I am never without my trusty clipboard and conferring notes during reading or writing workshop. Click here for my favorite conferring notes sheet:
I also like to have a handy "cheat sheet" to guide me through my conferring. This keeps me focused, with gentle reminders of what I can do to be be responsive and effective in all my conversations with children.
It's helpful to make an outline for the week, tentatively planning which students I will see each week, and what I'll be focusing on. I like to plan using a grid like this:
...or a chart like this:
Keeping track of each student’s individual reading goal can help keep your conferring purposeful and focused. Here are several tools for keeping track of data that helps determine each student’s goal: