1. Please use the post-it note to answer the following prompt…
Welcome!
Opening Activity:
Please use the post-it note to answer the following prompt…
Describe one strategy you implement in the classroom to manage conferences.
As people come in, have them fill out a post-it answering the slide question.

2. Conquering Conferences
Presented by
Christina Gonzalez & Beckie Steller
Professional Growth Day
January 18, 2012

3. Outcomes for This Session
Learning and Sharing:
The importance of student conferencing in writing
Techniques for managing conferencing in the classroom
Strategies for applying the critical elements of conferencing in the classroom
Required Slide
Consider stopping and soliciting questions. What do you want to know about conferencing, what would like to hear ideas about today. Post them on the white board or chart paper. Visit them at the end of the day and make sure you covered them.

4. Conferencing in the Common Core
Common Core Anchor Standard 5 states:
“With guidance and support from peers and adults, develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach.”
Read the common core
Other connections
Teaches students to ask questions about their writing and begin to look at their writing critically
Students are more engaged and take ownership in their writing
And Creates independent writer

5. Thoughts on Conferencing
"Teaching writing must become more like coaching a sport and less like presenting information. You have to do more than call out the errors. Our first job is to be a person…. To enjoy, to care and to respond and let the writer know she has been heard. Sometimes the purpose of the conference is simply to respond. Other times, if the moment seems right, we try to extend what the youngster can do as a writer.” Lucy Calkins
Required Slide
Second orientation slide:

6. Moving Writing Forward
Take out your quick write that you wrote this morning about someone who inspired you to be a writer.
Quick write for 1 min and add to your piece (or completely re-write it) of how you instill the love and passion of writing for your students.
Required Slide – You will use this activity later in the presentation.
Facilitator notes: At the end of the session the participants will conference with each other about this quick write. Let the participants know that they will be sharing their piece of writing with each other.

7. Inspire First! Evaluate Second!
Conferencing is focused on the child, not the writing
By focusing on the child, you are looking from a position of their strength and growth.
Writing instruction is a coaching process, grounded in explicit feedback, focused on instruction, student goals, and developing next steps.
“A coach is someone who can give correction without causing resentment.” -John Wooden, UCLA Basketball Coach
Orientation slide - Suggested

8. Required Slide Summarizes the video What is a Writing Conference?
A student/teacher conference is at the heart of teaching writing
The conference gives direct and immediate feedback
Conferences are short – one to five minutes
Conferences are often driven by mini-lessons but are a chance for individualized instruction
Students are equally in the driver’s seat and take ownership of their writing
Required Slide
Summarizes the video

9. How do we Build a Writing Culture?
What have been the most powerful strategies you use for building a culture of writing in your classroom?
It starts with building a culture for writing
Encourage table sharing and report out

10. Building a Writing Culture
Students should be quiet and respectful during writing time
All conversations should be either peer or teacher conferencing and should be done in hushed tones.
All students are expected to be writing or working on the revising and editing.
TAKE OUT and REPLACE with how our writing workshop runs…This is where we could answer how we build a writing culture.
Personalize: Modify to demonstrate how you build a writing culture through conferencing. Use some not all of the bullets above.

11. Conferencing Ways to Begin a Conference:
What direction are you taking this piece of
writing?
How’s it going?
How may I help you?
Tell me about your writing.
What are you working on?
What do you have so far?
What part can I help you with?
At the beginning of the year, model teacher conferencing over a shortened writing time. Once done, discuss with the class:
What went well?
What do we need to improve?
What were the benefits of meeting with the teacher one on one?
Continue to extend the length of time and discuss changes as necessary.
Personalize: Modify to demonstrate how you work through a student conference.
Use some. not all of the bullets above – more bullets on the next slide above. This is modeling your magic of conferencing.
Bring in examples of student work that you’ve conferenced about For example: what are some of the mini lessons you’ve taught? The notes below are also on the handout as additional ideas for ways to conference.
Remember you can put the ideas in a handout
Sample Handout notes
Try to meet with every student often – at least two to three times a week
Teachers read the writing silently to themselves. Teachers talk to the students about content, style, and structure: information, organization, language, reflection, direction, significance, character development, leads, conclusions
As you get to know your students, conferences allow the teacher to individually challenge students and help others who may be still struggling
Often just asking the student if you can read their writing sets the stage for a positive experience. Here are other opening questions to begin the conference

