Conferring Walk-Aways Useful Data

Data has become a huge area of focus in my school, as it has in so many schools in this age of high-stakes testing. I loved the way that Allen mentioned ways to specifically use information gathered from conferences to use as valuable data. He emphasizes that by keeping anecdotal records of each conference, teachers are able to analyze notes to see emerging trends and notice what we learn about our students as readers over time (15). Without records that anecdotal notes provide, it would be easy to not have a specific trend or aha moment about a student click with a teacher. It is powerful to reflect on notes and skim over the last conference before beginning a new one. It helps teachers be more intentional and also confirms other forms of more standardized data or helps us to dig deeper if results do not match up with what we have observed on a day to day basis.

There was a very powerful excerpt where Allen reflects on data and programs from his point of view as a parent. "When I sit down with my child's teacher, I do not want to see a number on a piece of paper about her being in the ninety-eighth percentile for this or that, unless the teacher can explain how that affects my daughter's interactions with text. I do not want to see a graph showing me that my child reads a passage quickly and moves along a continuum, unless the teacher can explain how she varies her rate and prosody when she is reading aloud and how the miscues she is making may be interfering with her comprehension. [...] I want my child's teacher to tell me what strategy she is working on in reading or what writer's craft she is studying. I want to know what she is thinking about when she's doing it, and how she is sharing that learning with her teacher and the rest of her classmates" (139). These are two of my most favorite paragraphs out of the whole book. I highly recommend that anyone pondering data specifically linked to workshops should get a copy of the book to read the full two paragraphs. Afterward, Allen shifts back to himself as a teacher and how we must also use standardized measures to demonstrate growth.

Toward the end of the book Allen reiterates different ways that anecdotal notes from conferences can be powerful for teachers (184-185). Through his comments I have been able to better define the importance of conferring and how it will help me with a wide variety of purposes: getting to know my students as readers, recognizing trends over time, helping me to better communicate with parents, provide the necessary piece to triangulate data and know readers from different angles.

Even though I feel like I am just barely getting the hang of conferring and it is starting to feel more natural, I can already see how rich the data that I am recording about my students is. I am excited for the way that conferring is going to impact how I know my students as readers and the information it is providing to be a more mindful teacher.