Getting to know your students as writers Writing Conferences Getting to know your students as writers Presented by: Katelyn Mountain

Understanding The Writing Conference Carl Anderson Assessing Writers (2005) How’s It Going? A Practical Guide to Conferencing with Student Writers (2000) Gathering information about these students as writers vs. simply reading completed pieces of writing Observing them at work and discussing the writing process as writers Student centered Begin every conference with “How’s it going?” Allow the student to set the agenda

Understanding The Writing Conference Realize the needs of each student individually and meet them within the conference Allows you to build a profile of the collective needs of the class Create clearly defined goals of where you want students to be Use the student profile form during conferences, and build your class profile from this information Detected patterns become the topic of class mini lessons Sometimes what you want to address as the teacher will outweigh the student’s agenda

The Writing Conference In My Classroom An important piece of the writing workshop time During independent writing time Usually followed a mini lesson might discuss the focus from the day’s mini-lesson (e.g. exclamation marks, main idea) Could be a check-up point to see what stage of the writing process a student is at

The Writing Conference In My Classroom Assisted students in developing ideas Assisted students in preparing their writing for “publication” Cooperating teacher and I would discuss the conferences before writing time, and what students we hoped to see that day

The Process Mini lesson Before returning students to their desk, discuss with each where they are in their writing and who will be conferencing that day During independent writing meet with student either at his or her desk, on in another meeting place Begin a conversation with the student The student might have something he or she would like to address

Conference time can be used to discuss many different things What the student is writing about What stage of the writing process the student is at How the writing is going, and if the student needs any help Sharing time Follows independent writing time Usually focused on the topic of the mini lesson mini peer conference with a partner Students are welcome to share with the group as a whole

The Fishbowl Allows students to watch an interaction around writing About the Authors: Writing Workshops with Our Youngest Writers - Katie Wood Ray with Lisa B. Cleaveland Allows students to watch an interaction around writing Like looking into a fishbowl from the outside and watching things as they happen Could watch other students, teachers, or older students who have more experience Followed by discussion, breaking things down and pulling out the important parts Point things out and/or ask the students what they saw

The Value in Conferencing With Your Students Student-teacher communication Know where students are in their writing See students who might not normally ask for help Can intervene where might not have the opportunity otherwise Students take ownership of their writing

The Value in Conferencing With Your Students See every student in the class individually Assessment tool Ability to have students explain their writing Students develop conversational skills Develop personal relationships with your students

Closing Thoughts The point of the writing conference is to make students better writers, not to make their pieces better! Get to know your students as authors, why they are writing, who they write for, and what they know about writing well. The writing conference is about them. It might be a valuable assessment tool, but it is about what THEY get from the process! (Anderson, 2005) (Anderson, 2000)

Thank-you!