get Set, Go! -- -- Lu S. Young, executive director of the UK Center for Next Generation Leadership

--This text refers to the perfect edition.

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go!: creating successful grading and reporting systems (an action plan for leading lasting grading reform in changing classrooms)

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grading and marking (students) - united states

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grading and marking (students);united states.

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best practices in grading; standards-based; strategic implementation; student experience; changes in education; changing schools; book; guide; educator; pedagogy; instruction; teaching; teacher; student; classroom; school; district; k-12

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Get Set, Go!: Creating Successful Grading and Reporting Systems (An action plan for leading lasting grading reform in changing classrooms)

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Buy Get Set, Go!: Creating Successful Grading and Reporting Systems (An action plan for leading lasting grading reform in changing classrooms): Read Kindle Store Reviews - Amazon.com

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What We Know About Grading: What Works, What Doesn't, and What's Next

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What We Know About Grading: What Works, What Doesn't, and What's Next

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Thomas Guskey

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grading research; report cards; standards-based grading; grading practices; student assessment; reliability in grading

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What We Know About Grading: What Works, What Doesn't, and What's Next

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Buy What We Know About Grading: What Works, What Doesn't, and What's Next: Read Kindle Store Reviews - Amazon.com

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Answers to Essential Questions About Standards, Assessments, Grading, and Reporting

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Answers to Essential Questions About Standards, Assessments, Grading, and Reporting

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Thomas Guskey & Lee Ann Jung

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How to Grade for Learning: Linking Grades to Standards 4th Edition

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How to Grade for Learning: Linking Grades to Standards 4th Edition

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Ken O'Connor

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how to grade for learning: linking grades to standards

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How to Grade for Learning: Linking Grades to Standards

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Buy How to Grade for Learning: Linking Grades to Standards: Read Kindle Store Reviews - Amazon.com

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How's It Going? A Practical Guide to Conferring with Student Writers

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How's It Going? A Practical Guide to Conferring with Student Writers

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Carl Anderson

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Our one-on-one talks with students during writing workshop offer us perfect opportunities to zero in on what each student needs as a writer. As Lead Staff Developer for the Teachers College Reading and Writing Project, Carl Anderson has provided hundreds of teachers with the information and confidence they need to make these complex conferences an effective part of classroom practice. Finally, in How's It Going?, Anderson shares his expertise with the rest of us.

For Anderson, the key to a powerful writing conference lies in understanding that it is a conversation with a clear purpose and a predictable structure. This is the best lens through which to view the task of talking about writing. To that end, Anderson shows how we can take what we already know about having effective conversations and use that knowledge. Sample transcripts of conferences with elementary and middle school students in both urban and suburban settings walk us through the process step by step, providing new insight into how ambitious conferences unfold.

Above all, How's It Going? is a practical book. Written in a conversational style, it's filled with lots of useful advice, including an in-depth discussion of the teacher's role in conferences, strategies for teaching students to take an active role, ways to weave in literature, minilessons, classroom management strategies, and responses to the most frequently asked questions about conferring. Along the way, readers will learn new ways of thinking, develop effective techniques, and perfect straightforward strategies. At the same time, they'll grasp the art and logic of conferring, and with this learning in mind, discover for themselves how to confer well.

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how's it going?: a practical guide to conferring with student writers

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education / teaching methods & materials / general

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education/teaching methods & materials - language arts

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english language - composition and exercises - study and teaching (elementary)

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language arts & disciplines / study & teaching

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teaching methods & materials - language arts

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education / teaching methods & materials / general

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education/teaching methods & materials - language arts

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language arts & disciplines / study & teaching

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teaching methods & materials - language arts

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How's It Going?: A Practical Guide to Conferring with Student Writers

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Amazon.com: How's It Going?: A Practical Guide to Conferring with Student Writers (9780325002248): Anderson, Carl: Books

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Amy Tepper & Patrick Flynn

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Tepper & Flynn - Thank you, Amy!

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Create as many breakout rooms as you have students. This way, each student is a group of one. As students are working "in" their breakout rooms independently, I pop into each room and we engage in short and meaningful conferences (I say each room but, in fact, I may meet with a few or several students each day but probably not all students everyday.). These are practical touch base or coaching level conferences and help keep me well informed about students' understanding and progress of our current focus/key concepts, skills, and/or strategies. And they give the kids a protected place and way to ask questions or fill us in on something they want us to know.

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Invite a student into your online classroom 5 minutes early and/or ask a student to stay after the whole group lesson for a few minutes. 

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Invite a student into your online classroom 5 minutes early and/or ask a student to stay after the whole group lesson for a few minutes. 

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This way, I gain essential conferring time with my students. Over the course of a week or two, I can often meet with all my students. Again, giving yourself permission to have short conferences is key to making all the logistics and power of conferring go really well for you and for your students.

