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.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
In watching the conferences on the DVD I noticed how well Regie compliments and validates the students. She is genuine in her compliments and asks the students questions that make is easy for them to add more and be excited about their writing. With Derek for example he had the beginning of his story, but hadn’t even gotten to the best part of the story yet, but Regie was able to encourage and cue him to unfold the rest of his story. Regie also keeps a moving pace and you can hear and see the students in the audience laughing and clapping as the she or the student reads their writing.
ReplyDeleteI bought Writing Essentials by Regie Routman second hand, and unfortunately the DVD was not with the book when it arrived. So, for this assignment I found a few videos on YouTube of Regie in action. One particular segment I watched was Regie leading a student sharing their writing. The students were sitting up close on the floor. Regie and the sharing student were sitting in chairs up front. The student read their writing out loud. Regie celebrated the student’s writing and complimented them on what she noticed they did well. Then Regie read the student’s writing out loud really emphasizing the language, pointing out the spacing, lettering, and conventions, and she even re-read particularly well written parts. Regie ended the sharing by thanking the student. I really liked how Regie was so positive and encouraging with the student. She made the student feel proud and successful as a writer, and she did this in front of the student’s peers which was and is very powerful.
ReplyDeleteI watched another video of a student letting Regie know how much Regie changed her life. This particular student reflected back on a time when she had a reading conference with Regie and the way Regie made her feel was life changing. Regie was encouraging, positive, she never underestimated the student, and she made the student feel comfortable and confident. Having that conference with Regie gave this student a feeling about reading and writing that she never had felt before. The student remembered when Regie shared her story out loud to other teachers and students. When this student saw the way her story made people feel, that her words could affect someone she was hooked as a writer.
I was inspired watching these videos of Regie and I do hope I can get my hands on a copy of her DVD!
Thanks Alix and Kathy! I agree, Regie is inspirational and positive. I always love watching her in action. I would LOVE to be at a school where she was collaborating with the staff for the year (or more.) I think we can all use a dose of her enthusiasm and high standards for all learners. :)
ReplyDeleteThese video clips illustrate how modeling is so important. As a teacher/learner, watching examples of conferences really helps to demonstrate the method and tone used by the instructor. From the students’ point of view, you can see how the kids are learning from each other’s work and the guidance provided. I enjoyed seeing how Ms. Routman uses encouraging comments and has fun with the kids and their writing while still giving instruction where needed. A great point made in the text is that “all celebration points become teaching points for the other students listening in” (p.338). The students can also learn some of the more difficult concepts this way such as: What is entertaining? What is funny? What sounds redundant?
ReplyDeleteDuring the one-on-one conference with AlexSandra, I appreciated the opportunity to observe the teacher guide a struggling writer through the revision of her writing. She was able to clear up confusion and make a lot of changes while still honoring the student and her story. This video clip shows how important it is to have the kids engaged in their own writing process so the teacher has the opportunity to work with individuals. There were several other adults in the room, which is an advantage that most of us don’t have to help keep kids on task.
The final video “Editing Conference and Mini-lesson on Spelling” seemed a little painful. There would have to be lots of trust built up in that classroom in order for the child not to feel embarrassed by so much attention on his errors and attempts to spell the words correctly (even though he gave his permission to use his work). On the other hand, I can see where the lesson might not be as effective if it was depersonalized and taken out of context.
I too liked how Regie kept a positive spin on each of her diagnosis of the students’ stories. I have always felt more comfortable working one-on-one like she did with students such as AlexSandra as she may not have been very comfortable sharing in front of the class. I felt that topic choice had a lot to do with student interest and ‘buy in’. When students share their writing in front of the class it is important to show to the entire class what is being done to fix the piece. I think that using the projector to show students writing to the entire class might be effective for students to all learn from each other. I worry that the class would not benefit from the student lessons otherwise and wonder why they are there. I would hesitate to have other students offer suggestions as the point is to have the students enjoy what they are writing and not be possibly humiliated. Translating these lessons to middle school is possible and the emphasis needs to be on full class involvement and not just a public one-on-one. Keeping these public conferences brief is important to maintaining writers’ confidence, keeping class interest, and gaining valuable writing lessons.
