Parent-teacher conferences are here and I know for many teachers its very stressful. I know just by helping my teacher prepare, it was exhausting. I think that its're extremly important to be prepared and ready to present material to parents. From past experiences, I can see how quick parents are to judge a teacher. I went online and found a great website (www.ehow.com) that had some really helpful tips that will help us as future teachers prepare for conferences! Hope this help!
Instructions
Difficulty: Moderate
Things You’ll Need:
conference notices
conference schedule
conference prep sheets
samples of student work
pre-conference notes about each student
Step 1:Send conference notices home with plenty of advance notice. Preferably, you should provide parents with a few options of dates and times so that they can choose a meeting time that's convenient for both their schedule and yours. Should you have a student who also spends a significant portion of the school day in another setting, coordinate with that teacher to make sure she, too, is available for a parent conference.
Step 2:Attach a proposed agenda or parent conference prep sheet to the notice. A conference prep sheet gives parents a chance to send back to you ahead of time any information or questions they'd like to have addressed at your meeting. Having that information will allow you to prepare for individual conferences.
Step 3:Let parents know how much time is allotted for their conference. With many conferences to run, you'll need to make sure to stick pretty closely to a schedule. It will also force both you and your students' parents to know exactly what you want to address and to get right to it. Consider setting a timer at the beginning of the conference to keep track of the time.
Step 4:Prepare your physical space for conferences. Set up a waiting area, if possible, for parents to sit comfortably until it's their turn. This would be a good place to put a small table with samples of classroom work and copies of the curriculum and class rules.
Step 5:Make notes about each student's progress and have samples of work to back up your statements. Under the best of circumstances it's difficult to remember all that you want to say, but when you have twenty or more meetings, it's nearly impossible to remember it all. Parents won't mind if you need to refer to pre-conference notes.
Step 6:Ask an administrator to sit in or be available for any conferences that you think might be confrontational. Though you'll probably have no difficulties defusing a tough situation, it's best to have back-up just in case. Along the same lines, if you will be referring a student for special services, ask the specialist or special education teacher to sit in to answer any questions a parent may have.
What do you think of these steps? Can they be helpful to you? Can you think of anymore tips that might help teachers in preparation for the conferences?
(www.ehow.com)
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Math Lesson!?!
Hey Ladies!
I was wondering if anyone has done a math lesson in their Tuesday Experience or might have any ideas on what I would be able to do for mine. The students are working on the groupings of numbers like the 10 cubes etc. Any ideas??!?!?
Thank you!
I was wondering if anyone has done a math lesson in their Tuesday Experience or might have any ideas on what I would be able to do for mine. The students are working on the groupings of numbers like the 10 cubes etc. Any ideas??!?!?
Thank you!
West Hartford 1st Grade Writing Prompt
One thing that I have really grown to love about my Tuesday Experience teacher is her ability to teach and really get her students motivated to write in the classroom. Since I have been there, I have seen nothing but cooperation, determination and success from 95% of the classroom. She uses a variety of techniques and really prepares them well for a variety of things such as story writing, journal writing, and the mandatory writing prompt that is to be distributed to every first grade classroom in West Hartford. Mrs. DiPietro really engages the students attention by her teaching process. Her preparation with the students in doing the writing prompt was fun to watch and I learned SO much from it. Mrs. DiPietro gave a minilesson on writing stories and a practice prompt to prepare the students for the actual one.
When she first told me about the writing prompt I was thinking "hmmm....how will she really get the children involved and wanting to write for a whole 45 mins." Usually the most writing the children do at one time is between 15 and 30 minutes at a time. Even though to us an extra 15 minutes is nothing, to younger children.....o, its a lot!
Mrs. DiPietro first sat the children down on the rug and talked about previous things they have done with their writing development. They talked about how they wrote their "small moments" story, their "ending" story, and how they can start a story off to grab the readers attention. She went over: question lead, action lead, taking lead and snap shot lead. Mrs. DiPietro gave a quick run through of examples and wrote everything down for the students. She emphasized how important it is for the students to have a strong, beginning, middle and end. She also emphasized the importance of using description!
