What Do I Write Down

We know conferring is essential in meeting the individual needs of students and that in addition to the conversation, taking notes is important. So, to make the most of our time and keep our conferring sessions brief and purposeful, what do we write down?

It can be easy to want to write everything we see and hear, but we quickly learn there is not enough room on the page or time during the conference to get it all down. Instead, it is important that we stick to the main points that will affect our teaching moving forward.

In the left-hand column of the conferring sheet we write what we notice during the conference:

In the right-hand column of the conferring sheet we write two points of action for our next conference.

Here's an example: 

Looking for ideas to help you get started?

Comprehension:

Doesn’t remember details
Identifies main idea
Identifies main character
Identifies problem
Understands purpose
Has questions: ________
Inferred _________

Accuracy:

Chunked the letters _________
Skips words and doesn’t come back
Sounds out each letter

Fluency:

Reads with expression
Reads too quickly
Good-fit book or not
Reads fluently

Vocabulary:

Identified an interesting word, _________
Identifies figurative language, _________