Literacy, Nov. 23

It was beneficial for me to read about the various types of writing conferences Routman uses in the classroom. As she noted, they all in different ways offer essential tools for writing growth in the students. I’m glad she discussed her vigilance in conducting whole-class sharing often. I feel like I don’t see that enough in classrooms.

There is much whole-class sharing in other disciplines, but not necessarily in writing. It seems many teachers view that as an individual discipline – private and personal. As Routman insisted, whole-class sharing is about celebrating writing and also about helping students learn what makes a good story. I also think it helps children grow in their capacity to accept and give constructive criticism. It furthers the cooperative learning process.

Additionally, I really liked how Routman also emphasized that conferencing around writing teaches students to be good listeners, an absolutely invaluable skill. I made three stars next to her sentence about how a teacher can meet many state and district standards “for listening through teaching writing.” I also will use her quick-share miniconference technique for pointing out attention-grabbing lead sentences and encouraging students to extend their writing and try new styles.