Radical Listening - by Dan Feigelson (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Dan Feigelson refocuses reading and writing conferences to help all students reach their full potential. His practical approach centers on active listening--an equitable way to listen to, learn from, and guide students. His book is packed with sample conferences, if/then strategies, rubrics, and tips for starting conferences and keeping them going.

Review Quotes

"This book is jam-packed with honesty, wit, and practical tips we can use tomorrow, as all good professional development books are. But what makes this book really worthy of our time is the way it cuts through the day-to-day noise, with one insistent refrain: listen. There is something soothing and revitalizing about the way Dan Feigelson reminds us to do what we know is right, while showing us how to do it well."

--M. Colleen Cruz, author of Risk. Fail. Rise. A Teacher's Guide to Learning From Mistakes

"Dan Feigelson's approach is timely. Nowadays conferring is often a mini lecture delivered from teacher to student. Radical Listening is a powerful reminder that listening must be central to any reading or writing conference. Conferring can feel daunting to many teachers, but the numerous examples of actual conferences will leave you thinking, 'Hey, I can do this.' This is an essential resource for any workshop teacher."

--Ralph Fletcher, author of Focus Lessons: How Photography Enhances the Teaching of Writing and Joy Write: Cultivating High-Impact Low-Stakes Writing

"No matter how experienced you are at conferring, you'll find Radical Listening full of innovative ideas for enhancing the immediate and long-term impact of every reading and writing conference. Dan shows us how to listen closely, see clearly, and teach responsively so that we develop, what he calls, 'conferring competencies' and all children develop lasting skills and identities as readers, writers, and thinkers."

--Kathy Collins, coauthor of I Am Reading: Nurturing Young Children's Meaning Making and Joyful Engagement with Any Book

"This book is pure gold! Taking a culturally responsive, strength-based approach to conferences, Dan ensures all students feel seen and valued. He shows us how to support their growth as readers and writers by igniting their passions, personalizing their learning, and elevating their voices. He provides strategies for listening closely to them to understand their thinking, learn from them, and meet them where they are on their reading and writing journey. I am excited to put Dan's ideas into action, and encourage the teachers with whom I work to do the same."

--Alexa P. Schmid, Middle School Principal, International School of Kenya

"Dan Feigelson helps us shape our listening to be truly responsive to each child, and tackles some of our most confounding questions: What do I teach in a conference? What if I haven't read the book we're discussing? What if the piece is one long run-on sentence? The "Diagnostic Listening" sections are incisive and so helpful. The final chapter helps us take the next logical step in conferring--integrating reading and writing. Radical Listening will lead to radical changes in your instruction and in your overall stance toward children."

-- Ellin Oliver Keene, author of Engaging Children: Igniting a Drive for Deeper Learning

"Before you even finish Radical Listening, you'll want to try out Dan Feigelson's practical, fresh approaches to reading and writing conferences. Whether you're new to conferring or highly experienced, his book shows how we can empower learners to discover, extend, and communicate their perspectives. It calls on us to examine our intentions and take a more equitable stance, one conference at a time. Without question, Dan Feigelson is the choreographer of conferences for change!"

--Katrina Theilmann, Reading Specialist, American School of Doha

"Listening carefully starts with honoring student approximations and naming strengths in their reading and writing. In Radical Listening, Dan helps us recognize and use those strengths as the crucial starting points for teaching in all conferences, for all students."

--Matt Glover, author of Craft and Process Studies: Units That Provide Writers With Choice of Genre

"With his new book, Dan Feigelson continues to put students at the center of their learning process, amplifying their voice in the classroom. His fresh perspectives on conferring are sure to help you help your students to read, write, and think with clarity and conviction."

--Steve Vis, Elementary School Principal, International School of Latvia

About the Author

DAN FEIGELSON is a literacy consultant who has traveled the globe leading institutes, workshops, and lab sites on the teaching of reading and writing. An early member of the Teachers College Reading and Writing Project, he worked for decades in New York City public schools as a teacher, staff developer, curriculum writer, principal, and local superintendent.