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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Writing Conferences: Writing Essentials
ReplyDeleteVideo Reflection: Jennifer Cooper
The video used to show poetry conferences (celebrations) is not so much about developing craft as it is about fostering students’ self-esteem/confidence. Routman focused on the positive, providing feedback as to what the students were doing really well and using these examples for the benefit of the class. The student in the author chair was not held up to scrutiny but was rather highlighted as a model to follow with respect to one or more writing elements. The children felt appreciated, both for their talent and as individuals. Routman says in her commentary that kids should always be provided with samples, whether from professional authors, peers, or the teacher. She made great use of the public conference to draw attention, though briefly, to writing elements (like line breaks, dialogue, sounds, etc.) in the poem celebrations. Although these conferences were foremost used to build confidence in their writing, students both in the author chair and in the audience, learned from these teachable moments. She (Routman) definitely believes in the importance of focusing first on meaning and then on other skills. To tell the truth, I found it difficult to envision myself celebrating “poetry” when there were few if any poetic elements in the pieces. Just because one calls something a poem does not make it so, and I have a hard time separating the craft of writing poetry from the process of conferencing. Granted, individuals can meet with the teacher to discuss those elements at a later point in time. I don’t know if I agree with Routman’s separation of the celebration of a public conference from the skills-based critique of class/individual ones? Does that make sense to build a child up then take their work apart in private? When grading a piece of poetry, should one give two grades, one for meaning and one for skill? I was more in agreement with how she held the short story conferences in public and private as she did both at one time, giving the student feedback on their strengths and areas in need of improvement.
Your questions about the conference are valid. I guess I would say that it would depend on the student. Some students are at a level in their writing where they are able to handle more critique than others. Though I do think in the public sharing and celebrating that we want to instill a sense of success and accomplishment.
ReplyDeleteWriting is a process and not every piece is going to be perfect or to the same standard we hold ourselves. When I think of myself, doing an activity, like hiking or skiing, if I never feel good and always feel slow and behind it's not fun for me and I don't want to do it. Why would I want to do something that I always feel bad at? So writing takes time and a lot of practice. I know that my writing greatly improved from high school to college and grad school.
For all students we can find something positive to say and an example to share with the class. Just as with reading, we don't (or shouldn't) correct every single error, with writing I think the over all meaning and content is the most important. This is not to say that grammar and punctuation or handwriting should be ignored; rather discussed at another time to remind students of their audience and purpose for writing and that for their meaning and intent to be clear they must conform to the traditional conventions of our language.
For the question about two grades assigned, I thing sure, absolutely.
Writing is hard work, especially for students, so I would say the more we can build up their confidence and provide opportunities to write the better.
I love re-reading and finding typos... "I think" not "I thing" :D
ReplyDeleteMary
Eileen Wali
ReplyDeleteOverall I enjoyed watching Regie’s DVD. There were a few parts that I was feeling were not realistic-for me anyways. For example, when she was helping AlexSandra on the couch. There were about 5 volunteers in the classroom helping the students! She wrote in the book that the teachers were attending but Regie certainly didn’t have any interruptions. She was able to spend quality one on one time with this girl. I had a poetry writing lesson today writing “I am” poems and I felt like I was running in all different directions.
Another part that was negative for me was the spelling mini lesson. This literally drove me crazy! Regie spent too much time on this area and I couldn’t believe the kids weren’t getting “ants in their pants.” I like when Regie said the students should know the spelling of these words. I agree. I was hoping it was just this one boy that was having trouble with spelling because they should know how to spell these words.
I liked seeing Regie in person and how she interacts with the students. I was wondering what the students do with the notes Regie writes. I was picturing my students staring at the paper for a long time waiting for me to help them.