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Encourage your students to meet together as peers for feedback, collaboration, and for company in these tough days of isolation for so many of us.  Practice what good peer conferences sounds like and look like with students before they engage in peer conferences on their own.  Structures can be helpful but they can also be stifling.  So, take care in mentoring students about how to talk with one another in a peer conference.  It can be helpful for students to plan for a peer conference by thinking about what they need to talk with someone about.  For example, as growing writers, ask students to tell their conference partner what feedback they are hoping for at the beginning of the peer conference and/or in an email to set up the peer conference.  Coach the kids, too, in focusing their peer conferences by sharing short pieces of their writing  or work- Not the entire piece of writing or all their math problems (or, at least, not very often and have the writer/learner seeking feedback to send his/her piece to a conference partner before the conference). As we begin engaging in peer conferring, I have often sat in a peer conference - especially in online contexts - to help the kids launch these successfully and meaningfully. You almost can't do too much modeling and fish bowling of peer conferences as the kids get started. Recording a peer team who is successful at conferring can be very illuminating to their classmates in knowing how to run their own peer conferences (with the modeling students' permission first, of course). Additionally, sometimes small forms to clarify roles and responsibilities can be helpful. But take care that these "training wheels" are not used forever or too often. With the understanding that conferences are caring conversations, students do become very proficient and supportive in running their own peer conferences. Take time periodically to debrief and reflect on these experiences with students so that peer conferring become richer and more student-led over time.

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Laugh Eat Learn

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Last week I had the opportunity to observe my guided reading groups in action with my instructional coach. I was surprised at the amount of conferring you can get done with the kids right there in groups vs. the weekly 1:1 conferring (without groups) I try to squeeze in every week. I decided this weekend I was going to set a plan in motion to get better at conferring with my students and pleasantly remembered the awesome nature of this app!

Need to take notes on your students? Pin it to save!

Now I have to admit, I've known about this app for a while. Last year, while teaching Kindergarten, I stumbled upon it and tried out the free trial with my kiddos. By the way, the trial only supports 1 subject of up to 10 kids. It was a great app, but because of the steep price and still getting on my feet as a newer teacher, I decided not to invest. But now was the perfect time to jump in with both feet. Confer is used to take anecdotal notes on your students on any subject. With the full version app, you can create many different subjects, import your same students in each easily, sort students into groups based on levels, strengths, teaching points, next steps, and so much more. It instantly gives groups based off levels, tags and other like comments in their notes.

The individual student view is simple and user-friendly! It shows all of your notes from newest to oldest in sequential order. When adding a new note, you have the option to type in the field or add/select from pre-loaded text/phrases you have typed before to save time! I went ahead and uploaded all the CAFE strategies with the common core standards linked. You also have the option of adding more than one note to each category.

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Confer: The Best APP for Conferring * Laugh Eat Learn

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This is by far my favorite app in my classroom to keep track of all my conferring. My student records are all organized and ready to go every day. Check out this review of this app that's great for keeping track of reading and writing in your classroom.

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Two Writing Teachers

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There are a variety of record-keeping apps, which make it possible to monitor your students’ writing progress. Confer, DailyNotes, Evernote, and Notability are four popular apps that promise …

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Liberator App - Online Confer Bind for Data Driven Progress Tracking

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Liberator App - Online Confer Bind for Data Driven Progress Tracking

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Digital Tools in Workshop

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Access 24/7 - not internet-based, no need for binder Scheduling student conferences - Click on and Confer will organize students by the date you have conferred with them last. Keeping track/list of strategy groups - Confer will organize students by tag (could be book title/unit of study), student strength, teaching point, next steps.

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Creativity to the Core

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Today, I must cut right to the chase because I am beyond excited about this new find! I was at a conference in Jacksonville, Florida right before Thanksgiving listening to a 2nd grade teacher talk about differentiation. It was a great presentation, but to be honest, I was thinking "I do most of these things in my own classroom". That was until I heard her mention "this new DATA COLLECTION APP". My ears perked up! My eyes flew from my notebook to her face. We are in the age of data, data, data. This is perfection!

Really? I can just add my students into this app and log all of my annotations right on my iPhone? NO WAY. Wait what? I can take pictures of their work and add them to each student's personalized file? This was too good to be true.

There are currently two versions of Confer. Confer (regular) is the full price version. It is $24.99, which may be more than you are used to paying for an app...however, think of it as a portable, digital, never-ending, never full data binder. I don't know about you, but I would pay lots of money for that.

The Confer lite edition is the free one that you can download quickly. Test it out for yourself! However, if you have more than 10 kids in your class (most of us) and you teach more than 2 subjects (most of us), this may not be ideal. Confer lite allows you to store two subjects with 10 students per subject. It also only allows for 5 notes per student.
Take it from me and download Confer lite. You will love it. Now for a closer look...
You can organize all of your information into three major sections: Subjects, Students, and Notes. Once you create an account, add subjects by using the + in the top right corner. Then add students to the subject. Once you add your class list once, you don't ever have to retype their names! To take notes on each student, just click on their names and then click the + in the top right corner.

