conference because it touches on so many issues that seem central to
where the group had come by this point, our next-to-last session:
Julie:Pam, what did you do or might you do in relation to
this?
Pam: With this particular piece of work, I’m not sure,
because where it wasn’t an assignment [it was done during free-
choice time], I don’t know that she should touch it. Perhaps I’d
have her work on commas.
Steve:To m e t h e qu e s t i o n i s t o t h i n k b a c k t o , W h a t di d I s a y?
What was my response?
Pam:Thinking back, I wonder if she wanted to share it with
the class. I could go back and offer her a chance to do that.
Nancy:I would think the very last thing you would want to
do is punctuate [this piece].
Pam:No. I don’t want to touch this. But I do want to talk
about the use of commas in future work. No, I wouldn’t touch
this.
Liz:You might show her some poetry and how it is put in
lines. She might want to put this in more standard form of poetic
lines.
Steve:Except I think...
Liz:It might help with the meaning. There is still some con-
fusion for me.
Cherylann:But the various meanings were really interesting.
Liz:We l l , w h a t i s t h e p r o b l e m t h e n? T h e v a l u e i s i n t h e
meaning for us, or is the value in the meaning they want to have?
Steve:We l l , w o u l d t h a t b e a r e s p o n s e? To s a y, h e y, I c a n r e a d
this in two different ways. I can read this and it means “dogs walk-
ing flowers” and that makes me laugh or as “dogs walking [pause]
flowers that are blue.” Just to let her know that when you write
poetry this way it has an ambiguity that is playful.
Liz:I like that approach better than the way... my approach
was more clinical.244 Learning and Leading with Habits of Mind