I am a bit nervous as I anticipate my first informal reading conference with my 5th Grade Buddy. My student is a very capable reader and writer, as evidenced by his writing that he read aloud to me last week, and a very good speller, judging by the informal spelling test that I administered last week. He is also a very sweet kid. There is no reason for me to be nervous. These feelings arise out of a lack of confidence on my part. I am usually uneasy about doing something for the first time.
Routman lists a Framework for an Informal Reading Conference on page 104-105. I have printed this form, Appendix H, (pg.A-9) and plan to follow it diligently. I have also printed her "Child-Friendly" Reading Goals from page 106-107. I know I will have to refer to them as I conference with my buddy, somewhat like following a new recipe to the tee. Fortunately, I really do feel assured that my buddy will be patient and agreeable. I just want to do justice by him; he deserves no less.
Follow-up: The Informal Reading Conference went well. As I expected, my buddy was very willing and cooperative to go through the steps of the conference with me. He is comfortable speaking to adults and enjoys talking about books, making a Reading Conference an easy thing to accomplish with him. Afterwards, as we walked back to his classroom, I told him that before the meeting with him, I had been nervous. He looked at me with expressive brown eyes and admitted that he had been nervous as well. I suggested that I thought, however, it went okay. His grin was the only response I needed.
Follow-up 2: After reading Athena's blog about her reflections on Informal Conferences and what Routman writes about them in Reading Essentials, chapter 7, I realize that I didn't focus on goals for my buddy. We definitely talked about his strengths but my buddy left the conference without any stated goals in mind. I can address this with him next week as we have our 2nd Informal Reading Conference with the just-right book that I bring in.
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