A sort feature is at the bottom of most screens in the Confer app. My absolute favorite sorting feature is the options for student sorting. Look at the middle picture in the image above. I can always sort by first or last name, but I can also sort by the date, tag, strength, teaching point, next step, level, group, and flag! CRAZY AMAZING.

I can literally add my students and their levels and simply click sort by level. Ta-da! Reading groups done. Then, if I want to teach a small group lesson on inferences, I can click sort by teaching point or next step and ta-da: focus group is chosen for me. No more flipping though pages and pages of charts! I can also flag students green, yellow, or red in certain subjects or topics, and then group them by flag color so that I can easily see where each student is. Here is a picture from Confer's website that displays the flagged students in each topic.

Once your students are added, adding notes is a breeze!

This next feature sold me instantly! Click on a student, take a picture of their work, and it's stamped with the date and a comment. Easy peasy and PERFECT for parent-teacher conferences, data chats with administration, and RtI meetings.

And just when you thought Confer had wow-ed you...it can export! Yes! Just click the arrow on the far right bottom of the screen to export a file from the app. There are many different options for you to choose from!

I am SO excited to use this app full time in the classroom starting in January. It will help me to be efficient with my time and to keep everything in one place. I love that I can check Confer at home in my bed or while I'm talking with a concerned parent on the phone. In these data-driven times, we teachers must find ways that truly work to manage our time wisely and help our students achieve their fullest potential. I hope this little tutorial will help you this year!

Check out a more in depth tutorial on the app or website. For more information and a video from David Lowe, the creator of Confer and a NBCT, click here. Happy data collecting!

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Confer App: a note taking and data collection app for teachers!

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Today, I must cut right to the chase because I am beyond excited about this new find! I was at a conference in Jacksonville, Florida right before Thanksgiving listening to a 2nd grade teacher talk about differentiation. It was a great presentation, but to be honest, I was thinking "I do most of these things in my own classroom".

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Mrs. Richardson's Class (blog)

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4 Must-Have Apps for Elementary Teachers - Mrs. Richardson's Class

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Helping K-2 Teachers Like You Save Time, Grow Instructional Skills, and Teach With Confidence!

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Center for the Collaborative Classroom

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Our blog is for educators, by educators. Learn about literacy best practices, hear from fellow educators, deepen your professional learning.

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Affelstrudel.com

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Top 10 Apps like Literator - Conferring Guide in 2021 for iPhone & iPad

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Discover the Top 10 Apps like Literator - Conferring Guide in 2021 for iPhone & iPad.

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Chronicle App: Confer, Collect Data & Collaborate

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Chronicle App: Confer, Collect Data & Collaborate

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Class Tech Tips

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Chronicle App to Collect Data and Collaborate - Class Tech Tips

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Chronicle is an iOS app for teachers that includes tons of features for busy educators to collect data in their classroom.

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Conferring tools to support strong reading habits

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Nicole Carter (blog)

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The first thing you have to ask yourself is do take notes while conferring in a more anecdotal style or do you take quick data.

Create easy tools for help with note taking while conferring with students. Dive deep in some of these tools, just note that one is a paid app. ​

To create a shortcut to the home screen on your ipad for easy access to your google form follow these instructions;

1. Open Safari.

2. Navigate to the website you want to add to your home screen.

3. Press the '+' icon.

4. Select 'Add to home screen'

The following google form was created based off of questions from Penny Kittle, it is largely based on getting anecdotal data so for this form you would likely use your laptop to type in your information, or use speech to text on your iPad.

The following was a form created by Aloha High School teachers a few years ago.

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Conferring Schedule Research Compliment Decide Teach

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Conferring - A Powerful Tool Across Disciplines

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Conferring - A Powerful Tool Across Disciplines

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Middle Web (blog)

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By Katie McGrath
Conversation connects us. But think about how different our conversations can be.

There are times when my husband and I have a quick check-in talk. We discuss what time our boys need to be picked up at karate or what we need from the grocery store for dinner. Other times we engage in deep discussions envisioning our next home or how we will support one another as we pursue our professional goals.

While both of these conversations serve their purpose, they don't achieve the same level of depth of meaning. This is also true of our conversations with students.

Teachers check-in with students frequently. These conversations are necessary and serve their purpose, but if those quick drive-by interactions are the only way we are talking to students about their learning, we're missing the beautiful opportunity to connect and engage in meaningful discussion.

That is where the conference comes in. The teaching conference is that deep conversation. And while many of us are more familiar with the conference in a balanced literacy model, it is a powerful teaching tool that can be used across disciplines - teachers in math, science, social studies and other subjects will want to try this, too.

Check-In vs. Conference

So, what's the difference?

A check-in is quick scan of the room. A teacher might use this time to gather some whole-class research about what students are doing and what students might not yet be doing. A teacher could stop alongside a student and offer a brief reminder ("Remember we simplify fractions into lowest terms.") or could prompt to focus the student's attention on an aspect of their work ("Can you reread your evidence and think about how it supports your claim?")