ReplyDeleteAssignment #6 – DVD Reflection
ReplyDeleteKatherine Holtgraves
I have not actually seen Reggie Routman teach lessons, so this format was excellent for me. I really enjoyed it. What I have found so difficult, and what she did not seem to notice, is that kids do get off task, when one student is the one that is in the front of the room for a lesson – for this long of a span. You could see it in the kiddo’s in the video, she talked over them and monitored them by saying what she did like seeing. I guess I would have imagined that this would be different than the struggles that I have had doing these kinds of lessons. NOPE – same thing. A big part of her book is empowering students to find their own errors – don’t take the pen out of their hand. This was evident in all of her work with students. She was respectfully having them find their errors and correct them as well. She became a “writing team” with them. In the DEREK video, she had a promise with him that he would NEVER spell CAME incorrectly again. He didn’t seem very thrilled to be on her team, but she insisted that he shake her hand. It would be interesting to see if that would hold for this particular student. Loved seeing the actual projects and hearing her thoughts on each of them. A great way to show lessons, projects and students writing.
It has been a long time since I have watched student’s reactions to teacher comments. I am usually the teacher giving the comments. I don’t really take the time to notice the effect my comments have. I know words are powerful. I know I try to give as much positive and encouraging feedback as possible. I’ve forgotten how much that means. Watching the expression on the faces of the students as Regie worked with them stirred emotions in my heart. I love that Regie listened as students read their writing. Offered words of support and then re read the passage with their permission. As she re read the passage she did editing with them, always getting their “okay” first. I also really enjoyed watching the spelling lesson. I will use Regie’s techniques in my class this fall. “Do you see any words not spelled correctly?” All of this is done in front of the class. I appreciate how Regie reassures Ervin that he knows these words and now just needs to got through and “fix them up”.
ReplyDeleteWatching the DVD with Regie in action helped me to make connections much faster and easier than I did just reading the books and the lessons. I think I found the videos of the one-on-one conference and the spelling lesson the most helpful. I see where I lose patience or feel like it is not worth my time. For example, the spelling lesson, she spent a lot of time going over the spelling with one student but as a model/demonstration for the rest of the class. In the past I don’t think I would have felt this to be a worthwhile use of my time, but I can see now how this is important frontloading for teaching routines, expectations, etc. It also gave me great ideas of how to change the way I teach spelling. Instead of talking about the pattern, but giving kids lists of words to memorize, I will focus much more on just the spelling pattern. Then the students will learn to apply it to any words with those sounds, instead of the given words. I also loved how she is so specific and always positive with her feedback. She is also very genuine in her compliments and I think the kids can tell that she is really truly pleased. I will need to think more about how I react, including my body language tone of voice.
ReplyDeleteHi Everyone,
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you enjoyed the DVD. Yes, many teachers comment about Derek’s conference and how it was a little uncomfortable to watch. I would likely change the conference if it was me. Wouldn’t it be great if we could ask Regie about it and hear her thoughts?
I also enjoy watching Regie in action. Here are links to some other video clips she put together for her book Teaching Essentials and from a Google search on the web.
http://www.regieroutman.com/teachingessentials/videos.asp
http://www.regieroutman.com/inresidence/cnctn/player.aspx?file=Connections_Sessino_04
http://www.regieroutman.com/inresidence/wrtg/player.aspx?file=1_07_chapter01
http://vimeo.com/22093383
The number one take away from all the videos are the comments she makes about student work. They all seemed sincere and personalized. The students seemed to “light up” when she complemented their writing. The second take away is it is okay to raise the expectations especially when it comes to spelling high frequency words. I liked that she brought a student up who struggled with spelling and called him out in front of the class. It wasn’t negative and Derek will now always spell over, came and other missed words correctly. He will have a connection to these words from this experience. It is okay to hold kids to high expectations instead of always "spoon feeding" them the answers. Sorry if this seems too tough. Derek never looked upset or embarrassed by the interactions. If the student was visibly upset or embarrassed then I would have stopped the conference.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed watching Regie conduct conferences with students-it’s always good to see other teacher’s working with students who could be in my class. Since I teach first grade, I especially liked watching the second grade conferences. It was nice to see how Regie helped the students organize their thoughts and edit their writing so their stories made sense to the readers. I was uncomfortable watching Derek fix his spelling errors in front of the whole class. I liked the conversations that were happening regarding editing for spelling but would have liked to see the rest of the class get involved, maybe by writing on dry erase boards. The video clip was 9 minutes long which seemed like a long time for a teacher to be spending with one student while the other students were sitting at their tables without participating.
ReplyDeleteThanks ladies. Yes, Derek's conference always gets many comments. No, Brittany, I don't think it's too tough...I just think it was a little long. :)
ReplyDelete