conferencing in my field experience classrooms

Chapter 14 talked a lot about conferencing.  I have not seen much of this in my field experience this semester, but last semester I conference with many different students. I think it is a great thing to do in the classroom. I believe that it helps the relationship between the student and the teacher. When I worked with my students I felt like I got to know them better as a not only a student but a person in general. They would write about things that are important to them and it gave me an inside look into their lives.  I also like that the chapter said to keep conferencing short. If teachers take a lot of time with one student it will take longer to get to other students which just stalls the writing process. Also after conferencing I like the idea of the teacher writing down what they talked about so that in the future the teacher can remember where they left off and have written record of what was said. We did not do this in my field experience classroom.

Chapter 15 talked about share time and how important it really is. I agree with the book that share time is very important. Last semester my students had NO share time. Because of this I feel like the students didn’t enjoy class as much, and the teacher and students didn’t really relate. This semester is totally different. My students have time to share many times throughout the day. They have free writing time in the middle of the day and if students want they are allowed to share their story. Because of time only a few students can share but it usually isn’t an issue.  Also my teacher allows fellow classmates to ask questions to the student speaking to make sure that other students are listening to their classmates as well as get to know each other better.

Chapter 17 talked about ways to evaluate your students by asking them questions. I have not seen this implemented in my field experience classrooms, but I think it would be a great thing to do. Most of the teachers I have observed ask questions about writing in an exam format but I think it would be just as good if not better to work one on one with a student and ask the student questions.  I also liked that the chapter used a scale for evaluating students. Not only do the teachers evaluate the students but they also get to evaluate themselves.

Writing Workshop in MY future classroom

These chapters really opened my eyes to what you really need in a writing workshop. I like that chapter 9 pointed out that curriculum guides and scope and sequence should just be used for support. I think that there are some teachers out there that just use those two things when it comes to telling their students what to do during writing time. I think I have had those types of teachers in the past, and they made writing uninteresting to me. I also liked that chapter 9 gave examples of group sharing and other writing ideas that can be used in my future classroom.  I also agree that there needs to be many resources in the classroom for students.  If students have many resources they can really “dig in” on a topic and have a deeper understanding. Also it talked about having one on one student conferencing. My field experience class does this and I think it is great. From what I have seen students enjoy the one on one attention and they have a better understating of their personal writing and what they need to work on as an individual.

                Chapter 10 talk more about what students already know and when is the right time to have whole class teaching versus one on one or small group teaching. One thing I found interesting about chapter 10 was the bullet points on learning “how to teach writing well”. I thought that they were some good points, but I think that there is a lot more that goes into learning how to teach well. Nevertheless I want to try out these bullet points and see if they help me become a better teacher.  In chapter thirteen there was a quote that states that “lessons only matter as much as they help students do that work and understand that work better”. I thought that was a great quote because teachers can plan lessons all day and the students could still not learn what they need to. What’s important is that the students can understand and learn from the lesson and become better writers.

Writing Workshop in my life

As I was growing up I do not remember a time when we had writing workshops. Many of my teachers gave us a certain concept and asked them to write a certain amount. I always knew that writing was important but I dreaded it every day. After reading these chapters I realize that when done correctly writing workshop can be a fun experience for children. The first chapter showed me that it is important to let students pick their own concepts most of the time.  They also should be able to somewhat talk during writing workshop.  The more laid back it is the more the students will write and be able to get their thoughts on paper. When I become a teacher I’m going to make sure that my students enjoy writing and do not dread it.

The part that I enjoyed in chapter 2 that states that if students write across the curriculum they never learn the important lessons that writing is also a way to get things done in life. Helps you follow your dreams or passions. Students should be able to write recklessly. If students are not able to do this in the classroom they probably won’t do it in their lives. Chapter 3 really hit home for me. I don’t know how many times I have heard someone say that some people just aren’t writers. For awhile I even started to believe it.  But really a quote “writer” can be anyone that writes often.  Amy Wilson once said last semester how it is important for teachers to write while their students write to show how important it really is. If the students are doing it the teachers will do it as well. The last chapter was probably my favorite. I like the idea that it should be treated like lunch. No matter what students have lunch every day, and just like lunch students should have writing workshop every day.