Serravallo Struck

 

     I would say I am starstruck, as I often am.  I'm a #fangirl by nature.  But this time, I was beyond starstruck.  I was #SerravalloStruck.

     I became a literacy coach 4 years ago after teaching second grade for 15 years.  I knew second graders well, and they come in a wide range of ability, but I felt like I needed to up my game in knowing what readers at ALL levels do.  I learned by reading with kids for all those years in 2nd grade, so that is just what I did.  I went into rooms, sat next to kids, and conferred with them.  A lot.  At every free moment of the day, I would go into rooms across the school and read with kids, creating a staircase in my mind of behaviors that readers do.  4 years later, I am still building that staircase.  One of the ways some of those steps were built was reading with kids, and some were built learning from literacy experts.

     I found Jennifer Serravallo's book about conferring because that was my original goal for developing myself as a coach.  I read her work and watched a few of her videos, and I really liked what I saw.  I moved on to her small group instruction book after a few colleagues gave a PD and mentioned it.  The next summer, when the Playbooks were released, I read them with a coworker and we completely revamped our format for our formative assessment PD sessions for the summer.  Then, when I saw the Independent Reading Assessment, I begged my principal to buy them so that I could read the ladders and learn from her to reflect and continue to build the literacy staircase in my head.  And then... The Reading Strategies Book.  What a resource for our staff to use immediately, no matter the experience level!  I bring it with me to planning meetings so often that I even had a student look at me and say, "You look just like the lady on your book!"  I had become such a #fangirl that I think even the kids were noticing.  #twins

     In short, I have followed Jennifer very closely over the years, and today I finally got to see her in person.  The truth, however, is that I felt like I had already met her.  I have watcher her videos, and was part of her Digital Campus course, so I feel like I have been in a classroom with her.  I've watched her live on Facebook and read her tweets in chats.  But today, as I found myself face to face with her, I was suddenly so starstruck.

     And then I realized it was gratitude.

     Because of her work, I have put tools in my literacy toolbox, and hearing her speak today I was able to reflect on the impact they have had.  I flashbacked to myself sitting with teachers individually and making micro-progressions using the assessment kit as our guide.  I've gone into classrooms and done engagement inventories for teachers wanting help with readers.  I've modeled compliment conferences and talked about fluency records in building meetings and in planning sessions.  I've held PD sessions that focused on looking at student work, and asked teachers to bring student samples to our planning sessions.  We have completely revamped classroom conversations and book clubs after using her conversation records and TCRWP videos.  I could go on and on...  So many little nuggets of gold are hidden in her books.  Those nuggets, combined with my own knowledge, have been such a powerful combination.

     The thing that fills me with gratitude, though, is that by learning from Jennifer Serravallo and others, they have helped me develop into a confident coach.  Jennifer shares her knowledge with us freely, and that is a model for me to share with others as well.  If we don't see our fellow teachers as our dearest resource, I think we miss a huge opportunity.  Listening to Jennifer Serravallo talk, it is CLEAR that she is a product of all those she has learned from and alongside throughout the years.  She sees the impact others have had on her and recognizes it, and that is inspiring to me.

     It was also clear to me that the strategies and work that Jennifer has shared with us has come from real experiences with children.  She told us about her struggle to understand Nadia as a reader, and ended up creating the Independent Reading Assessment to get to know her reading habits better.  It isn't about using the "right" strategies created by others.  Sometimes, it is up to us to look to our students and create our own strategies to help them better.  

     I have had many conversations about professional development recently, and I am so filled with gratitude because I allowed myself to *want* to be a better teacher and admitted that I had things to learn, and it opened the door to so much more than I could have expected.  Watching her today, I realize that I still have so much to learn, and I looked around and saw myself surrounded by a table full of colleagues who I also learn from every day.

     It is up to us to see the value in learning from others.  Today, I got to see the impact it has had not only on me, but also on my school and our students.

    Here are my sketch notes from the day with Jennifer Serravallo.

 
 


(I wrote this weeks ago, and never hit publish.  Oops.  I am still filled with gratitude though!)

Thoughts on Conferring

Day 14 of #btbc16
Thoughts on Conferring

I guess that makes conferring the most important part of my job.  

Thanks, Penny Kittle.

We are teaching kids, and each child is different. 

Sit next to them, and find out where they are on their reading and writing journey.

      I have been a literacy coach for 3 years, and conferring is the one part of Balanced Literacy that, as a whole, I would like to see more of when I go in and out of classrooms.  I know that conferring is hard to manage in terms of time.  Getting to all the kids can be a challenge, especially when you are also seeing groups.  Time management in a conference can be a struggle, too.  Note taking during conferences, or fear of saying or doing the wrong thing, also stops many people in their tracks.  But, when you think about it, conferring is just sitting down next to one kid and offering them a suggestion on how to get to their next step as a reader.  We can do this.  The more you do it, the more natural it becomes, too.

     When I had my own classroom, I used Daily 5 rotations in workshop.  I actually had 3 rotations, where students made choices and I met with guided reading groups or strategy groups.  The only way I was able to get myself into a regular conferring routine was to have a 4th rotation at the end, but it was a forced Read to Self.  The whole class would independently read from their baskets for that round, and my co-teacher and I would travel the room conferring.   My goal was to read with 3-5 kids a day.  Some days, that didn't happen.  But, because I had it in my schedule, it happened more than it didn't.  I ended up learning so much about the next steps my readers needed, and the successes that they were having as readers.  It also made a block of time for most of my class to independent read every day, which is also very important. 