After the review, she gave the children what they were to write about in their story. They were to write: "It is your birthday! You woke up one morning and found a present next to your bed. What is inside the box?" She asked the children their ideas as to what they want to have inside the box. She and the children also talked about and came up with ideas on how they could start their story with a strong beginning. I could tell the children's minds were going because they all were smiling and raising their hands to share their ideas!
She wanted to let the children know just how their work was going to be graded. On a large sheet of paper she wrote out the writing rubric for the children.
Score 1: beginning sense of main point, attempt at narrative
Score 2: may or may not be focused on prompt but readable, shows the beginnings of story of organization.
Score 3: fairly focused, sense of narrative, may attempt to add details or descriptive words.
Score 4: focused on prompt, good sense of narrative, details included.
Score 5: focused, all story elements are included, detail's. descriptive language, and fluency.
The minilesson took know longer then 20 minutes. Mrs. DiPietro planned it out so the children would be able to have the full 45 minutes to practice with this writing prompt in preparation for the real deal. The rules during the prompt was that they were not to leave their desks, talk to their neighbor, and they could not ask me or Mrs. DiPietro any help on spelling words.
During lunch time, Mrs. DiPietro and I reviewed the stories. The stories came out terrific! Out of 23 children, about 17 or so scored a 3,4 or 5. It was really amazing to see that kind of work!
Over spring break I went to Bugbee and continued to help Mrs. DiPietro with the writing prompt and setting up for parent-teacher conferences. She hadn't yet given the actual town writing prompt to the students, instead, she selected 4 of the stories the students had worked on for the writing prompt, made transparency copies of their work, used the over head, and did a minilesson on revision and how they can make their stories better and what the good things that they did in their stories. This I found to be such a great idea! She was teaching revision with students' work and showing them positive sides and negative sides. When reviewing their work, Mrs. DiPietro and I found that they did a better job this time around. Everything seemed to really sink in!
I was really proud of the students and saw for myself such an improvement!
I found that Tompkins gives a TON of ideas on the different ways students can engage in when reading and writing stories. Some of those ideas include “sketch to sketch” found on page 286, “character traits chart” on page 282, a “setting map on page 283, “a plot profile” on page 280, and “a beginning, middle-end cluster” on page 278. Each of those ideas helps reinforce the students’ comprehension to the stories and also aid in bringing new ideas and creations within their minds and in the classroom.
Has anyone been apart of a writing prompt like that? Does anyone else have any ideas they have seen or may have used when conducting reading/writing minilessons?
When she first told me about the writing prompt I was thinking "hmmm....how will she really get the children involved and wanting to write for a whole 45 mins." Usually the most writing the children do at one time is between 15 and 30 minutes at a time. Even though to us an extra 15 minutes is nothing, to younger children.....o, its a lot!
Mrs. DiPietro first sat the children down on the rug and talked about previous things they have done with their writing development. They talked about how they wrote their "small moments" story, their "ending" story, and how they can start a story off to grab the readers attention. She went over: question lead, action lead, taking lead and snap shot lead. Mrs. DiPietro gave a quick run through of examples and wrote everything down for the students. She emphasized how important it is for the students to have a strong, beginning, middle and end. She also emphasized the importance of using description!
After the review, she gave the children what they were to write about in their story. They were to write: "It is your birthday! You woke up one morning and found a present next to your bed. What is inside the box?" She asked the children their ideas as to what they want to have inside the box. She and the children also talked about and came up with ideas on how they could start their story with a strong beginning. I could tell the children's minds were going because they all were smiling and raising their hands to share their ideas!
She wanted to let the children know just how their work was going to be graded. On a large sheet of paper she wrote out the writing rubric for the children.
Score 1: beginning sense of main point, attempt at narrative
Score 2: may or may not be focused on prompt but readable, shows the beginnings of story of organization.
Score 3: fairly focused, sense of narrative, may attempt to add details or descriptive words.
Score 4: focused on prompt, good sense of narrative, details included.
Score 5: focused, all story elements are included, detail's. descriptive language, and fluency.
The minilesson took know longer then 20 minutes. Mrs. DiPietro planned it out so the children would be able to have the full 45 minutes to practice with this writing prompt in preparation for the real deal. The rules during the prompt was that they were not to leave their desks, talk to their neighbor, and they could not ask me or Mrs. DiPietro any help on spelling words.
