Permission to Research

Reading conferences are most certainly our ‘best’ in-time teaching and arguably yield some of the best results in our students. These conferences can take many forms and vary in duration. Often, we rely heavily on the tried and true structures and methods to conduct these conferences. However, there are options available for us too expand our repertoire of conferences. We just need permission.

We all need permission from time to time. Permission to act or proceed in a certain way. In most cases, we wait for someone else to grant us permission or rely on the culture to inform our permission. However, I am urging you to ‘give yourself’ permission from time-to-time.

In this case, give yourself permission to conduct ‘research-only’ conferences every now and again.

There are various methods to use during your conferring. The most common types of conference methods are;

• Demonstration

• Guided Practice

• Example and Explanation

• Coaching

• Inquiry

Each of these methods requires a degree of research. This research can occur before the actual conference or during the conference itself, depending on the method. However, there are times in which we need to just be completely curious about our student’s habits, skills, and identities. Enter, ‘research-only’ conferences.

Structure:

• Three minutes per student

• One question

• Listen

• Record notes

• Thank the student

Questions:

• When does reading feel great?

• What type of mind-work of you been doing in your books?

• How do you keep track of your thinking?

Conducting ‘research-only’ conferences allows you to stay disciplined and curious about your students. Whatever you do, don’t overthink this structure! Commit to conducting these types of conferences for roughly two days in order to ensure you are able to get to each student.

Give yourself permission. If you won’t give yourself permission, I will. You now have permission to conduct research-only conferences for two days!

These conferences are also great to conduct before and after breaks during the school year.

In the video below, I talk through some additional questions to use during these conferences.

Thanks for reading! And, as always, if you try this or something from another post here, please leave me a comment below!