The Conversation Begins: "Conferring" Bookchat

"If someone walked into our classroom, who would he or she say owned it?"  Patick Allen

The Conversation
This week I've been reading "Conferring" by Patrick Allen to prepare for the start of our professional reading cyberchat (#cyberPD).   The list of participants (some are here) has grown since last week, and it's never too late to join.  Please scroll to the bottom to find links to other blogs participating in the event.  If you'd like to participate in our discussion about Part I, here are a few ways to join the conversation (see end of post for other event dates).

You can:
1.  leave a comment at the end of this post.
2.  write a post about your reflections, and place your link in the comments below.  I will then link your blog to this post.
3.  comment on Twitter using hashtag #cyberPD.
4.  visit other blog reflections and comment.  

Who Owns Our Classroom?
Patrick Allen spends much time in Part I, discussing the ways he builds a classroom environment in which conferring can happen.  As I was reading "Conferring" the above quote caught my attention.  Allen asks, "If someone walked into our classroom, who would s/he say owned it?"  I wonder about this a lot.  It is my hope that when someone walks into our classroom they know it is a place where children belong and where learning is valued.  From the table that sits close to the ground for readers/writers/learners/friends to gather, to the books surrounding the room in baskets with covers facing out to call to young readers, to the work and thinking hanging on the walls, I want the room to be a place for children to talk, think, dream, learn and work together.  I want students to feel at home when they enter.  It's their place.

When someone walks into our classroom, I not only hope they will see students own it but, I also want them to hear that children own it.  Allen states, "Giving them a voice in defining the structure and expectations makes the 'work' of the workshop theirs (p. 92)."  As I read the chapters of Patrick's book, I couldn't help but hear his students own the classroom.  They own the thinking taking place within the community.  They own the tone of the room as they talk together about learning, books, and writing.  They own the time in which they work as they talk and learn beside one another.  They own the purpose behind the learning taking place.  It is their voices that matter and resonate throughout the pages.

How is Conferring Important in a Learning Community?
Allen reminds us, "Conferring provides an opportunity for my students and me to discuss and explore ideas together (p. 32)."  I couldn't help but think about the way the small conversations we have as we confer with children lead into, and out of, the bigger conversations taking place across our classroom community.  Voices from conferring carry back into the learning of the classroom.  I found this quote by poet Ryunosuke Satoro, "Individually we are one drop.  Together we are an ocean."  I couldn't help but think about the way each conversation, as we confer, contributes to the deeper understandings we discover as a classroom community.  In our learning communities, each voice matters.  It is through conferring that we shape readers, and these conversations are "the keystone to reader's workshop".

A Few "Amens"!

• "There is something lasting about sitting down next to a child and having a conversation as fellow readers." (p. XV)
• "Conferring is the keystone of effective instruction.  Without conferring, my reader's workshop flounders." (p. 24)
• "Learning is about continuity." (p. 27)
• "Reading conferences don't depend on us taking the lead." (p. 32)

Now I'm Pondering...

• Why do I confer?  
• How will the beginning of my year look different as a result of reading Patrick's book?
• Though reading and writing conferences share many similarities, I am thinking about the ways they differ.  How does conferring look different in reader's workshop? 

Today's Conversation 

• Jill Fisch talks about "counterfeit beliefs" at My Primary Passion.  She reminds us of the power of conferring conversations in moving students forward and the opportunities to confer across our day.  
• Chris Rayner shares her goals for next year at Reading Amid the Chaos as she reflects on "Conferring"in Conferring Book Club.  This post speaks to the power of community, conversation, and writing in reading.  
• In her "Reflections on Conferring," Shelley Carter reflects on her past experiences conferring in her classroom and the many attempted systems to organize the information gathered.  At Thoughts of a Teacher, Shelley reminds us to consider why conferring is important for our students as we look toward a new year.  
• Michelle shares her CyberPD:  Conferring reflections at Literacy Learning Zone where she talks about the obstacles we all face when trying to make conferring work in our classrooms. 
• Tony Keefer joins the "cool kids" and adds to the discussion.  Stop by Atychiphobia (Tony, I have to look at your title EVERY time I type it!) where Tony shares his thinking in Conversing about Conferring....with a few other humorous asides.   
• Stop by Love to Teach Reading and Writing where Barbara shares her thoughts in Reflection...Conferring the Keystone of Reader's Workshop Part I.  Barbara discusses her guiding principles and the ideas she is willing to fight for in Reader's Workshop and, most importantly, for her students. 
• Laura Komos shares her reflections on conferencing (kidding Laura & Patrick) conferring at Our Camp Read-A-Lot.  In Conferring, not conferencing! Laura reflects on her reading with some interesting points about conferring, a confer app for iPad, and her goals for students.  You'll want to stop by her blog.  
• Somehow in the midst of a crazy busy day, Carol shares her reflections at Carol's Corner.  In Cyber PD:  Conferring - The Keystone of Readers' Workshop, Carol looks toward her new journey back into the classroom.  Stop by to read Carol's "take-aways" from Patrick's thinking and the impact it will have in her new classroom.  
• I am so excited that Randi Allison a mentor, colleague, and friend of Patrick Allen has decided to join our conversation.  You won't want to miss this post at Tastes Like Chocolate (you have to love a name like that!).  In "Conferring" Randi shares Patrick's journey, and reminds us of our own journey as teachers.  
• First of all, best wishes to Australian blogger, ecksposition, as the journey of a new teaching career begins.  "Talking About Reading" is a reflection of "Conferring" and what it might mean in this new grade 3-4 setting.   
• Mandy Robek considers the struggles of balancing conferring with small group instruction in at Enjoy and Embrace Learning.  In Conferring:  The Keystone of Reader's Workshop, Mandy shares the challenges of meeting with kindergarten readers who attend school every other day. 
• Nicole, from Nicole's Book Nook, joins us with her reflections in Conferring Part I:  Changing Misconceptions.  Nicole shares her thoughts on adding conferring to her work with young emergent readers. 

Event Schedule

Today:

Part I:  What Brings About a Good Conference, Anyway?

Hosted here at Reflect and Refine

July 13th:

Part II:  What Are the Essential Components of Conferring?

Hosted by Jill Fisch at Primary Passion 

July 20th:

Part III.  What Emerges from Our Reading Conferences?

Hosted by Laura K at Camp Read-A-Lot

July 21st:  

Join us for the final conversation on Twitter using the hashtag #cyberPD.