ASSIGNMENT SIX: DVD Reflection- Included in your text is a DVD containing video clips of Regie’s conferences with writers in the classroom. There is a detailed commentary accompanying the DVD on page 336 of her text. Please watch the DVD and then look at her teaching notes beginning on page 336 (Regie suggests just watching without notes first so that you don’t miss what she and the students are doing.) After both watching and reading her notes, write your reflection and please post a copy of your DVD Reflection to the blog.
*NOTE: If you experience problems playing the DVD please refer to the Writing Essentials companion website at www.heinemann.com/writingessentials for directions for playing the DVD. Look in the upper right hand corner for the link.
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It was very useful to have a DVD included with the textbook. The layout of the DVD was very “user friendly” and I could easily switch back and forth between the video clips, the student writing, and Regie’s notes. For me, watching Regie in action, with “real” students was incredibly helpful and just as beneficial (if not more so) than reading about it in the book. It helped bring to life some of the strategies that Regie has been talking about thus far. I’m a pretty visual learner so watching the video and looking at the student writing samples helped provide clarification for me. I noticed right away with every student conference Regie did, she started off with a praise of the student’s writing. Regie was so full of joy and exuberance about the student writing, it was almost “contagious” to all the other students. She definitely brings the “celebration” piece back to writing. A breath of fresh air. I was impressed with how she so easily found so many positive points to emphasize in all the pieces of writing….even the ones that had an awful lot of errors and confusion in them. It was a good reminder for me to make sure I always start with a positive when talking with kids about their work. It’s easy (and very tempting) to jump straight to what needs to be fixed and hurry by the celebration. I’ll definitely be “slowing down” my conferences with students…whether whole group shares, or one-on-one conferences, and take the time necessary to savor and celebrate the heart of my students writing. The most helpful assignment thus far.
ReplyDeleteAmy – Thanks for sharing your writing process! I LOVE THE IDEA OF GLAMPING!!! That’s the way I would agree to go “camping” with my husband and family You mentioned some key points in your reflection…how important it is for kids to write about what’s important to them and that writing really is a process…even adult writers use different strategies to get print on paper that conveys their thoughts accurately to their reader. It is important for them to see us work through that process and see that it doesn’t just come with the “snap of a finger”.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed the conferencing DVD clips. They were very helpful in demonstrating excellent teaching writing techniques. It was very refreshing to see students, especially reluctant and struggling students, excited to share their writing pieces. An important reminder that I will take away is that it’s important to conference with students about their whole piece of writing in a cohesive manner so the meaning is kept. Regie’s words were very supportive as she overloaded them with helpful language. Her helpful language wasn’t contrived or dishonest. Students were beaming during the whole class shares, which I can tell cultivates the joy of writing (a crucial key). During my first year teaching, I was not sure on how to give suggestions to students to improve their writing pieces without diminishing the authenticity. Now, I am more comfortable problem solving and telling students what is exactly confusing. It was great to see Regie model this process. She did an amazing job of keeping the writing authentic to the authors’ words and guided students with clarifying questions.
ReplyDeleteFirst, I would like to say how much I appreciated “meeting the author,” Regie Routman, via her DVD clips. Having read her Reading Essentials book, and now her Writing Essentials, it’s so nice to see and hear Regie in action. I also like "knowing” who the young author sitting next to Regie on the cover of the text is as well! ☺
ReplyDeleteI love the DVD, as like so many others, I learn best by actual examples. Being able to SEE and HEAR the shared writing celebrations and writing conferences makes it much easier for me to give a go for myself. I’m looking forward to it!
I can clearly see and understand the value of the various types of conferences that Regie modeled. Allowing an author to be recognized and celebrated obviously boosts the confidence of our young writers. At the same time, the learning that takes place within the celebrations, in a timely and efficient manner, is awesome. Pointing out voice, word choice, visualizations, use of dialogue, catchy beginnings, etc…all those teaching points that naturally arise are so powerful, and can even make my job a little “easier”! The lessons or teaching points arise directly from the authentic writing itself. Love it!
Important golden nuggets of advice I take away from the DVD and Regie’s notes are:
•Praise, praise, praise! Start with the positive and note as many positives about the student’s writing that I can.
•Listen to the writing TWICE. First, to simply enjoy and hear the author and his/her message. Second, to absorb and enjoy it again, and then pull out what I can to reinforce praise and utilize teaching points found within the writing.
•Use post-it notes instead of me doing any writing or corrections directly onto a student’s piece of work. I never thought of that idea and am VERY guilty of writing on student work. However, I can see many reasons why this is NOT good teaching practice and am now committed to not doing that any more.
•It’s okay to help “put words into an author’s mouth”, but I need to do it in a manner where the author has a choice and feels he/she has made the final decision on what to write. Offering some suggested ways to write a sentence or give title suggestions doesn’t mean the student didn’t do the writing. I AM allowed to help with that!
The spelling editing conference with Derek made me squirm in my seat a little bit because I felt like so much of the lesson was focused just on Derek and not whole class, though it was a whole class lesson. I love the idea of teaching the correct spelling and bringing in a mini-lesson. I also REALLY love the idea of accountability that followed the lesson where Regie said Derek could never misspell certain words again. I know I wasn’t in the classroom to see all of the students, but the few I could see seemed a bit bored and not wholly engaged, which is what made me a little concerned. I was thinking that perhaps the use of white boards might be an effective way to have ALL students participate in the spelling lesson and practice for themselves any words or spelling patterns being focused on.
After watching the DVD and seeing Regie’s various models of writing conferences, I feel much better prepared to conduct my own writing conferences. That will be happening THIS week! ☺
Thanks Andrea & Mardy for your comments about Regie’s DVD. Andrea – giving kids feedback on how to make their writing better can be extremely difficult! You can feel like you are walking that very “fine line” of needing to move writing forward, while not frustrating and turning the student off. I’m glad that the video clips were able to help you feel more comfortable with this process. Mardy – You pulled out some great and really important “golden nuggets” . I think that Regie’s whole group conference with Derek has made many of us “a bit uncomfortable” and question whether this was the best way to address Derek’s need…??? I would love to be able to chat about this with Regie . I hope that these clips do make you more comfortable and help support your instruction during future writing conferences with your own students!
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ReplyDeleteWatching Regie work the kids was really refreshing! She appeared genuinely interested in what the students did. Her focus was entirely on them. Kids really need that from teachers. I would love for her to do an actual in person training at my school! The teachers are my school NEVER take enough time to praise students, especially those on my caseload. My kiddos are so far behind, that the gen ed teachers often fail to see the little successes.
Watching the DVD really brought the book to life. So often, books on teaching sound really good on paper but then fail in practice. It was great actually seeing theory in practice!
Thanks Amy! I'm glad that you enjoyed the DVD...it'd be a great idea to see if your administration would agree to let you share some clips during a faculty meeting...this might generate some interest in a book study club :)
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