Writing Conferences

I've had a busy few weeks during this lovely, rainy month of November. I can proudly say I have successfully planned and taught three lessons all on my own! I am so thankful that my Dyad teacher was as supportive and positive about the entire unit, she really is an amazing teacher.

This weeks prompt for blogging specifically asked us to elaborate on our writing conference experiences. It just so happens that two out of my three lessons invovled a great deal of whole-class sharing. My main objectives for this was to get a better understanding of how well the students could adapt the lessons into their own writing. To create a better picture of this environment, let me explain. I taught three lessons, or one unit if I may on Onomatopoeia just as I had planned. One of the lessons was centered around a poem I found and as I was teaching the poem I thought it would be fun and meaningful if I prompted my students to creat a final verse all on their own as long as it included at least one Onomatopoeia. Once the students had completed this task I gathered everyone on the rug and had each student indivudally read aloud their verse. As Regie Routman explains in his book Writing Essentials, "Students just learning to write need and benefit from having their efforts celebrated" (p. 207). I have learned that when students are given the chance to stand out, even if its for a few mintues it allows them to feel capable, succesful, and appreciated. Having them share, allowed me to listen to their writing and get a better understanding of who got the lesson.

I really enjoyed Routman's use of the word celebrate because I think that that is how we should look at the hard work our students have been doing, otherwise they may not feel motivated at all. I was also able to address the differences expressed it the writings. I made sure not to make any comments such as "Wow, you really did a great job" or "Wow, maybe we can work more on that later." I've learned from my dyad teacher to just keep my comments low key yet accepting. Words like "Thank you" and "I like how you did this because____" are much more meaningful. I would never want to highlight one students success more than the others. It's also important to me to make sure that not just one example is correct. If I can highlight the many possible ways that one assignment can be done, I hope to be more encouraging towards their own creativity.

Because I am working with such young students it's important to not discourage their love of writing, they are just learning and beginning to explore what it is all about. No negative comments are necessary. Positive reinforcment is what I am working with, nothing less.