“How’s it going with your reading today?” 

Tips for Successful Conferring Part 1

It is late fall. You have finished the mandated assessments, students are following routines, there are no fire drills or eye tests to interrupt you today. Students have books that they are interested in and that they can read, and you are ready to confer. Finally.

You sit down next to a student, observe them for a minute, and then say, “How’s it going with your reading today?” The child, eager to make the most of their time with you, starts to talk. They talk about why they picked the book, the plot twists, what they think is going to happen, the problems that the main character is having, what their sticky notes show…and your mind goes completely blank. You cannot think of a single compliment or next step. Everything you know about skills and strategies, about reading and readers, goes flying out of your head. All you can do is listen, scribble furiously to capture what the child is saying, nod, smile and say, “Good work. Keep reading.” 

At the end of independent reading time, you wonder what you actually accomplished today.  While the students might have all been engrossed in their books, you know that time with books is not independent reading. The hallmark of independent reading is teacher support. 

Does this sound familiar? This is pretty much what happened to me every day when I was a new first grade teacher. It happened to me at the beginning of every school year, when I didn’t yet know the students. It happened to me at the beginning of a new genre study, when I hadn’t internalized the new relevant teaching points.

Here’s the thing. There is no such thing as a failed conference. Reframe your experience.

1. You spent time listening. This builds trust. You affirmed for the student that what they have to say is important. You nodded and smiled. That non verbal feedback signals: ”You got this!” 
2. You realized that you were stuck. This shows that you are a reflective practitioner who always wants to do better. Now you want to focus on being prepared when you confer.
3. You took notes, so start by rereading your notes. Notice what the student did and did not say. From what the student did say, you can name a strength. From what the student did not mention, you can teach a next step. 
4. The next day you sit down next to the same child and say:

“Yesterday, when you were telling me all about your book, I noticed that you talked a lot about the problems the characters were having. In the books that you are reading now, the characters are always running into trouble. Paying attention to problems is a strong point for you!  This is what you could do next: You could think about whether a problem is an internal problem, meaning it has to do with how the character feels about something, or an external problem, meaning that something happens to the character. Let’s try that together in your book.”

5. Moving forward, you know that you want to prepare before you sit down to confer. (More on that in the next blog.) For now, just keep in mind that you do not have to have the perfect piece of feedback or the perfect strategy in the moment.  There is no magical feedback fairy who is going to float by and shower you with just the right words. Give yourself time to analyze what the student is and is not yet doing, practice saying it to yourself, and go back to the student a few minutes later or the same day.

What is your next step for successful conferences during reading?

 Give yourself time to reflect after the initial conference with a student. 

Prepare. 

Then have a second conference during which you name the student strength and next steps.