In the readings this week, Routeman talks about writers share and reading conferences. I am a big proponent of both. I've seen students share their writing as a whole class in September. They all sat on the floor, the student sharing (reading aloud) their first draft, sits up on the stool. Everyone was very respectful of one another and had helpful feedback. The complexity of writing varied yet, the feedback was consistent and the kids were involved. Students gave feedback, such as they would like to know more about a particular idea or comment made or a better description of something in particular. It was nice to see how open students were and everyone participated with enthusiasm.
Reading conferences are highlighted in the readings as well. Any one on one time with students is productive however; it talks about the student being "ready" for their conference meaning, putting together the best work before asking for feedback. I like that piece of insight on timing the conference and setting an expectation to best make it productive. I also like how it adds to make comments on sticky notes. I often feel unsure of how to give feedback in writing. I dislike writing on students work yet, sometimes it is necessary. For writing, sticky notes seem like a better idea than a red pen.
Well Ms. Taylor, I vehemently disagree with you!! Actually no I don't but I thought it would be a good way to start out my response to get your attention. An idea I know I will be pushing in my class is public speaking and the reading conferences you write of definately get kids in from of their classmates in a speaking capacity. So I get I could have written that I vehemently agree with you (but it doesn't have the same effect).
ReplyDeleteI also want to respond with some ideas that Elbow tacled about from his time at the famed Evergreen State College here in Washington. He mentioned a couple of interesting facts about our society and our requirement for stress and anxiety over our place in the system. Students need to know where they "rank" as compared to others. We all say it makes sense that the students should be concerned about learning the info of the class, but the evidence is overwhelming that the number recieved in a class is FAR more important than the knowledge learned. It is interesting as we see a lot of this in our Cohort. People speak of the grades almost daily as the quarter draws to a close. Have we heard anyone say "Hey I'm not fully comprehending how to write an inquiry model instruction...." but we do hear "On the syllabus it says that 30 points will be awarded for this and that 20 is awarded for that....."
A great activity I did after reading Elbow was to go back and reread the comments on all the papers I have received back so far. Beyond the "redo" at the top of most of the papers I was suprised by how much I remember the number grade I recieved on the paper as opposed to the comments written. There were HUGE amounts of great comments that recieved little attention from me. I was very glad I had given them a second thought as it gave me a lot of ideas for the papers we are writting now.
Good stuff Ms Taylor!!
Hmm - Well as you might imagine I think a couple of things about this conversation. First, I agree with KT that Routman's emphasis on the timing of conferences - that kids know they need to come prepared - is an important idea -- kind of reciprocal responsibility between the teacher and the student. Also a huge idea for me from Routman is that when kids write their truth, and then share their writing publicly in a supportive class or through reading and writing conferences, they become "visible" to the teacher and the class -- and feel valued -- Key for student learning, the development of classroom community and trust. And hey, TN, I'm glad that you went back and read the comments! We have been so conditioned for so many years to value the grades, it is hard to switch over to the content, even though intellectually we might know that that's what counts.
ReplyDeleteNancy