Starting with Max’s poem….I like how she kept saying “Max is the only one who can read his poem”. That really does raise his importance in the classroom. She notes some of the really important highlights found in this poem like humor and dialogue. As she does in most of the conferences, she makes a big deal about how to wrap it up. It’s hard to teach young kids what an ending is and they benefit much more from hearing what a good ending is. I like to tell them that putting a feeling at the end, either their feeling or how the character felt is always a good way to “wrap it up”. Tough to describe “wrap it up” but I use it all the time in hopes that they eventually get the feel of what that means. I got a lot out of her work with Ervin. Sequencing is tough for most first graders so I loved hearing the language she used with him to help make the story more understandable. She has a nice way of helping the kids to notice things they have already said in there stories. That is so tough for them because they just don’t notice most of the time even if they read through a whisper tube to themselves, it just doesn’t pop out. “I got confused here” and “wait, you already told us that. You don’t want to bore your reader” come across as exactly what they are: coaching and not criticism. With Derek and Alex, whew! That was painful but oh so successful. There are always a handful of students that have a tough time putting down what they are seeing in their own heads and having it make sense. It was such a great example for me to see her help the students sequence their stories but also to draw out more of the interesting details. I haven’t been using sticky notes and just started with the carets for my kids. This week, we had a lot of notes to write to different people for different purposes, but all of them going to a final audience. I tried sitting at the big table in back and having the kids come up as they completed 2 of the assigned notes. I had conferences with them that lasted from 2-5 minutes. I was a bit nervous as I don’t like kids standing around and waiting for me during writing time, but I am pushing now for “published” product that makes sense, has all the high frequency words spelled correctly, capital and small letters in the right places and an attempt at punctuation. I felt the kids really needed some one on one input so they could really see what I wanted and expected. I just put a light dot underneath things they needed to fix after we talked about them rather than using sticky notes. The kids and I talked about expectations for spelling at this time of the year and while they know everything that is on the word wall they are responsible for, I expect to continue a lot more reinforcement but then to see a marked difference in their own editing of their spelling. What I am trying to get across right now is that something should trigger their brain on certain words that says “Warning! This doesn’t look right! Look up on the word wall and make sure!” I have about 20 more words I want to add but I think they need some more whole class attention before I expect them to spell them correctly. It was great to watch Regie and the whole class spelling lesson. It showed me a way to teach an individual kid and hold him responsible but also to put the rest of the class on notice about frequently spelled words. I wish we had a whole bunch more videos of Regie doing conferences, especially with the lower grades.
ReplyDeleteEileen,
ReplyDeleteI also wonder sometimes when I see literacy coaches come to classrooms about the behavior thing because so many teachers are in the room... but I imagine with all of Regie's experience she'd be able to manage just fine.
Ann,
I googled "Regie Routman videos" and came up with this link.
http://www.regieroutman.com/teachingessentials/videos.asp
Watching the DVD, reading the text, and hearing Regie’s comments helped me understand the purpose of public conferences. In one of Reggie's comments, she was giving a lesson to reluctant writers at a particular school. As students gathered at the carpet, she told them that the main goal of the lesson was to celebrate the writers' work. The students clearly knew the expectation, and this knowledge set the tone for how they as an audience would respond when selected students shared their writing.
ReplyDeleteI liked this strategy of starting out a lesson with a celebration of the students' writing, because the they needed a boost of confidence to get them excited about their work. It was fun to watch the students, who were featured in the film, beaming with joy as Regie complimented their compositions. By complimenting the students' work, she highlighted specific areas in their writing that made the composition fantastic. This praise was an effective tool in reinforcing the strengths within the students' work. If it weren't for the commentary, I would have never known these students were reluctant writers. As the class gave those who shared their work a round of applause, the young writers seemed confident and successful. This lesson was a community building activity, because kids felt safe, positive, and connected. I enjoyed seeing the laughter and smiles sparking the room. It was obvious these kids enjoyed sharing their writing and listening to writing of others.
I've never thought of having a public conference with my students, because I previously believed that conferences were usually one on one or with a small group. However, in her public conference, Regie was able to model effective writing through celebrating the students' work. In the fourth grade class featured in Regie's video, the students were sharing their heart poems. Lahana wrote a wonderful poem about chocolate. Her writing modeled a lot of beautiful language, and she had an amazing topic sentence, “Eating chocolate is a glory.” I know in my classroom students have struggled with topic sentences, but by using topics from books, myself, and other students as positive examples, they've started to write more exciting title phrases. Lately, I've been modeling and having my students share their work frequently in class. These communal exercises have been beneficial, because my students get many different ideas from others and feel like they have several strategies to use in developing their writing. Our class also worked on a heart poem. As Regie mentioned, I think it’s important for the students to write a variety of poems, so they can practice and have a selection to choose from when picking their favorite to add to the anthology. I want to revisit the heart poem lesson and show the student sample in the DVD to my class, so they can get more ideas.
In the second grade class featured in the video, I saw Regie scaffolding with the struggling writers, as they shared their work with the class. I appreciated watching this segment, because I have several writers who are not meeting third grade expectations. I liked how she had a public conference with Derek and, in front of the whole class, modeled how to make revisions to one's composition. Regie previewed the selected students' work ahead of time and picked a strategy, which was align to the elements of writing that many kids struggled with in class. I think it is an effective teaching strategy to have a public conference when many kids are having similar difficulties. Even though she gave suggestions, the students were receptive and empowered by the public conferences.
ReplyDeleteThis assignment helped me understand how to maximize my instruction in writing, by having public conferences. In addition, I recognize the importance of taking the time to collectively celebrate my students work, especially when I'm teaching new writing skills. This way my students will feel encouraged to write more and love it.