These quick check-ins can be useful in helping teachers notice patterns, plan instructional next-steps, and intentionally group students. Then what's the issue? If you're only "checking in" with students you are missing the opportunity for individualized instruction and meaningful targeted feedback. That's where the conference comes in.

Carl Anderson says, "A conference isn't the icing on the cake; it is the cake." It is through conferring that we build our classroom community and honor each and every learner in front of us. It's how we remain present and connected to the students we teach. Conferring is too important to be an add-on or a maybe. It is a structure that deserves its rightful place in all classroom tapestry.

Conferring Across Disciplines

Since individualized instruction and meaningful feedback are good practice, no matter what discipline we teach, the conference helps us meet these goals. But you might be wondering, "What do I teach in a math or social studies conference?"

Many of our disciplines are a balance of content knowledge and skills. In recognizing what students need to know and then what students need to be able to do with what they know, you have just helped yourself focus on possible teaching points. Zooming in on what students need to (the skills that help learners make sense of the content) offers possibilities for a conference.

The chart below might help you envision conferring choices across disciplines:

A Framework for Conversation

When we gain confidence in what we could teach in a conference, having a structure as to how the conference might go is helpful. I have found that when I work for a conference to be supportive and positive, and not a question and answer session, it helps shift my lens to one of admiration rather than one of critique.

Choosing how I show up in a conference creates a space to honor what the learner is doing and determine possible next steps. Once I have clarity in my purpose, a framework is helpful to keep the conversation focused, yet productive.

Carl Anderson's A Teacher's Guide to Writing Conferences (2018) recommends Discover, Assess, Decide, Teach as the conference framework while Gravity Goldberg offers the 4 M's (Miner, Mirror, Model, Mentor) in her book Mindsets and Moves (2016). The terminology might have slight variations, but what remains constant is we as teachers approach the conference with the intention of looking at what a student is doing and teaching the student an explicit strategy that will help them grow as a reader, writer, mathematician, historian, scientist, artist, etc.

Using language that is supportive of the learner is essential to honing your conferring practices. Having language prompts (see chart below) at your ready is one helpful strategy if you are entering into this work. Once you start conferring consistently, you will find language that feels most authentic to you, your students, and your discipline.

Go Ahead, Try It!

So as you continue to engage in conversations with students, ask yourself: "Am I checking in? Or am I conferring?" Notice how you enter into these conversations and allow yourself to try a conference. It might be risky, but it will be worth it.

References:

Anderson, C. (2018). A teacher's guide to writing conferences. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Anderson, C. (2000). How's it going?: a practical guide to conferring with student writers. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Goldberg, G. (2016). Mindsets & moves: strategies that help readers take charge. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.

McGee, P. (2017). Feedback that moves writers forward. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin. ( See her MiddleWeb post with links to online resources.)

Serravallo, J. (2019). A teacher's guide to reading conferences: grades K-8. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Katie McGrath Katie has studied with Gravity Goldberg and her team of literacy consultants for many years and is a proud member of the Gravity Goldberg LLC Coaching Co-op. She is a current member of NCTE and the Lit Together Think Tank as well as a faculty leader at the Paramus Summer Literacy Institute. Follow Katie on Twitter @MrsKTMcGrath. is a middle school instructional coach in the Paramus, New Jersey Public Schools. Prior to coaching, she taught middle school language arts for 12 years. Katie has written literacy curriculum for the middle school, and she coaches in classrooms regularly.

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Conferring: A Powerful Tool Across Disciplines

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By Katie McGrath Conversation connects us. But think about how different our conversations can be. There are times when my husband and I have a quick check-in talk. We discuss what time our boys need to be picked up at karate or what we need from the grocery store for dinner.

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One-on-One Conferences as a Tool for Building Rapport with Students

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One-on-One Conferences as a Tool for Building Rapport with Students

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Ileana Sherry, Edutopia

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A high school English teacher discusses the logistics behind meeting with each student individually-and more importantly, why it's a good idea.

For most high school teachers this year, the sight of black squares filling a Zoom screen has been as familiar as it has been draining. There are legitimate reasons why teenagers tend to leave their cameras off and remain silent during virtual or hybrid learning, but whatever the reasons, without in-person interactions, cultivating relationships and a classroom culture has become increasingly difficult. One solution that I've tried, one-on-one conferences, has helped me combat this and build comfortable, academic, and trusting relationships with students.

I implemented individual writing conferences last year before the pandemic when I realized I wasn't reaching all of my students effectively. At my school, we offer tutoring all year long, providing time before or after school or during lunch for students to meet with teachers to review work and ask questions. This really helped my students who were struggling, but the ones who tended to write on or beyond grade level were not progressing as much in their writing. So before spring break, I switched from an hour of groups of students coming and going as they wanted to setting up five-minute slots for one-on-one conferences with every student.

