The Conference: Week 3

It's nearing the end of 3 full weeks of aiding, and there's still much more to come!  So far, I've been enjoying my placement.  I was skeptical at first, but opportunities for me to interact more with the class are highly available; it is just a matter of taking that time to ask.  Chances are, they have something for us to do, even if I'm mainly in a co-taught classroom for 2 periods.

First of all, my supervising teachers have really been focusing on the story "The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street."  Now that they really know a lot about the story, it is their turn to analyze more about what they have read and apply it to their mini lessons.  The 7th graders' mini lesson on Monday was all about ACE (Answer the question, Cite evidence, Example).  They were all given the question, "ACE who are the real monsters on Maple Street."  Much of the class time was spent on this activity where they were given a graphic organizer.  In each box, they had to include one section of ACE.  The teachers have been stressing the importance of ACE throughout the quarter, and many students are understanding the concept, but some still don't understand it.  To further help them, she gave them a rubric.

Now, before 1st period had ended, I was walking around the classroom, monitoring the students' work.  I stopped by a student who had finished, and I was commending her for her individual reading book, The Lightning Thief from the Percy Jackson series (aka one of my favorite series).  We had a short discussion about the book and the movie, and she was excited to keep reading it.  So far, she was enjoying it.  It was one of those moments where I was totally confident in my future as a teacher.  I wanted to share my love of reading with my future students, and I long for conversations like that.  This was only the beginning of my conferencing endeavors for this placement--and this was not event the real, graded version.

Then, Wednesday came, and it was another day of aiding.  I went to my placements as usual, but this time, I chose to venture out of my seat in the back of the classroom.  There were a good 20 minutes until the class would end, and the students were reading their books.  I had two choices:  I could either read my own book (since they didn't look super busy) or I could take the risk and ask if they needed any help.  So I went asked.  They looked at each other, and much to my surprise, they gave me a task--one that I was not expecting.  I thought it would be grading papers or decorating a part of the room, but instead, they asked me to conference with students.

How does conferencing work?  I might have mentioned it before in a previous blog post, but why not talk about it again.  The teacher has a sheet of paper where we ask the students questions about their book, and we have them read aloud to measure their skills.  For first period, I conferenced with a couple of students, and for third, I conferenced with one.  They were to tell me the title of the book, respond if they believe it is easy, just right, or challenging for them and why, and whether it was teacher recommended or self-selected.  The next question, possibly one of the most important questions, is, "Can you tell me what the book is about/ what is going on in the book?"  In this part, I kind of gauge how far they are into the book, and measure the amount of detail that they are including in their description.  Then, I would grade them as excellent, average, or poor and give a brief explanation.  After, I would let them read aloud and measure if they are going too, reading with feeling, etc.

I actually got to talk with students about their books.  I felt like a teacher for the first time this semester.  It felt really good.

For this upcoming week, my goals are the following:

• more conferencing, more fun
• talk to students more
• be more confident in getting out of my seat and asking more questions

Well, we shall see what next week will hold.  I bet it will be something pretty swell.