Assignment #6: DVD Reflection
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, I love the special chair! Details like that that make writing conferences special and effective. The students shown in the videos come away feeling great about their writing, and they get useful feedback and gain skills along the way. I have not done conferences in front of my high school classes before, but it would be useful. I like that there is so much celebration involved, but it’s not fluff—students are engaged in real learning. I also like that the student reads aloud, then receives feedback and applause, and then the teacher reads it again. The writing on the page also gets shown to the class so they can see what it looks like.
These conferences are so much about building a community around writing. They build confidence and trust between students and teacher. I especially liked the clip featuring Max, who Regie said was not very socially engaged prior to his sharing of his work. I loved seeing how warmly he was received. Another conference that struck me was AleSandra’s. She obviously needed a lot of one-on-one help. I appreciate how patient Regie was with her, providing her with plenty of explicit instruction while respecting AleSandra’s word choices and the meaning of her piece. Sometimes I find myself pushing students to change their wording because I know it is not the best choice, when I should be letting them decide. I like the use of post-its as well—so many students I’ve encountered hate having their work written on, and the post-its put the agency back on the student.
The spelling lesson was interesting. I wonder how I might adapt it to working with older students. I think I could possibly just use the same approach, on the overhead. One thing I noticed is that since it’s Derrek’s writing he is the one who spends all 9 minutes in front of the class. I understand that it should be him working on his own writing, but it seems like the kids would get squirrely. I would like to try it, but have multiple volunteers work in front of the class, or break it down into small group work. I do like how Regie allows Derrek to make plenty of mistakes while guiding him gently toward success. Like she says, she doesn’t give up on him.
That seems key to teaching in general, and is a theme of the conference clips: “I’m not going to give up on you. You have something important to say.” The examples of anthologies are further examples of this sentiment. It’s so satisfying to put anthologies together!
I really enjoyed the video and it helped to see how she celebrates with the students. It is one thing to read how to celebrate but I got a whole new feel when I watched the celebrations. In Max’s poem I really enjoyed how she allowed him to read his work and said only he could read it. I think that made him feel even more special and proud of his work. Having a special chair for the kids to sit in is also a great idea that I would love to implement in my own classroom. After seeing Regie hold the conferences in front of the whole class it does make me wonder how students take it. Her students respond so well to it but would all students? I have always thought of that being such a private time. I think kids would feel uncomfortable and it may not hold their attention like it should.
ReplyDeleteAnother conference that I really learned from was Ervin’s. He need some help with sequencing and repeating and Regie did such a good job of offering suggestions. It really stood out how she made a suggestion and then let him cross out. That is so important because she wasn’t the one changing his writing. He was able to hear how the writing sounds and make an adjustment from there. That was a great learning lesson for me and I think it is so useful. Regie also celebrated his title before making changes. When helping students it is so important to recognize what they did well along with what they need help on. She truly does a great job of this in each conference. I really enjoyed seeing her work in action but do wonder how long this takes to learn? Do the kids adapt quickly to this or is it something that takes several months? At times it did feel like it may be too good to be true!
I enjoyed watching the video of conferences conducted by Regie. I was at first surprised that she was doing the conferences in front of other students. I really like this strategy. Not only will students get the feedback and learning opportunity from their own writing conference, but they also have an opportunity to learn from the others’ conferences as well. Regie definitely hit the point home that you should CELEBRATE, which is great. Your goal is to make them healthy, happy writers. It’s not to turn them off. I think I will try this strategy of conferencing in front of the other students, I see value in it.
ReplyDeleteI found the spelling lesson included was intriguing. The little mini-lesson Regie imbedded in the conference was a good example of how to have targeted mini-lessons based on student writing.
Throughout all seven video clips, Regie was consistent about offering praise and recognizing what students had done well. With some, she focused on a specific element and provided a short mini-lesson or suggestions for revision. I liked how she didn’t take the opportunity to point out all errors. I think that would be overwhelming and frustrating for students, especially those who struggle most. The idea of conferencing with a student in a “fishbowl” creates an opportunity for all students to learn from each others’ writing, but I wonder if that’s fair for the students who are already beyond that point (The spelling lesson made me wonder, “what about the kids who already know how to spell house? That was a lot of time spent on that one spelling pattern and did they all need it?) For this reason, I think I would be more judicious about deciding what conferences will be most beneficial for the whole group and which ones should happen in small groups or with individuals. What I am taking away from these demonstrations is the importance of meeting each student where they are (level) in their writing and working toward creating more competent, fluent, and confident writers. And, I am reminded that it takes a organized teacher with excellent classroom management to do this effectively!
ReplyDelete**an organized
DeleteThanks for your comments everyone.
ReplyDelete