These conversations showed me that some students who rarely asked for help had had misunderstandings on our content for months despite class reteaches. The talks alleviated these misunderstandings, boosted students' confidence, and reduced their anxieties. And I was able to talk privately with students who were normally so quiet that I barely heard a few words all year.

This year the conferences have had the added and now crucial benefit of allowing me to talk with all of my students, see their faces, and hear their concerns. One-on-one conferences have been a great tool for developing a rapport with students this year-one told me the conferences "allow for teachers and students to have a more personal relationship with one another even with the challenges of a virtual setting."

Keeping Conferences Short and Productive

In an ideal world, we would have as long as we want to talk with each student, but in my experience the effective length of a conference for both student and teacher is about five minutes. To facilitate a short but productive conference, connect it to an assignment, skill, or specific content within your course. Have students reflect beforehand on their areas of strength and struggle and their goal for improving in order to guide the discussion.

As Grant Wiggins has written, effective feedback "requires that a person has a goal, takes action to achieve the goal, and receives goal-related information about his or her actions." Students' goals allow you to tailor your feedback in the conference to what best suits each student.

In order to keep conferences to time, it's important that you start each one by laying out the structure for students. This reduces interruptions and helps students to settle into the conference. Here's my structure, which you can adjust to what best fits your needs, context, and content:

Greet your student; with virtual students, ask for their cameras to be turned on.

Explain how the conference will go.

Ask students how they felt about the relevant assignment or goal. Be sure to validate how they felt before you move on to the next step.

Share your main thoughts on the work or skill. Try to consolidate your thoughts to three key points, starting with positive feedback.

Ask them for any questions or clarifications they may have.

Optional, but recommended: End by asking for feedback on the process, to be completed by the student independently outside of the conference.

Managing Large Numbers of Conferences

One of the challenges that often deters secondary teachers from integrating one-on-one conferences into their practice is the large number of students each teacher is responsible for, since we can have hundreds of students.

I teach 125 students, so conferences of five minutes each could take me almost 10 and a half hours. I've tried two solutions: Plan lessons the week of conferences that students can complete independently, to free up class time each day for conferences, or convert tutoring times for two weeks into conference slots. Both of these work well.

Maintaining Motivation to Conference

Teachers sometimes feel overwhelmed with suggestions on how to improve our practice. We can all think of forgotten projects or resources that we've abandoned and left un-updated since October. You may be tempted to put conferences in that category, but I firmly believe this practice is worth the time I've invested in it.

So how can we maintain the motivation to prioritize conferences? One idea I've tried is to connect conferences to major assignments. Conferences are flexible and geared toward student growth, so you can use them to discuss any assignment. When I have focused on a major assignment, conferences have improved students' understanding, turn-in rates, and overall scores, saving me work later on when I might otherwise be chasing kids for work to get them passing.

Another thing that keeps me motivated is asking students for feedback on the process after each conference. Last year, I had students write open-ended feedback on the conference; this year, I have had them answer two questions on a Google Form. Either way, reading about their joy at learning something new, feeling comfortable, and gaining confidence made the effort of conferences well worthwhile.

So much of teaching has changed this year, but one-on-one conferences have allowed me to regain one of the most important aspects of teaching: relationships with my students.

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One-on-One Conferences as a Tool for Building a Rapport With Students

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A high school English teacher discusses the logistics behind meeting with each student individually-and more importantly, why it's a good idea. For most high school teachers this year, the sight of black squares filling a Zoom screen has been as familiar as it has been draining.

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How to Give Positive Feedback on Student Writing

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How to Give Positive Feedback on Student Writing

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"Nice work." "Great job." "Powerful sentence." Even though I knew they wouldn't mean much to students, these vague and ineffective comments made their way into my writing feedback recently. As I watched myself typing them, I knew I was in a rut. My critical comments, on the other hand, were lengthy and detailed. Suggestions and corrections abounded. I realized that I was focused too much on correcting student work and not enough on the goal of giving rich positive feedback.

As a writer, I know how hard it is when the negative feedback outweighs the positive. We all have things to work on, but focusing only on what to fix makes it hard to feel that our skills are seen and appreciated. My students put so much work into their writing, and they deserve more than my two-word positive sentences.

I wanted out of the rut, so I turned to my favorite professional network-teacher Twitter-and asked for help. "What are your favorite positive comments to make about student writing?" I asked. Here are some of the amazing responses and the themes that emerged from more than 100 replies from teachers.

Give a Window Into Your Experience as the Reader

Students typically can't see us while we're experiencing their writing. One genre of powerful positive comments: insights that help students understand how we responded as readers. Teacher Amy Ludwig VanDerwater shared these sentence stems, explaining that "commenting on our reading experience before the craft of writing is a gift":

This part really moved me.

I laughed out loud when I read this line.

Your writing makes me think...

You opened up a door in my mind.

Now I am questioning...

Now I am connecting to...

Now I am remembering...

