Over the summer, we catch up on professional reading, we organize our classrooms, we make plans. In our reading and our planning, we imagine the very best possible scenarios. We see our children working diligently and for long stretches at their writing spots, living writerly lives, generating one powerful idea after another. To be sure, we… Continue reading Table Conferences: An Important Coaching Move at the Start of the Year
Category: conferences
ALL WRITE!!! Daring Greatly
On Wednesday my students, for two years, will be getting on their bus and riding home after our final day together. It will be bittersweet as I give them my last hug as their teacher. From there I will gather my bag, a few belongings and leave my classroom. I will pack it up… Continue reading ALL WRITE!!! Daring Greatly
Share this:
Share this:
So you say you want to write children’s books?
Last weekend I took a major step forward towards my dream of publishing children's books. I attended the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators Annual Conference in New York. This post includes highlights from the keynotes and breakout sessions.
Share this:
Share this:
Does “Published” Need to be “Perfect?”
There's a reason for second and third editions of really great books--a writer's work is never done, and is certainly never, ever perfect.
Share this:
Share this:
Tailoring Our Teaching: No Need to Wing It If You’ve Got Great Conferring Notes
Lucy Calkins, author of many books on teaching writing, often says that conferring is the heart of writing workshop. I once heard her say to a group of graduate students that she wished we called it “conferring workshop.” This way it would be clearer to everybody that it is the conferences that really make the… Continue reading Tailoring Our Teaching: No Need to Wing It If You’ve Got Great Conferring Notes
Share this:
Share this:
Remember to Compliment
Take the time to compliment every child in every kind of conference you do.
Share this:
Share this:
Conferences are dialogues.
[Conferences] are not mini-lectures but the working talk of fellow writers sharing their experience with the writing process. At times, of course, they will be teacher and student, master and apprentice, if you want, but most of the time they will be remarkably close to peers, because each writer, no matter how experienced, begins again… Continue reading Conferences are dialogues.
Share this:
Share this:
Choice Literacy: Coaching the Common Core {Part 2 of 3}
The second portion of the Choice Literacy workshop, Coaching the Common Core was led by Heather Rader. Heather is the author of Side By Side: Short Takes on Best Practice for Teachers and Literacy Leaders. She is the senior editor for Choice Literacy and an instructional coach I hope you know Heather's work. She is… Continue reading Choice Literacy: Coaching the Common Core {Part 2 of 3}
Share this:
Share this:
Throwback Thursday: Conferring
Check out some of our past posts about all aspects of conferring.
Share this:
Share this:
All-Write Summer Institute 2013
I know I'm a little bias, but this is one of my favorite conferences. It is a little like summer camp for teachers. I think the reason why it's so great is because the speakers are top in the field, and yet the conference is still small enough that you feel like you matter. Like… Continue reading All-Write Summer Institute 2013
Share this:
Share this:
Best First Draft
When students move from their notebook to draft, I encourage them to write their best first draft. (Click here to see other posts I've written about best first drafts.) Something that I'm always curious about is the way conventions come into play during all parts of the writing process. As I've been teaching kids to… Continue reading Best First Draft
Share this:
Share this:
Learning how to confer with student writers
One of the teachers I'm working alongside is really focused on honing her conferring skills. So we are hunkering down beside students and listening intently to their work. She leads the conference and I listen. We've been considering the two parts of a conference. In a nutshell, these parts are: Part One: Figure out what… Continue reading Learning how to confer with student writers
