Conferring is not something I've done systematically within my classroom at all. I know I've seen it done within my own children's elementary classes, but middle school is a whole new ball game! I think I've done it informally when I circulate between my groups - looking for understanding, stopping to explain things, etc. But… I haven't ever kept a record of the conversations or looked for particular items that were preplanned.
My biggest take-away from this chapter was on the classroom management of conferring. I never thought to explain about it to the students, it was just something I did. However, by setting clear expectations and following the "never interrupt" rule, I think it will help with noise level and activity when you are not looking around.
The two things I see that I will have to work on are the record keeping system and time management. I guess I will have to decide what exactly I'd want to keep track of within the records. Hmmmm…. that's going to take some thought. I'd love some feedback and ideas from anyone who has done this before. I also will need to set a goal of how many students I will confer with each class period. If I leave it random, I know that I have the potential to just let it go.
Good chapter - tons to think over on this one!
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