This Chapter focuses on how to conference with Students. The sisters realized the need for students to
set their own goals for reading and the need for more explicit teaching of how
to reach their goals. The biggest shift
for a teacher in doing conferences is that they move around to meet with the
student, the student doesn’t come to them.
Emphasised in this chapter was the benefit for shorter, more focused
time with student on a more regular and consistent basis.
The sisters found that teachers differed in their conferencing
observation, instruction and goal setting techniques across the board and were
taking much longer than them to conference with each child. For this reason
they created a conferencing sheet as a guide with icons to show what to be
looking for and what to do at each stage of the conference.
By using the CAFÉ board it gave the students the language to talk about reading
and how to improve it. Instead of students trying to get to a level 22 reader
as a goal, they now have reading strategies as a goal. Once mastered, they can
clearly move to the next strategy with a sense of achievement about their
reading.
From Conferencing to
Coaching
This part of the chapter the Sisters address the issue of timing and presented the point that we need to
change our focus from longer conferences to a more focused, quick coaching
style technique whereby the teacher comes alongside a student for shorter more
regular times. On p56 it gives a clear
overview of what an average coaching session will look like. The rough guide is
Prepare - 30 sec
Observe – 1min
Reinforce & teach 1min
Practice – 1 min
Plan 30c
Encourage 15sec
These time frames are only
rough guidelines and it was clearly noted that the most important part of a
coaching session is to be fully present with the child for
the short focused time you have them and not be so rigid in following a
schedule that you forget the needs of the individual child.
The key is having clear goals
and having them recorded so time is not wasted each session trying to figure
out where a child is at.
Seven Steps
1. Check calendar for appointments for the day
Note: Not all children will
have appointments regularly. They are made on a needs basis with each
child. A key point is that we often
neglect able readers when trying to meet the needs of less able readers. The way the sisters monitor this is by having
two recording systems. One is the Calendar where students book
appointments and the other is a ‘Keeping Track’ sheet where teachers
have a class list and date next to each child’s name each time they meet with
them. This way teachers can easily see at one glance any students that have
been neglected and plan to meet with them.
2. Prepare for Conference
The teacher quickly glances at the teach points from last session and the ‘take away’ focus point. This time is very short and is usually done whilst walking to the area the child is reading in. It is important to note that the children don’t come to the teacher as this disrupts the children by calling out for kids whilst they are trying to focus. The teacher goes to the student. The sisters observed that this was also an excellent way to monitor social behavior and check on students on the way to the next student they were meeting with.
The teacher quickly glances at the teach points from last session and the ‘take away’ focus point. This time is very short and is usually done whilst walking to the area the child is reading in. It is important to note that the children don’t come to the teacher as this disrupts the children by calling out for kids whilst they are trying to focus. The teacher goes to the student. The sisters observed that this was also an excellent way to monitor social behavior and check on students on the way to the next student they were meeting with.
3. Observe Child and Listen to Reading
The teacher makes note of
what the child is reading and asks them how they are going. They check if the
child is using the strategies that they were taught last time.
4. Reinforce and Teach
This is always started by the
teacher telling the student what they noticed about their reading. The aim is
to move the child forward from where they’re at without overloading them with
too much information. Keep this to about one minute.
5. Practice Strategy
This gives a chance for the
child to practice the strategy taught with the teacher present. This time is
important for checking to see if the child understands what their goal is and
what it is they need to do to improve their reading.
6. Plan
If a child has mastered a skill they can move to a new strategy. This is worked out by looking at the 4 -5 touch points and seeing if the student can do them. They move their name to the strategy part of the CAFÉ menu board whilst the teacher records their progress. Together they decide on a plan of action and book in a meeting time on the calendar.
If a child has mastered a skill they can move to a new strategy. This is worked out by looking at the 4 -5 touch points and seeing if the student can do them. They move their name to the strategy part of the CAFÉ menu board whilst the teacher records their progress. Together they decide on a plan of action and book in a meeting time on the calendar.
7. Encourage
This is the most important
part. Leave the child with a positive and clear direction of where they are
going next and how they are going to achieve it by the goals you have set
together.
By having these shorter
session, teachers will be able to meet more regularly with students, meet their
needs more effectively and use their own time more productively.
My Thoughts!
I found the time guideline really helpful. This has really helped me pick up the game in terms of getting to more kids and having a quality focused time with them.
