Conferring Blog Book Chat Follow up

If I was in a physical room with my Conferring Blog Book Chatters, the conversation would probably go back and forth.  We would probably take turns listening and responding.  We might get excited and talk over each other or speak really fast.  However, we aren't in a room together, we are in #cyberpd!  So, I'm going to share some thinking I've had as I followed comments to my post from yesterday.  It was so exciting to know other's were reading my thinking and took the time to respond.  I really appreciate their efforts.

Tony (Atychiphobia)- Thank you for validating my thinking and sharing suggestions to help me achieve balance.  I also appreciated you recognizing K can be a challenge. 

Maria (Teaching in the Twenty First Century) - Thank you for making me feel better by sharing teachers of older students have similar issues. 

Randi (Tastes like Chocolate) - I had to chuckle and could only wish to have a para professional in my room.  I have tried a few ways to organize my data collecting, observations, and thinking.  What I've returned to and continue to love is a three column chart, organized in a 3 ring binder.  I've created a Google Doc as a pdf so you can see the actual form.  Whether I'm teaching one set of students or two, as I do in kindergarten I've found I like to have all my thoughts for each child together.  I find it hard to flip through a plain notebook and look for things for individual students.  I use this recording sheet for conferring notes, kidwatching notes, guided reading notes, and further thinking I have.

Cathy (Reflect and Refine) - I am honored you'd hang my thinking in your room!  Thank you for understanding my thoughts.

Shelley (Thoughts of a Teacher), Chris (Reading Amid the Chaos), Jill (My Primary Passion)- I found your writing so reassuring and as we ponder our own thinking and make it public it's reaffirming to know others understand. 

Laura (Camp Read A Lot)- Thank you for sharing your friend's organization of having a separate independent reading time.  I too have a separate independent reading time and love the feel of the room with any age group of readers.  Last year I used this time for a guided reading group but it might make more sense to do think of it as my conferring time while the are all reading from their book boxes. 

Shari (The Literate Mind) - I love the word urgency, that is exactly how I feel and constantly try to talk myself out of it (and others too.)

Debf (Primary Perspective) - You made me laugh out loud!  I hadn't pictured my own writing as soothing, what a compliment that is.  I do hope to provoke thinking, isn't that the goal of blogging and I am glad I'm reaching that small goal for you.  Glad to be on another book journey together.

I'm sure all of these thoughts might have fit within the comment section to each of my commenter's but I wanted to share with everyone the power of doing a Blog Book Chat in helping each other grow.