Program 12. Peer Conferences.
I chose a
new Annenberg video to watch. This one
was called Peer Conferences. It
discussed setting up norms for peer conferences in writing. There were no prompts for the video, so I am
writing a general reaction to what I learned in it.
The first
teacher in the third grade classroom had a well-planned introduction to peer
reviews. She was very deliberate in her
directions and explained thoroughly. She
walked students through exactly what they could say, how they could word their
answers with respect. The way that she
modeled an interaction between a student and their peer listener was explicit
and she broke down specific actions afterward.
In addition, she followed this up with a chart, then an example done by
two students in the room. It was also helpful
to see two students go through the activity in full, giving all the other
students and opportunity to see another example, and one that was perhaps more
relatable. It was also a effective
decision to have the students who were in the example go around helping others. This made the two students who were finished
already were engaged still instead of repeating the exercise, and other
students benefitted from their recent expertise. This reminded me of my ‘mini-teacher’
idea—giving students an opportunity to be the teacher, and to learn from their
peers. Her chart was very helpful for me
as a viewer, and I anticipate it did a lot for the students as they went
through their conferences. It was very
smart to have a visual for the students to follow, because there were quite a
few elements she was looking for in the peer conferences. The students would have forgotten without
having something to refer to.
I really
liked the system the teacher created for the process of writing. She had a bulletin board for the writing
process. There were long rows with stars
in them: each star had a student’s name.
When the student was ready to move onto the next stage of writing, they
would move their own star down. In this
way, students were the ones who decided when they were ready. When there are two stars in the peer review
section, they automatically are paired together. In this way, they also then have
unpredictable partners that change often.
This helps the teacher see where the class is as a whole, who takes
longer at what stages, and many other insights into individual student processes.
Another
important part of this class period was having the students reflect at the
end. She had them share why they liked
the activity, and if they liked it. The
students had very insightful answers.
The most notable to me was the student talking about her partner asking
questions. She shared that this really
showed her where she needed more details.
It was
interesting to see how the third grade practice was alike and different from
that of the fifth grade. The fifth grade
lesson focused on less. They only worked
on questioning that day. This is
interesting—they did less in a period than the third graders did. It seemed like they used less time though,
and they also probably focused on the other aspects on different days.
The teacher
made a point of talking about partnering.
She started talking about academic ability, but said her main focus was
to facilitate conversation. She wanted
discussion, not necessarily a match of academic level. In this context, being able to communicate is
much more important for student learning.
This video
gave me a lot of pointers about how to set up conversation rules, especially
for a specific process. In my last
review I learned about setting up rules for discussion and the best environment
for it; this pushed it one step further, focusing on a specific type of
lesson. The two are very closely
related, and the practices discussed in the first video are present in this
one. I also really like the idea for the
writing process tracking board. I think
I could easily adapt this for different types of tracking, especially in
writing or reading, or for any multiple-step project.
Question of the Day: What is the biggest misconception you think others/society have/has about teachers?
Mrs. L said that the biggest thing is that people think it is an easy job and we get three months off. She started expanding on this, saying that it is really not an easy job at all. Each day is difficult in many ways, as well as wonderful. In addition, the three months off are not actually free time. Many teachers continue working, either at a second job, summer school, or something else. Mrs. L also added that it is a break from a 9 month school year, but it is a needed one. The kids need summer as much as teachers need some time away from their normal classroom setting. The other point she brought up is that people forget that teachers are the ones that shape everybody. We often are unappreciated and our work is seen as less important. She wrapped up with, "We don't get credit for molding the world."
Question of the Day: What is the biggest misconception you think others/society have/has about teachers?
Mrs. L said that the biggest thing is that people think it is an easy job and we get three months off. She started expanding on this, saying that it is really not an easy job at all. Each day is difficult in many ways, as well as wonderful. In addition, the three months off are not actually free time. Many teachers continue working, either at a second job, summer school, or something else. Mrs. L also added that it is a break from a 9 month school year, but it is a needed one. The kids need summer as much as teachers need some time away from their normal classroom setting. The other point she brought up is that people forget that teachers are the ones that shape everybody. We often are unappreciated and our work is seen as less important. She wrapped up with, "We don't get credit for molding the world."
I have lots to say in response to your latest video review.
ReplyDelete1. I'm glad to see your mini-teacher idea in practice in this video. That's confirmation that you're thinking smart, like a teacher!
2. I was interested in your focus on the writing workshop chart and its effectiveness for supporting students' writing at different stages of the process. When I was first in Jessica's room, the charts on the walls were what really jumped out at me. They were purposeful and specific. Do you agree?
3. Also about the chart you described from the video: Remember when we talked about the difference between the writing process and writing workshop? A "process" suggests a linear approach to writing, and this isn't very accurate, is it? Instead, writing is recursive. We move back and forth through the stages, brainstorming, drafting, brainstorming, editing, drafting, revising, etc. Just be aware of the distinction as you think about the language you want to use in your classroom. I understand the purpose of the chart for documenting students' progress, but I wonder about the message it's sending about how writers really write.
And another idea to consider: You've mentioned the 4 dimensions of management in a classroom. Which of those dimensions is "in play" with the chart you described?
4. The fifth grade teacher addressed an idea I wrestled with when I was a fifth grade teacher trying out peer response groups. The decision how to match writers is tricky. The teacher you watched said she's more about facilitating conversation, and that's fine, but I think we need to expect more from peer revising sessions if they're truly designed to mimic a "real" writer's experience. One book that helped me work out a system was When Children Write by Tim Lensmire (he's actually a professor at the U, but I read this book when I was teaching in Maine and had no idea that Minnesota was in my future!). Lensmire talks about the value of matching writers who like to write about similar topics. This approach assumes a true workshop model where kids are choosing what to write about. In that context, you'll have a handful of kids who like to write action-adventure, a handful who like to write realistic fiction, a handful who like to write fantasy, etc. Being deliberate about putting together writers who work in the same genre is worth thinking about. When I made that change in my peer response system, the outcome of meetings was much richer and moved students' writing forward in more positive ways.
Another book you might like to put in your reference pile is When Writing Workshop isn't Working by Mark Overmeyer. It's a negative title, but it's full of great advice for troubleshooting potential missteps as you set up a workshop model.
5. One last comment: When you think about the classrooms in which you've done fieldwork experiences, is what you saw on this video realistic? What components would need to be in place in order to pull off this kind of teaching and learning? Could you set up a writing workshop like the ones you observed in your own classroom someday?