Christa Phillips Resource/Inclusion Teacher Inman Intermediate School

“When a writing conference works well it is a beautiful thing. You talk with a student, get a dialogue going, make a suggestion, and exit.” -Ralph Fletcher and JoAnn Portalupi Writing Workshop: The Essential Guide

 The purpose of the writing conference is to fix the student’s piece of writing.  I always have plenty of time to confer with each student.  My students always come prepared with questions or concerns about their writing.  I always keep thorough records to help plan my future writing instruction.

 My perfectionism and “pleaser” personality  Overwhelmed by how much my students need—easier to teach to the piece of writing than to the writer  My teaching philosophy and/or expectations differ from those of the regular education teacher  Special education background  Ignorance

 How can I give my students the support and help they need without taking over?  What are the teacher’s and the student’s roles during the conference?

 Teacher initiates the conference by asking about the student’s writing. Questions should be conversational. Nurture a genuine connection through eye contact and body language. Praise something early on.

 Student sets the agenda for the conference by describing the work that he is doing and by responding to teacher’s questions in the conversation.  The student also asks questions about the piece that focus on his specific weaknesses.** Try to guide the student to talk about his challenges with the process of writing instead of just the product. Use writer’s talk. **Prior to the conference the student has to do some work!

 You will have an opportunity to have a conference this afternoon. Choose one of your pieces that you would like to share.  Come up with 3 questions/concerns that you would like to discuss with your mentor.

 Teach students how to prepare for conferences, how to become an internal critic; model for them. Immerse them in “writing language” so they can focus on the process of writing and understand and participate in the conversation more fully.  “Fishbowl” conferences for them so they can develop clear expectations. Or allow them to “eavesdrop” on other conferences.

 Read the piece of writing. Either the student reads, or the teacher can read to allow the student to hear it in a new way. You don’t necessarily have to read the entire piece. You can read just the part where the student has questions/difficulties.

 Teacher listens to student’s concerns and decides on one particular skill, technique, or strategy that will best help the student. Provide or refer to mentor texts. Refer to mini-lessons. Keep anecdotal records to use for later instruction.

 Student listens carefully to teacher’s feedback and instruction and asks questions as needed to clarify.  The student should make notes to help guide them as they go back to continue work on writing.

 Some students really don’t know how to ask for the help they need. You will have to guide them with your expertise and further questioning.  Using the student example on the center of your table, create a list of questions that you would ask this student.

 Which part of the writing conference seems to give you, as a teacher, the most trouble?  How do you think you can improve this?

 When we finish the conference, we should be able to name one thing we taught to help the student become a better writer.  The student should be the one holding the pencil and writing on his paper!  The bottom line is the student decides if or when to use your advice.

“ When we read a child’s writing, we can always tell what needs to happen to the piece to make it better. If we were to do just that, help the student make this piece better, we will have changed the writing not the writer. It is our job during these conferences to teach the writing strategies that will help the writer not just for this piece, but for all future writing.” Judy Davis and Sharon Hill The No-Nonsense Guide to Teaching Writing

 Anderson, Carl. Assessing Writers. Heinemann,  Anderson, Carl. How’s It Going?: A Practical Guide to Conferring with Student Writers. Heinemann,  Davis, Judy and Sharon Hill. The No-Nonsense Guide to Teaching Writing. Heinemann,  Fletcher, Ralph and JoAnn Portalupi. Writing Workshop: The Essential Guide. Heinemann,  Lane, Barry. After the End: Teaching and Learning Creative Revision. Heinemann, 1993.