     Is that the only way to fit them in?  No.  That's just the way that worked for me.  

     When I became a Literacy Coach, the first thing I did to learn what kids at different grades do was sit down and conferred with them.  Whenever I had an open slot of time my first year, I would go into a room that was reading and I read with kids.  Kids at different grades, reading books I didn't know, with kids I didn't know.  It opened my eyes to so many things that readers do, and greatly impacted the feedback I gave teachers. 

     I have taken conferring notes on paper, in Evernote, on labels, with a clipboard, and on scratch paper from the recycling bin.  I allowed myself to change my style as my style needed to change.  What I realized was it matters less HOW I recorded them on paper, and more how I communicate that feedback to the students.  

     The truth is, if we are truly responsive to the needs of our kids, then we need to know what they are doing independently as readers and writers.  Formative assessments give you a glimpse at their abilities, but sitting down with kids and giving them a few moments to show you what they can do independently is very powerful.  It also tells the student that they matter, because you made time just for them.  It also teaches us to listen a bit more to the students.  You can't just sit down, suggest something and move on.  You need to take time to listen to the child read, or talk about their reading.  It allows you to be PRESENT in their reading life if only for a few minutes.

     If you want to get your feet wet with a lower stress conference, try Compliment Conferences. Jennifer Serravallo is my favorite literacy guru genius, and she models them for us on video!  Here is a post I wrote about them a while back with links to excellent videos on the different conferences you might try.

     My final thoughts on conferring?  A few years ago, I made this graphic to show how I felt about conferring.  I compared it to the dessert, the chocolate pudding that is my favorite part of the meal.  The part that is rich and sweet, and the part you remember long after the meal is over.  That's what conferring is to me.   

Compliment Conferences

     Conferring with children is one of my favorite things to do.  I think it is the closest thing that teachers can do to continue growing those readers, after they have grown up a bit and no longer sit on their parents' lap to read.  Sitting next to a child, one on one, and reading with them (even if just for a few minutes) shows that you value them as an individual reader.  It also really helps you be responsive to their needs as a reader.

     Last summer, +Felicia Frazier and I taught a PD on conferring, and the summer before that +Marilyn McManus and I did.  The truth is, there are many ways you can go about conferring with kids.  My teacher bookshelf is filled with books giving me protocols for reading with students.  

     With so many ways to confer out there, we came up with a template that took what I felt were the key points of all those gurus.  This is what we came up with...

Research: In order to be responsive, we have to take time to see what the student is actually doing.

Compliment: Giving the student an affirmation as a reader will create a more positive conversation.  It will also make sure that you are focussing on their strengths as a reader, and what they can actually do.

Decide: What will help this child move along right now, based on strengths?

Teach: Model the strategy, and use gradual release.  Think "I do, we do, you do." 

Link: Remind the student that this strategy can be practiced beyond the conference.

     If you have 3-5 minutes to read with a kid, you can get through those steps and really be responsive to them as a reader.  Even if you skip a step, or add a step here and there, you most likely will still be responsive, because the simple act of reading one on one with a student gives you information about them as a reader.  

     I think most teachers would agree with me.  Conferring with kids is something important and valuable.  But... where do you find the time?

     We just had mid year check in meetings with the teachers in my building, and meeting after meeting described all the fantastic work they are doing in guided reading, strategy groups, and with intervention groups.  But, with all those pieces in their day, many were struggling to get to conferring.  So, we discussed the idea of a compliment conference.  The steps are a little different than the ones above.

Research: In order to be responsive, take some time to see what the student is actually doing.

Compliment: Notice a behavior that you want to continue, and compliment them on it.  

Link: Remind the student that this strategy can be practiced beyond the conference.

     In a compliment conference, you could walk around and spend 90 seconds talking to each child, and get quite a few conferences done in a small amount of time.  In the process, you will be giving accountability to the readers in your class, as well as specific feedback on what they should continue to do to be successful readers in your classroom.  Along the way, you will also notice things that are not going as smoothly, and taking note of those things will help you determine mini lessons you need to add, strategy groups you need to pulls, formative assessments you need to give, etc. 

     There is a FANTASTIC video of a compliment conferences in action, done by Jennifer Serravallo, here:

     Serravallo also has a video of a longer Research-Decide-Teach conference, like the one Calkins describes in her Units of Study.  Here is a video of that:

     

      Serravallo also has a video of what she calls a Coaching Conference, seen here:

     No matter what structure you use when conferring, I highly suggest that you keep notes in some way.  Either in a binder (like the Sisters' Pensieve), a sheet of labels, a clipboard, in Evernote, etc.  You should always take a moment to jot down the feedback you gave and behaviors you noticed.  Below is a snapshot of some conferring notes from this week in +Katie Cardelli's class at Hiawatha.  The sheet she uses gives her a spot to write the compliment, but also jot down possible teaching points for next time (if using a compliment conference format).  

     If the longer format conference is taking too much time, think about trying Compliment Conferences out and see how they go!

     Happy Reading!