12. Structuring Writing Conferences
Conferences are conversations
Conferences have a point to them
Conferences have a predictable structure
In conferences, we pursue lines of thinking with students
Teachers and students have conversational roles in conferences
In conferences, we show students we care about them
Conferences are conversations
Conferences have a point to them
To help students become better writers
Conferences have a predictable structure
Conversations about the work the child is doing as a writer
Conversations about how the child can become a better writer
In conferences, we pursue lines of thinking with students
Sometimes are lines of thinking are predetermined
Sometimes we change our lines of thinking during conferences
Sometimes the student directs our line of thinking
Sometimes the line of thinking surprises us
Teachers and students have conversational roles in conferences
Student as lead
-Sets the agenda while the teacher listens and ask questions
Teacher as the lead
-pursues line of thinking, while students respond
-shares his assessment of the work, while student listens and asks questions
-helps student learn about ways to make writing better, while student figures out what he/she can do to try to incorporate what the teacher is suggesting
In conferences, we show students we care about them
Conferences are short – one to five minutes
Teachers move during writing conferences
Keep a “Status of the Class” to organize where each student is in their writing process

13. Structuring Writing Conferences
Conferences take many forms:
Walk around the room having quick conversations
Walk around the room with a goal of # of students per day
Take home a set of notebooks and write notes in the margins
One-on-one conferences in private (graded papers, more serious conversations)
Peer conferencing
Students sign up for strategy lesson during writer’s workshop
Management Systems:
Clipboard with sheet for recording notes from conferences
Sign up on a calendar
Individual spiral notebooks in a basket
Table Days (Monday table, Tuesday table, etc.)
Magnets for the writing process where students move their name through each stage

14. Structuring Writing Conferences
Management Systems:
Clipboard with sheets for recording notes from conferences
Sign up on a calendar
Individual spiral notebooks in a basket
Table Days (Monday table, Tuesday table, etc.)
Magnets for the writing process where students move their name through each stage

15. Questions in Conferences*
Questions that focus on information, direction, reflection, and purpose:
Questions such as “Where is this going next?” Give students the realization that it is ok to be stuck. That is the writing process.
“As a reader, I can’t see, feel or hear X. What can you do?”
“What would happen if you tried to do X here?”
Required Slide- Personalize it- talk about how you generate powerful questions, how you develop student ability to ask questions.
F: How do these questions ensure the student leaves the conference motivated and eager to continue writing and apply new strategies?
What other questions have you used that help inspire students?
*From Nancie Atwell’s Lessons that Change Writers

16. Conferencing
What have been the most powerful strategies for student conferencing?
Share Post-its?

17. Modeling our Practice Role Play… Take out your Quick Write.
Conference with your partner for 3 minutes about the piece of writing.
Reflect on how the process felt as a writer and a teacher.
Required Slide
Facilitator notes: This is the practice session.

18. Why Peer Conferencing?
*Not enough time for upper grade teachers to do it all
*We need to develop writers as readers as writers
*Students need to read their writing aloud:
Maintain ownership of the work;
Catch sentences that lack fluency or that contain sentence level errors;
Hear voice, organization, and faulty reasoning.
Helps build writer’s ear.

19. Structuring Peer Conferencing
Daily pair-share conferences with writers within proximity with a specific focus
Could be related to the mini-lesson
Could be on a selected topic you give them
Specific Peer Conferencing Groups could be assigned
Teacher should be specific when assigning students to these groups. Tri-Ads work well
Conferencing groups can see a piece of writing through to completion
These groups need to be changed throughout the year so as to allow young writer’s to experience different writer’s perspectives
Peer Conference As Needed would be effective when a piece of writing is nearing the published phrase and writer’s need revision suggestions.

20. Structuring Peer Conferencing
Writer’s sit close enough to see and hear the writing being read
Writing should be read by the writer 2 times.
The first time the writer reads, their peer should politely respond, “Thank you”.
The second time through the piece, the listener is taking notice of the writer’s craft giving at least two constructive suggestions.
“I liked…”
“I noticed…”
“I wonder…”
For accountability, listener should have something to “fill out”

21. Modeling our Practice Role Play… Take out your Quick Write.
Taking on the role of a peer, conference with your partner.
Focus on the trait of word choice. What did you notice about the way the writer added specific details about the concept of inspiration in the classroom?
Reflect on how the process felt as peers.
Required Slide
Facilitator notes: This is the practice session.

22. Three Things To Remember…
…About Student Conferencing
Conferencing is focused on the child, not the writing.
By focusing on the child, you are looking from a position of their strength and growth.
Inspire First! Evaluate Second!
Required Slide

23. “Work hard, make literature.”
Comments?
Questions?
“Work hard, make literature.”
-Nancie Atwell
Required Slide

24. Feel free to add additional resources
Nancie Atwell - Lessons that Change Writers
Regie Routman - Writing Essentials
Carl Anderson - How’s It going
Small Group Writing Conferences, K-5:
Information on Writing Conferences from Teacher Vision Website:
Require Slide
Feel free to add additional resources