Conference Area

On my white board is a permanent place for conference sign-ups. I have written "Conference" at the top and there are three spots to sign up below. Students sign up for conferences when they are inspired to share or when they would like to discuss any aspect of the writing process. They need not wait until they feel a piece is finished. Students erase their names after a conference, allowing other writers to volunteer. I conference with as many students as time will allow (names carry over to the next day).

            Nearby is a table-ideally a round table-with several chairs. As any primary teacher will tell you, young students have a tendency to line up behind the teacher, eager to show their work. Partly to discourage this behavior as it prevents me from conferencing with students who have signed up, and keeps them from sharing their writing with peers and partly to provide students who are overly active a positive place to light, I turn to the line and say rather authoritatively: "Sit down. Come on. You're welcome at this conference." Those students who had no intention of being pulled into listening quickly learn to read their work to a friend instead of lining up behind me. The students who do need a break from writing, will usually happily join us, and I would rather have them attentive to writing instruction than disrupting classmates.

            I keep a CD player within arm's reach. During the first ten minutes of writing I play classical music. (For a more detailed description of Quiet Ten, visit my blog.)

            In the center of the conference table or nearby is my binder for keeping anecdotal records. I've tried many record-keeping systems, always hoping the next one will be more efficient and useful than the last. But of all the approaches I've tried, I recommend the use of a large three-ring binder. I fill it with notebook paper and use page dividers to give each student a section. For example, when Tomas comes to a conference, I simply flip open to his pages. I read my brief notes from our last session, and then record what we discuss that day before I meet with the next student. This procedure adds continuity from one conference to the next. Additionally, in the front of this binder I keep a supply of sticky notes. I use the sticky notes to record what the child has decided to do next and adhere the note to his or her writing.

            I should also point out that I use another type of record keeping-one intended to keep track of how often students have come to conference, participated in author's chair, or published a piece. I want this information available at a glance, so for this purpose I use a traditional rank book or grade book. I record student names down the left-hand side of the page. The days of the week are listed at the top, and I use the following codes to keep track of events:  (I encourage any student who has not signed up for a conference recently to do so.)

C = conferenced

P = published

S = shared work

T = taught a mini-lesson with me

A = absent

            This book is not permanently stored at the conference table; instead, I carry it with me at all times and use additional codes to keep track of reading activities or the completion of a special project. Knowing what each student has done within any given week goes a long way in giving up the need to have every child doing the same thing at the same time-or giving students regularly assigned times to conference or publish.