1st Edition
Let's Talk Managing One-on-One, Peer, and Small Group Conferences
When it comes to increasing student motivation and success in writing, classroom talk is a powerful tool. More than simply providing assessment data for predetermined standards, talking with our students builds relationships and acommunitywhere students rely on one another-;not just their teacher-;for advice, affirmation, and support. Let's Talk: Managing One-on-One, Peer, and Small Group Conferences author Mark Overmeyer providesreal classroom examples and stories to help educators make conferences more manageable and meaningful.Organized by types of conferences, Let's Talk distinguishes between teacher-student talk-;which covers one-on-one, small-group, and whole-class conferences-;and student-student talk-;which includes one-on-one and group peer conferences. In addition to addressing the challenges and needsof teachers, coaches, principals, and staff developers in the elementary and middle level grades, Overmeyer also focuses onhow to work with English language learners.Throughout the book, Overmeyer describes how classroom talk benefits students in a variety of ways, from discovering their interests and backgrounds as writers to helping them develop the language to reflect on their writing progress.
Biography
Mark Overmeyer, who has more than twenty-eight years of teaching experience, recently retired from his job as a literacy coordinator and coach in the Cherry Creek Schools near Denver, Colorado. He now works full-time as a literacy consultant for schools and districts interested in implementing or refining writing and reading workshops. Mark is also an adjunct professor in the graduate program at the University of Colorado at Denver, where he codirected a National Writing Project site for four years.