During lunch time, Mrs. DiPietro and I reviewed the stories. The stories came out terrific! Out of 23 children, about 17 or so scored a 3,4 or 5. It was really amazing to see that kind of work!
Over spring break I went to Bugbee and continued to help Mrs. DiPietro with the writing prompt and setting up for parent-teacher conferences. She hadn't yet given the actual town writing prompt to the students, instead, she selected 4 of the stories the students had worked on for the writing prompt, made transparency copies of their work, used the over head, and did a minilesson on revision and how they can make their stories better and what the good things that they did in their stories. This I found to be such a great idea! She was teaching revision with students' work and showing them positive sides and negative sides. When reviewing their work, Mrs. DiPietro and I found that they did a better job this time around. Everything seemed to really sink in!
I was really proud of the students and saw for myself such an improvement!
I found that Tompkins gives a TON of ideas on the different ways students can engage in when reading and writing stories. Some of those ideas include “sketch to sketch” found on page 286, “character traits chart” on page 282, a “setting map on page 283, “a plot profile” on page 280, and “a beginning, middle-end cluster” on page 278. Each of those ideas helps reinforce the students’ comprehension to the stories and also aid in bringing new ideas and creations within their minds and in the classroom.
Has anyone been apart of a writing prompt like that? Does anyone else have any ideas they have seen or may have used when conducting reading/writing minilessons?
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Story Writing
Children love to hear stories told or read aloud to them. They also like to tell stories to friends and family. Tompkins builds on the natural and inherent interest children have for hearing and telling stories and focuses on reading and writing stories in schools.
Discuss how your field experience teachers are helping students understand the concept of story and learn about story structure, genres, and comprehension strategies. In addition, teachers support students as they write retellings, innovations, and sequels and as they explore writing in a variety of genres. How does this happen in your field experience classroom? What would you add to this classroom from Tompkins & from the Girl with the Brown Crayon?
I find my Tuesday Experience teacher to be so great in her reading and writing expertise. She always finds such fun new ways to get the children's minds thinking and building their familiarity in writing stories. During my Tuesday Experience my teacher, Mrs. DiPietro, did a minilesson on what makes a great beginning of a story.
I find that my teacher is always doing some sort of writing lesson and really wants the children to focus on their ideas and how they can improve their writing. I find her ways fun and exciting and I can definitely say that I have even learned a lot from her lessons.
Has anyone else had experiences like mine? What kind of techniques will be used in your own classroom??
Discuss how your field experience teachers are helping students understand the concept of story and learn about story structure, genres, and comprehension strategies. In addition, teachers support students as they write retellings, innovations, and sequels and as they explore writing in a variety of genres. How does this happen in your field experience classroom? What would you add to this classroom from Tompkins & from the Girl with the Brown Crayon?
I find my Tuesday Experience teacher to be so great in her reading and writing expertise. She always finds such fun new ways to get the children's minds thinking and building their familiarity in writing stories. During my Tuesday Experience my teacher, Mrs. DiPietro, did a minilesson on what makes a great beginning of a story.
Mrs. DiPietro had created a power point for the children about the four main ways a writer could start a story. Those four ways included: question lead, action lead, taking lead and snap shot lead. She created the power point to really catch the students’ attention and engage them in the minilessons. When observing her lesson, I realized that every single students attention was focused on Mrs. DiPietro and the Smart Board. I found the children to ask a ton of question and answer many questions that were asked to them.
To make it easier for the students to follow along with the smart board, Mrs. DiPietro went step by step with the presentation. First, she introduced what the four ways to start a story were. Then, she went over each one individually. As she was reviewing each one individually, she took examples of beginnings of stories and modeled what each one was. I found this to be very effective because not only were the children engaged, but the children would also be able to mirror off the examples and put that into their own writing.
I find that my teacher is always doing some sort of writing lesson and really wants the children to focus on their ideas and how they can improve their writing. I find her ways fun and exciting and I can definitely say that I have even learned a lot from her lessons.
Has anyone else had experiences like mine? What kind of techniques will be used in your own classroom??
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