The Powerful Practice of Conferencing with Students in the Classroom
What would it be like to see improvement in your students' writing, to have students who take ownership of their writing and progress? No, this is not a fairytale. It is possible to have students engaged in the writing process. Conferencing with students is a powerful practice that will improve student writing.
Want more information on conferencing with students? Grab my free guide and confer with confidence.
What are writing conferences?
Writing conferences are not a curriculum or program, it is a strategy or a method to teach writing to your students. Conferencing with students is a conversation about writing. The teacher can meet one-on-one with students or pull small groups. But writing conferences are a chance to meet the needs of the students and to learn strategies that will benefit all future writing.
Conferencing with students can be molded to fit the student, the teacher, and the scheduling needs. Because conferences are not a curriculum or a program, you can use this strategy in any way that benefits your classroom needs.
The Flow of Conferences
There are elements or a flow to successful writing conferences. Having a routine for conferencing with students will create predictability and help students focus on the content of their writing and not the conference. The student(s) know what to expect when they meet with the teacher.
Suggested Flow for Conferencing with Students:
Explore - How’s it going with the student’s writing? Explore what the student is doing and why. Is there a writing strategy, skill, or craft move they want to do or are doing?
Evaluate - How well is the student doing what they intend to do? Is the student ready for something new? Evaluate what the student needs to improve their writing.
Decide - Decide what to teach or how to guide the student. Through the course of the discussion, the student will let you know what they are working on or want to work on; what can you teach them to help with the skill or strategy?
Teach - Teach/model the skill or strategy. Have a way to practice, and send the student some notes to try the strategy independently.
Why Conferencing is Worth the Time
Instructional time is precious. Teachers have so many demands and there are expectations for pacing, but writing conferences are not a waste of that precious time. Go slow to go fast - spending time with students and their writing will pay-off in the long run. The time it takes on the front end to get conferences going will allow you and the students to speed up once a few conferences have been conducted.
More Reasons Conferencing with Students is Beneficial:
Built-in individualization - meeting with students one-on-one or in small groups is a simple way to differentiate the process for each student.
Ownership - students guide the conference because they are expected to speak about their writing.
Guides instruction - conference discussions guide instruction because the teacher knows student strengths and opportunities for growth.
Process over product - the writing process is long and complex, and many students don’t realize what it takes to publish a final draft. Conferencing with students helps to motivate and encourage students to put the hard work into the process.
Reduces grading - there is still a stack (digital or physical) of papers to grade and feedback to write, BUT the time it takes to leave the feedback is cut in half. Conferences provide immediate feedback, and the students act on the input, so mistakes are minimal, and feedback is quick.
Making connections and building community - conferencing with students builds a writing relationship. Students see the teacher as a writer, and the teacher sees the student as a writer; this is a different type of connection. This connection and community are also built among the students.
Conferencing with students is worth the time. If you want more information on writing conferences, grab the free guide and confer with confidence!