While I must admit that I am one of those individuals who is somewhat scared of conferring for the sheer reason that you cannot plan for the conversation in any way, I loved the authors' point that very often, even if we feel as if we did not teach very much or very well, by the simple act of just sitting and listening to our students talk about their pieces of writing, we teach. Too often, I think I forget that teachers can teach even when they may not be intentionally performing or saying anything and I think Ray and Laminack's point about teachers teaching by simply having thoughtful and respectful conversations with their students about their writing gets at that exact point.
In addition to Ray and Laminack's statement about how teachers can teach during conferences without even being aware of the fact that they are teaching by just listening, I was extremely grateful for the authors’ chapter on share time. Throughout my own experiences as both an elementary school student and as a student teacher/observer in elementary school classrooms, I have only ever been able to experience and see share time performed in a whole-class sharing format and so it was really enlightening and encouraging for me to discover that there a number of other ways in which share time can be conducted. While I think I favor the simple response share format the most because it allows each student to receive some type of feedback from their peers in a low-stakes and comfortable environment, I would also like to use the focused, survey, and student-as-teacher share formats occasionally in my future writing workshop as well. I like the idea of share time in general because I myself am a writer who needs to receive a sufficient amount of verbal affirmation as encouragement and I believe that all students could always benefit from some type of feedback whether or not they may read actual excerpts from their journals or just share a general outline regarding their piece.
One aspect of this week's reading which particularly caught my attention was the topic of student evaluations. I am drawn to the notion of using student evaluations for student writing because I believe that students are often the most qualified individuals to judge their own work and as such, I want to try to use student evaluations as much as possible. However, how might one use student evaluations for those in kindergarten who may not be able to read or write very much?
Ray, K.W. with Laminack, L.L. (2001). The writing workshop: Working through the hard parts (and they’re all hard parts). Urbana, IL: National Council of Teachers of English.
Interesting point about student evaluations in the younger grades. You could develop a very simple rubric of 2 or 3 points, and have them check it off when they are done. Some items to include might be: -I did my best thinking and writing -I put my name on my paper -I added details to my picture...or whatever it is you are focusing on. Having the students take responsibility at a young age can pay off in a big way down the line.
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