Conferences worth the time: Students and teachers talk

Dr. Jennifer BerneJune, 2014

CommitmentsDifferentiation of instruction

Process over product

Assessment over time

Teach the writing, not the writer (Elbow)

Student writing should be good and correct

Text complexity in student writing

Writing workshop instructional necessitiesClassroom community

Writing stamina

Student agency

Joy (90/90)

Instructional emphasesPlanning

Drafting

Peer feedback

Revision

Teacher feedback

Revision

Proofreading

Day/week/month/year 40 minutes/day

3 days/week

1 paper per month

8 papers per year (argumentative, expository, narrative)

A day

9:00-9:15 9:15-9:45 9:45-9:50Mini-lesson and guided practice

Workshop activities Debrief/status of class

A week

Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday

WW Other writing

WW Other writing

WW

A WW “Chunk”Activity:

Draft:

Pre-Writing

0

Drafting

1

Peer Group or Buddy

1

Revision

1 2

Teacher Response

2

Revision

23

Proofreading

Working with

checklist3

Publication

Final Draft

Teacher feedback is situated . . .

Day 1 and 2 Day 3 Day 4 Day 5 Day 6

Prewriting Drafting Peer group Revising Teacher feedback

No draft 1st draft 12 2nd draft 23

The architecture of a writing conferenceRespond as a person

Share your thinking

Respond as a writing teacher

Ask student to repeat what you said

Record on (google) doc or yellow stickie

5th grade writing Some people might think grading people is good for them. It is bad for

some people though because they act bad. Here are the problems I find with grading us many people would have bad behavior grades. They would fail from normal grades, and you would have to hold them back. To start, bad grades we have them already. Since they are a real problem so why should we make it worse. Instead we should work on helping them to make it worse. Instead we should work on helping them to come in early and work on their grades. Second, if we are going to fail give us a chance. So don’t grade us please. Last, we would get held back so again please give us a chance to bring our grades up. In conclusion, grading us is bad because it is bad behavior, bad normal grades, and hold them back. So please help us.

Writing continuum

4th grade writing I went to the Filton fair with my mom and my friend John. I love the Filton Fair. It has a

lot of rides that are fun. First we went on the Ferris wheel. I could see everything from there, and we decided where to go next. We then went on a rocket ride. I almost got sick on that ride, but I managed to get off without any incidents. After that we wenton a roller coaster ride. This roller coaster is one of the largest in the country. It was scary. It was the best ride. We decided to go on it twice! When we got off we went to get something to eat. I ate a sausage and peppers sandwich, spicy curly fries, and fried dough for dessert. YUM! The food is one of the best things at the fair. I bought lots of stuff, too.I bought a key chain with a fuzzy on it, a poster of Ricky Martin, and I won lots of stuffed animals by hitting the bottles with a ball. I also won a big teddy bear when I tossed the rings on bottles. I was very lucky that day. I went home with lots of good stuff and I was stuffed.We went home about 9:00 p.m. I was tired and fell asleep in the car. It was a very good day at my favorite fair.

1st grade writingI walked home from school. The ice cream store had closed. I got gum from Latrice. That was my day.

Middle Grades WritingThe biggest change from elementary to the middle school is the way they do things and the classes. And the rules.To began with, I think the most biggest change for me was coming to the middle school from elementary because in elementary school you only had one or two teachers and one class to go to. Now in middle school you have six teachers and six classes to go to one for each subject. And you have to change classes about every hour.Next, they way they do things here is different like you only got four pass to go to your personal things like going to the restroom, the office, getting a drink of water and in elementary school you can go do those things as many times you want with a teacher permission to do all those things.then, you got the rules the girl and boy cant sit together. And your dress code is different then elementary school. Then there the rule that you only got four minutes to get to your next class and if you do not make it there in four minutes you have to go to the tardy hall and I know it not fun there. But I have never been there so I really do not know what it is like.In conclusion, those are my reason for my biggest change from elementary to middle school I hope you like what your read.