On a similar note, Virginia S. Wood shared: "I will tell them if I smiled, laughed, nodded my head, pumped my fist while reading their work, and I'll tell them exactly where and why."

I used Wood's advice recently when I looked through a student's project draft that delighted me. I wrote to her, "I have the biggest smile on my face right now. This is such an awesome start."

Giving students insight into our experience as readers helps to connect the social and emotional elements of writing. Positive comments highlighting our reading experience can encourage students to think about their audience more intentionally as they write.

Recognize Author's Craft and Choices

Effective feedback can also honor a student's voice and skills as a writer. Pointing out the choices and writing moves that students make helps them feel that we see and value their efforts. Joel Garza shared, "I avoid 'I' statements, which can seem more like a brag about my reading than about their writing." Garza recommends using "you" statements instead, such as "You crafted X effect so smoothly by..." or "You navigate this topic in such an engaging way, especially by..." and "You chose the perfect tone for this topic because..."

Similarly, seventh-grade teacher Jennifer Leung suggested pointing out these moments in this way: "Skillful example of/use of (transition, example, grammatical structure)." This can also help to reinforce terms, concepts, and writing moves that we go over in class.

Rebekah O'Dell, coauthor of A Teacher's Guide to Mentor Texts, gave these examples of how we might invoke mentor texts in our feedback:

"What you're doing here reminds me of (insert mentor text)..."

"I see you doing what (insert mentor writer) does..."

O'Dell's advice reinforced the link between reading and writing. Thinking of these skills together helps us set up feedback loops. For example, after a recent close reading activity, I asked students to name one lesson they had learned from the mentor text that they could apply to their own writing. Next time I give writing feedback, I can highlight the places where I see students using these lessons.

Another teacher, Grete Howland, offered a nonjudgmental word choice. "I like to use the word 'effective' and then point out, as specifically as I can, why I found something effective. I feel like this steers away from 'good'/'bad' and other somewhat meaningless judgments, and it focuses more on writing as an exchange with a reader."

Celebrate Growth

Positive feedback supports student progress. Think of positive comments as a boost of momentum that can help students continue to build their identity as writers. Kelly Frazee recommended finding specific examples to help demonstrate growth, as in "This part shows me that you have improved with [insert skill] because compared to last time..." As teachers, we often notice growth in ways that our students may not recognize about themselves. Drawing out specific evidence of growth can help students see their own progress.

Finally, I love this idea from Susan Santone, an instructor at the University of Michigan: When students really knock it out of the park, let them know. Santone suggested, "When my students (college level) nail something profound in a single sentence, I write 'Tweet!' 'Put this onto a T-shirt!' or 'Frame this and hang it on a wall!'-in other words, keep it and share it!"

These ideas are all great starting points for giving students meaningful positive feedback on their writing. I've already started to use some of them, and I've noticed how much richer my feedback is when positive and constructive comments are equally detailed. I'm looking forward to seeing how these shifts propel student writing. Consider trying out one of these strategies with your students' next drafts.

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How to Give Positive Feedback on Student Writing

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"Nice work." "Great job." "Powerful sentence." Even though I knew they wouldn't mean much to students, these vague and ineffective comments made their way into my writing feedback recently. As I watched myself typing them, I knew I was in a rut. My critical comments, on the other hand, were lengthy and detailed.

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Patrick Allen and Lori Conrad with Stevi Quate

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Patrick Allen and Lori Conrad with Stevi Quate

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Michelle Morris Jones, Public Education and Business Coalition

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Michelle Morris Jones, Public Education and Business Coalition

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Two Writing Teachers: Easily Create a Digital Conferring Toolkit

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Two Writing Teachers: Easily Create a Digital Conferring Toolkit

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A conferring toolkit is an organizational system that helps a teacher keep their writing workshop materials together so they have everything they need to confer with students in one place. Some teachers use a zippered three-ring portfolio, like conferring records, checklists, mini-charts, mentor texts, and supplies, to house their toolkit. Other teachers use a tote or a rolling bag for their supplies. Regardless of the vessel, having a well-stocked toolkit allows teachers to confer with ease so they aren't running across the classroom looking for sticky notes or a mentor text in the middle of a writing conference.

Now that many educators are teaching remotely - or are trying to keep a greater physical distance from students - I want to show you how you can digitize a conferring toolkit.

I created a digital conferring toolkit with Padlet, which is a free online tool. The notes in Padlet can contain links, videos, images, and document files. You can use other digital options (e.g., Evernote, Google Drive, Lino) if you are unfamiliar with Padlet.

I set up the columns of my digital conferring toolkit similar to the way I'd set up an analog conferring toolkit. My toolkit has the following columns (most of which can be viewed in this screenshot): anchor charts, checklists, conferring note sheets for each student, conventions-related resources, mentor and demonstration texts, office tools, cheat sheets, shared writing, and student work.

All content from Jump Into Writing © 2021 Zaner-Bloser, Inc. is used with permission. All Rights Reserved.