I have found the setting of small achievable goals ideal and helpful for the kids so that they know what they need to be working on. I've used milo as a way of tracking my kids for the day. I make a certain number of milos for my kids and my aim is to, by the end of the day, have conferenced with each child. It works really well because I can just say, " Who had a milo today?" and I instantly know who I havent seen. I can also at a glance look around the room to the drinkers and know whom I'm conferencing with without disturbing them.
I've really loved moving away from the kids coming to my desk for assessment and enjoyed lying on the floor with them or on the couch.
How about you guys?
What's been working for you in terms of getting to as many kids as possible?
How do you manage to do the teach and two rotations before SRA?
What strategies have worked well for you in terms of time management??
Kelly
4 comments:
I really like your idea with the Milo Kel, that's a very relational approach and obviously working well for you. I think that point you made right at the start about the sisters realising the need for students to set their own goals is so important! If we are to develop autonomous and empowered lifelong learners, they need to know how to do this. Also, delving into HOW to explicitly teach this is so handy for us to add to our own teacher toolbox of skills.
I love that idea of the teacher going to the students for conferences, as the chapter suggested: it doesn't interrupt the student and I think it also allows the teacher to 'get down' to the student's level, so to speak. I think the suggested time-frame for conferences is effective as we can try and fit too much in sometimes and it would help keep you on track. Shifting that mindset of 'conferencing' into 'coaching' is great too.
With the two lists for monitoring, do the students book their own times in on the Calendar sheet? With the Keeping Track sheet, does the teacher just register that as they move around? I think this sounds like an effective recording system couple together.
I love the 'take away' point and how it echoes the CAFE/Menu metaphor. Just making the learning more concise and practical is so much better for students improving at their own pace and working on bits at a time rather than being overwhelmed sounds great. I like how it allows the teacher to cater for and meet the individual student's needs, rather than trying to use the same approach for all, as we all know our students are all unique.
Finally, I really like how the last point is Encourage to leave the student with positive words and feedback about their progress. That's so important!
Well done Kel, I enjoyed reading your chapter summary.
Great summary Kel,
I really do like the clear direction given by the sisters. I think it makes much more sense to talk about strategies instead of a number when working one on one with the students.
I love the language that is introduced and how the children are using it so freely in the classroom.
The clear goals ensure the teacher and student are focused and the time is not wasted.
I also love the sheet in the book that tells the teacher exactly what to say. I know you don't have to follow it directly, like a robot, but it gives me a clear example of the dialogue that should be taking place.
I get to as many kids as possible by writing names in my timetable 1-2 weeks in advance. In saying that, my schedule is often very messy as I scribble and change names where needed.
I can usually do 2 rotations and teach before SRA as I am not timing the students for stamina as much and I'm finding they are more independent.
Love your MILO idea Kel. It would be awesome being a kid in your class :)
That was a really interesting read about conferencing with students or as the sisters refer to it as coaching. The term coaching really gives you the picture of getting along side a reader and supporting them in their learning.I particularly like that concept.
I also love the idea of the teacher moving to the student to meet with them. This helps to give the power of the coaching back to the student and helps the teacher to minimise distraction in the classroom and prompt students who may be a bit off track through simple proximity as mentioned by the sisters.
I can't say I have any formal system of conferencing in place in my classroom at the moment. I definitely need to locate information that shows practical examples of how the different components of Cafe are implemented succesfully into a kindergarten classroom.
I am finding it hard to picture having a coaching time with any student who is not reading at about a level 6/ 7. For children who are reading below this level which is pretty much the majority of the class I feel the best use of my time is for the chn to read to me both independently and in a small group as much as possible. Chn are not going to learn how to read without actually reading and they can't practise reading if they cannot read. And as much as you develop and build up children's confidence to think of themselves as readers right at the start of the Kindergarten year, until the penny drops so to speak these chin just need to read and read and read.
Kel, this was a long chapter. Great job with the recap. In response to your questions:
Getting to all the kids I need to see on a given day has been challenging. Partly contributing to this situation is the fact that sometimes, not always, children forget the particular strategy they were supposed to be practising. While they may know it is Comprehension or Fluency, they may forget that it is Backing up and re-reading. So, taking that time to remind them and then listen to their practice of it can take time.
I find that after the holidays, it is almost as if the students need a complete reteach of the routines and processes in the room. We are working again towards 2 rotations before SRA. They will only happen when we can manage a smooth and swift transition between activities. The lessons betweeen the rotations also need to be kept to not more than ten minutes - a minute for each year of the students' age.
The key thing in time management is being as organised as one can possibly be. It is also, I think, about investing plenty of time training the students to the level that you want them to be, before trying to incorporate all that D5 has to offer.
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