Hey there!!! Welcome to the Bright Ideas Blog Hop!!!!
It's been a while since I've posted with this awesome hop, and I am SOOO excited to share an idea that I use in my classroom that may be new, old, or slightly different than something you already do! With that :), I really hope you enjoy reading all about my...
Writer's Workshop MOBILE CONFERENCING!!!
After reading friends' blogs, books, and other articles on writer's workshop, I decided I wanted to take my writing conferences MOBILE!
Let's take a look at my past writing conferences!
Back in the past, I would set up my writing with a mini-lesson, status of the class, writing time, conferencing at my u-table, and sharing. Now, I liked and still use everything BUT the u-table!! If you are anything like me, I can easily find 50,000 other things to hurry up and do when you see all of your students working quietly! Not that I'm saying that's a good thing AT ALL or that I did that all the time, but there were those days that I was so overwhelmed that I just HAD to (at least for my sanity) get something done really quickly and get back to conferences. Well, what started as a quick task ended up taking the whole time. Has that ever happened to you?? Like I said, it didn't always happen that way, but I just would be so mad at myself for doing that.
Then, when I was at the u-table, I would call back one student at a time. Now, yes it's one on one which is great AND lots of teachers are AMAZING at this, but TEACHER CONFESSION...I am not! I admit it!! I do fine with the conferencing part, but I'm not able to monitor the other kids in a way that doesn't disrupt the writing of others.
So here comes the birth of the MOBILE CONFERENCING!!
What I do NOW!
Now, that I confessed and feel way better haha (thank you for listening :), let me tell you how I have taken my conferencing MOBILE!
Like I said above, I still set up my writer's workshop like this...
When my kids are independently writing, I take my Conferencing Toolbox (in first picture in post) and go TO my first student conference! I get my conference notebook out where I have tabs for every student with about 5 pages for each student. I start out just talking to my student about what they're working on as I also reference my notebook to see what we were working on the last conference time. My goal is to find something I like about their writing, find a teaching point for the conference, and give a goal for my student to have. For the teaching point, it may be something that I will model and have the student try it after me. I may also teach a new skill to them to practice. Whatever the case, my teaching point usually leads to the goal.
Now that I just got off track, let's get back to the MOBILE CONFERENCING!! :)
So as I'm conferencing, I have everything I need inside my conferencing toolbox to identify, diagnose, record, and prescribe for my student's writing!!
Inside my conferencing toolbox I have the items below!
NOW, as I'm sitting all over the classroom, I am in THEIR writing spaces!! I didn't interrupt their thought process. I didn't waste time in the transition of the student getting to the table, opening their journal, conferencing, getting back up, and returning to their seat. There was NO INSTRUCTIONAL TIME LOST!!! YAY!!! That will totally look amazing on our evaluations, too!! haha Right?!? That's not the point, BUT it is a BONUS!!
Since I'm already AMONGST my students, the classroom's behavior is AWESOME!!! I'm with them! I'm not separated and in my own bubble at the u-table. I'm showing them that I respect their writing and their process, wherever that may be! I let them sit wherever they want in the room, except during practice writing prompts. With this, when it's time for me to move on to the next student, my MOBILE CONFERENCING allows me to check in with several other students as I'm in pursuit of the next student. This knocks down behavior issues as well, and it gives me a chance to see what my kids are working on since I can't meet with everyone every day. WIN WIN!!
BOTTOM LINE...MY KIDS LOVE THIS!!! I LOVE THIS!!!
Here is a quote by one of my most reluctant writer's last year (I looped to 3rd this year :)...
WHAT?!? I seriously told myself to stay calm and don't act like a fool and start jumping around that your most reluctant writer is cheering that we are writing today!! Oh my word!!! I wanted to do a teacher dance!! Total teacher chills moment!!
SO...if you can relate to this post at all, maybe give it a try and see how it goes!! It has changed the whole atmosphere of my room! It's probably one of my favorite times of the day aside from reading!! :)
I hope you are able to take something away from this post even if it's simply a laugh or a smile!!! I, by no means, am an expert! However, I am always changing and trying new things so for now, this is working!!! I hope to keep improving the mobile conferencing as we continue on our journey!! Check out my other Bright Idea posts by clicking on the Bright Ideas label in the right column of my blog! :)
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