I created a Padlet for the fourth-grade personal essay unit from Jump Into Writing, which is a new writing curriculum from Zaner-Bloser that I co-authored with Lynne R. Dorfman. First, I set up the columns in my Padlet. Some of the items, like the checklists and mentor/demonstration texts, were taken directly from the Z-B Portal, which teachers can access once they've purchased the curriculum. I went into the portal and downloaded the relevant materials. One could do the same thing for the anchor charts, but because I like handwritten charts, I rewrote all of the anchor charts in my handwriting since I prefer to use handwritten charts with students. Then, I uploaded the handwritten version of the anchor charts to this Padlet. For the column on grammar, usage, mechanics, and spelling, I found resources from Grammar Girl, Grammarly, and Nearpod that corresponded to the conventions skills (i.e., modal verbs, run-on sentences, using colons) that were addressed in this unit's lessons. For conferring notes, you'll see that the Padlet links to Google Drive so each child's conferring record can be accessed just by clicking on their document in Google Docs. Finally, the office tools link to some things that you might have students print out, like spider legs, which are strips of paper used for revision. Other things in that column include Jamboard, which is an interactive whiteboard you can use with students, and the Post-It Note App, which allows you to create sticky notes, for things like tangible artifacts, for students.

In these days of little-to-no-notice school closures, it's easy to get stuck at home without everything you need to confer with your students. Having a digital conferring toolkit means you will have access to all of your materials from any device that connects to the internet. While it is time-consuming to create a conferring toolkit, having a digital conferring toolkit ultimately becomes a huge timesaver since everything can be housed in one place. Also, once you create a toolkit, it can be reused each school year, with just some minor tweaks, whenever you teach that unit of study again.

Back in 2015, the TWT co-author team produced a week-long blog series about Conferring Toolkits. The series included posts about the following aspects of conferring toolkits: class stories, interactive writing, shared writing; creating visuals for teaching tools; supplies and how to use them; cheat sheets; record keeping; mentor texts. If you've never created a conferring toolkit before, then you'll want to read through the posts in that series to help you get started.

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Easily Create a Digital Conferring Toolkit

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In these days of little-to-no-notice school closures, it's easy to get stuck at home without everything you need to confer with your students. Having a digital conferring toolkit means you will have access to all of your materials from any device that connects to the internet.

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Round Three

Following the recent publication of their latest book, 4 Essential Studies: Beliefs and Practices to Reclaim Student Agency (Heinemann, 2021), Kelly and Penny eagerly embark on a new series of video chats that focus on the ideas and people making a difference in literacy education. Be sure to visit their Padlet for additional resources related to each discussion.

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Following the recent publication of their latest book, 4 Essential Studies: Beliefs and Practices to Reclaim Student Agency (Heinemann, 2021), Kelly and Penny eagerly embark on a new series of video chats that focus on the ideas and people making a difference in literacy education.

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Easily Create a Digital Conferring Toolkit: Two Writing Teachers

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Easily Create a Digital Conferring Toolkit: Two Writing Teachers

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A conferring toolkit is an organizational system that helps a teacher keep their writing workshop materials together so they have everything they need to confer with students in one place. Some teachers use a zippered three-ring portfolio, like conferring records, checklists, mini-charts, mentor texts, and supplies, to house their toolkit. Other teachers use a tote or a rolling bag for their supplies. Regardless of the vessel, having a well-stocked toolkit allows teachers to confer with ease so they aren't running across the classroom looking for sticky notes or a mentor text in the middle of a writing conference.

Now that many educators are teaching remotely - or are trying to keep a greater physical distance from students - I want to show you how you can digitize a conferring toolkit.

I created a digital conferring toolkit with Padlet, which is a free online tool. The notes in Padlet can contain links, videos, images, and document files. You can use other digital options (e.g., Evernote, Google Drive, Lino) if you are unfamiliar with Padlet.

I set up the columns of my digital conferring toolkit similar to the way I'd set up an analog conferring toolkit. My toolkit has the following columns (most of which can be viewed in this screenshot): anchor charts, checklists, conferring note sheets for each student, conventions-related resources, mentor and demonstration texts, office tools, cheat sheets, shared writing, and student work.

All content from Jump Into Writing © 2021 Zaner-Bloser, Inc. is used with permission. All Rights Reserved.

I created a Padlet for the fourth-grade personal essay unit from Jump Into Writing, which is a new writing curriculum from Zaner-Bloser that I co-authored with Lynne R. Dorfman. First, I set up the columns in my Padlet. Some of the items, like the checklists and mentor/demonstration texts, were taken directly from the Z-B Portal, which teachers can access once they've purchased the curriculum. I went into the portal and downloaded the relevant materials. One could do the same thing for the anchor charts, but because I like handwritten charts, I rewrote all of the anchor charts in my handwriting since I prefer to use handwritten charts with students. Then, I uploaded the handwritten version of the anchor charts to this Padlet. For the column on grammar, usage, mechanics, and spelling, I found resources from Grammar Girl, Grammarly, and Nearpod that corresponded to the conventions skills (i.e., modal verbs, run-on sentences, using colons) that were addressed in this unit's lessons. For conferring notes, you'll see that the Padlet links to Google Drive so each child's conferring record can be accessed just by clicking on their document in Google Docs. Finally, the office tools link to some things that you might have students print out, like spider legs, which are strips of paper used for revision. Other things in that column include Jamboard, which is an interactive whiteboard you can use with students, and the Post-It Note App, which allows you to create sticky notes, for things like tangible artifacts, for students.

