Hi, everyone! I'm Dana from 3rd Grade Gridiron.
I'll be discussing Ch. 5 from the CAFE book titled "Eavesdropping on Some Conferences."
I think the most important thing to take away from the chapter is:
conferencing with the kids should be about reminding them of their strengths and weaknesses in reading. Some kids get so bogged down in what they're doing wrong, they never give themselves credit for what they're doing right!
Another important aspect of conferencing is:
helping the kids devise goals and strategies to become successful readers. Instead of students getting frustrated and shutting down when faced with reading challenges, they will know strategies to get around these obstacles.
Depending on each child's needs, you may conference with students 1-3 times a week. And each time you meet with them, check out their goals set from the last conference.
*Are they getting better?
*Are the strategies working?
Meeting with the kids and keeping track of their progress can help them become more confident and gain more responsibility for their own success!
Do you hold conferences with your students? How often? Any tips for others that have really worked for you?
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10 comments:
I'm really intimidated to start off the comments this morning...hope someone gets theirs posted before me!:)
I think this chapter was a great refresher for me as to how I can coach students to use the same strategy but to meet their individual needs. I can definitely see some of my former students in the conferences described. I need to remind myself to reread this chapter frequently!
I am new to this...and look forward to trying out conferences this way. In the past, conferences were a way for me to gain information, but I really didn't know what to say and how to plan to help them fix the problems. I loved this chapter as it has helped me see that this type of conferencing is merely coaching with strategies for improvement. I've been so stuck on teaching the long list of skills in the standards that I didn't get a chance to help them fix up their reading. I am so excited to have it all laid out for me..."if they do this...then this may be the problem...and here's a strategy to work on.":) I will look forward to this coaching time and helping my students become better readers!
I LOVE the if act that they give you specific solutions to try as well as identifying the goals. Conferencing can be do tricky. I agree with Jill that this is a chapter to come back to.
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This is my favorite chapter! I've conferenced before but I like the way The Sisters structure them as coaching sessions. It's brief and strategic. I know that this is going to be much more effective than what I have done in the past! And keeping a calendar and scheduling it with each child - boy, they will me hold me to that and I LOVE it.
I love the one on one conferences to touch base with students. If I am lucky enough to have extra support during our literacy block, I ask that they use a 'guest teacher conferring sheet' to record their conferences. I wrote a list of steps to follow and ideas to use / questions to ask for each strategy students are working on.
It gives me another glimpse of where students are at.
My goal this year is to keep these conferences short!
Whew conferencing sounds intimidating time wise still. I appreciate how this chapter lays out the goals and strategy and will definitely use it as a reference often. @bonniemc Can you post your version of the guest teacher sheet or give some details? I often have regular volunteers in my room and was trying to figure out how to have them help sometimes. And what about the gifted students? Anyone find some that just read and comprehend great? What goals do you set then? Any hints on how to encourage them or class to "choose" nonfiction books to push them? Sorry, didn't realize I had so many questions until I started typing. :)
I have always enjoyed small reading groups but see how conferencing with students will be constructive and informative. I'm excited to start. I just finished reading Notebook Connections by Aimee Bruckner which I believe is a great companion piece to CAFE and Daily 5.
Yes, I hold conferences with my students.
First conference runs 5 to 7 minutes as we cover all standardized testing results that show areas of strength and weakness. We then target one weakness by setting a goal and choosing a strategy.
After that first conference, the other conferences are about 3 to 5 minutes long. Kids love these and are usually ready. I give mine time to fill in a bookmark to remind them of their strategy and goal, post it on the Cafe Menu and then we set the next meeting date.
I can usually meet with 5 students a day during read to self time. If I want to meet with others, I squeeze them during writing or word work.
The back of the book has a great starting point matrix--from assessment to conferring. I used this when I started and it eased my mind!
I hold conferences with each of my students. The problem I have is that I try to squeeze all of them in each day. I am so afraid that I am going to short change them. So I have vowed to not put so much pressure on myself and that it is ok just to see a few each day. I like the Sister's Sample Needs and Strategies on pg. 153. This way you can cross check and have a different strategy to use if need be.
Thank you once again for all of your great ideas.
Hi, I'm a little late to the discussion, but I still want to mention a couple of things...The goal-minded conferring sounds great--can't wait to try it! Also, Debbie, thank you for pointing out the Needs & Strategies on p. 153. Super useful. I have another suggestion, which may sound silly to some, but it's key for me: Have a very small, portable, unobtrusive chair to take around the room with you! About six years ago, I started 1:1 conferencing with my students in all subject areas throughout the day (I've always called it "touching base," and I make notes on individual observations throughout the year a la a form from Bonnie Campbell Hill...this coming year I'm going to work on a Pensieve during the lit block). At my last school, I had a little stool on wheels, and at my present school I have a child's, aluminum purple fold-up stool (I think you could find one at Target or Walmart). I'm a marathon runner and very energetic, but having the low stool puts me on the students' level and makes it more likely that I get to one or two more students, when otherwise I might be more inclined to call it a day.
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