Tuesday, October 9, 2012

Conferring

My school has begun its journey down the Danielson Framework for evaluation this year.  We were given some trainings, watched a few videos, received some hand-outs, and now we are beginning our first year of teacher evaluations based on the four domains and 22 components of Charlotte Danielson.  Sound tedious?  Stressful?  YES!  Luckily, I am off-cycle this year - which means I will not be evaluated under this framework.  Instead, I will create a Professional Development Plan Goal and be able to show proof of my goal throughout the year.  So...what is my goal you ask???

Conferring
After meeting with my principal this morning, we narrowed it down to conferencing and how to implement conferencing with students.  My district has decided that we need to change the structure of our daily schedule.  Now, they want us to begin with some sort of advanced organizer.  Bellwork is forbidden!  The organizer will lead in to the Reader's Journey (our workbook-like-textbook)  mini-lesson.  This will then lead in to Guided Practice - applying what I taught during the mini-lesson to the anchor book.  Then, we continue with independent practice.  Again, applying the skill to their independent book.  Once finished, we switch to writing and end with word work.  Wow!  That was exhausting.  But you probably have lots of questions that I will be answering as the year goes on.  But, let's get back to conferencing.  This happens during the Guided Practice stage.  I plan to do more research on conferencing skills and how to confer correctly & appropriately.  I want my conferences to become student-led.  I plan to use reading response notebook entries as my guide.  I might even create a class blog or wiki to draw in more engagement. 
For now, how do you lead your conferences?  What works for you? 

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