In these days of little-to-no-notice school closures, it's easy to get stuck at home without everything you need to confer with your students. Having a digital conferring toolkit means you will have access to all of your materials from any device that connects to the internet. While it is time-consuming to create a conferring toolkit, having a digital conferring toolkit ultimately becomes a huge timesaver since everything can be housed in one place. Also, once you create a toolkit, it can be reused each school year, with just some minor tweaks, whenever you teach that unit of study again.

Back in 2015, the TWT co-author team produced a week-long blog series about Conferring Toolkits. The series included posts about the following aspects of conferring toolkits: class stories, interactive writing, shared writing; creating visuals for teaching tools; supplies and how to use them; cheat sheets; record keeping; mentor texts. If you've never created a conferring toolkit before, then you'll want to read through the posts in that series to help you get started.

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Easily Create a Digital Conferring Toolkit

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In these days of little-to-no-notice school closures, it's easy to get stuck at home without everything you need to confer with your students. Having a digital conferring toolkit means you will have access to all of your materials from any device that connects to the internet.

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Conferring During Independent Reading - Amy Yoos

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Conferring During Independent Reading - Amy Yoos

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Conferring With Readers During Independent Reading 

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Let's Practice Meeting Norms Select a partner to work with. Choose who will be partner A and who will be partner B. Choose one of the books on the table. Partner A will play the role of the teacher and partner B will be the student. After you have conducted a reading conference,

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Giving and Gaining Antiracism Lenses and Multilingual Bridges:  What to say and what to listen for in conference

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Giving and Gaining Antiracism Lenses and Multilingual Bridges:  What to say and what to listen for in conference

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Photo: Linguistic Equity mentor Ceci Gomez

Working a variety of cultural contexts for time during our conferring, wait time for all students and language learners is vital.

Whenever possible, encourage students to use their strongest language to support their learning.  Whether thinking aloud, writing, and/or engaging in metacognitive reflections, students should be honored and supported by using the language/s which they feel most comfortable and confident to employ.  Also, learn how to ask students some basic conferring questions in their strongest language/s such as "What are you thinking here/thinking about here?" or "Tell me what you are thinking here."  Be okay, too, with students answering some of your questions in their strongest language (If we record these exchanges sometimes, we can also ask a community member or colleague to help us translate a key message now and then.).  Practicing talking to themselves in ways can help to support the construction of understanding and students' confidence building, too.

Taking Rudine Sims Bishop's wise advice, mentor texts and learning resources must be mirrors, windows and sliding doors for our students.  Can our students see themselves in our curriculum, in our conferring, in the books we read to them and with them?  Do our schools and classroom reflect and honor our students holistically? *Sonia Nieto also offered sage thoughts about the value of our students seeing themselves in the texts we immerse them and throughout our curriculum. As I confer with students, I take care to offer them kindred mentors in the authors and texts I can share with them.

During conferences, use visual cues or graphics to help bridge and build students' language and understanding.  Make sure to use key words which students are familiar with and understand.  Too often spoken (and written) questions are anchored in words which our students do not yet know.

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Using Student-Led Collaborative Learning to Empower Math Students

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Using Student-Led Collaborative Learning to Empower Math Students

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Joseph Manfre, Edutopia

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Using Student-Led Collaborative Learning to Empower Math Students

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By slightly modifying the gradual release of responsibility strategy, teachers can boost students’ engagement and learning.

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Laura Benson, International Schools Services Password:  universallanguage

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*Considerations to support student learning and conferring efforts
Curator: Laura Benson, Director of Curriculum and Professional Development, International School Services
Password: mothertongue

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Listening for Proficiency: What does student understanding for your current learning focus sound like/ look like?

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Listening for Proficiency: What does student understanding for your current learning focus sound like/ look like?

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Laura Benson

Thinking with the end goals in mind, it's helpful to develop and having a continuum of student learning. One way to do this is to develop a standards-based checklist (See next shelves for these examples.). Another way to do this is to think about is to develop a Launching Lessons - Deepening Lessons menu detailing the incremental skills and concepts students will need to learn to achieve proficiency.

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Writing Conference Compass: Prompts, Record Keeping Examples and Supports for Growing Writers

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Writing Conference Compass: Prompts, Record Keeping Examples and Supports for Growing Writers

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Laura Benson

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Students' patterns of strengths and patterns of needs...and patterns of interests/passions which you can, too.