WRITING CONFERENCES

The Writing Process

What is a Writing Conference?

A personal dialogue between the teacher and the student about the students writing Structured with specific goals Focuses on suggestions and comments along with individual goal-setting to prepare for the editing step of the Writing Process

Conferencing Options
Feedback (strengths and areas for improvement) Goal Setting (long-or short-term achievement goals) Intervention (area of concern) Demonstration of Growth (Improvement on one learning target growth over time) Communicating Achievement (Level of achievement demonstration of competence evidence of meeting goals)

The Purpose
The purpose of a student led conference is to allow the individual child to take ownership of their learning and articulate their learning strengths and areas to work on. When a student is able to do this their learning inevitably improves. Student led conferences are part of a multi-faceted reporting system that is in place to communicate to and inform stakeholders. (Guskey, 2001) Conferences where students are active participants are a natural extension of learning when students have previously self-assessed and set goals. (Stiggings, Arter, Chapuis, Chappuis : Classroom Assessment for Student Learning 2006,p.361)

Benefits of Conferences
Students are held individually accountable for their learning Greater sense of responsibility Pride in their accomplishment Focus on improvement Increased confidence and self-esteem in students Increased parent A pleasant more relaxed and positive experience for all concerned

Conference Dos
Keep it short(ish) - set a tangible goal at the start of the conference and work toward it Keep it focused on the particular goal chosen Keep it realistic - conferences are useful in discussing one aspect or problem of a paper, but they are not guarantees of overall success Keep it safe because students can get upset about the suggestions given

Conference Donts
Teacher does not dominate - this allows students to retain control of their writing process while providing you with specific issues to look at Don't intimidate Don't edit thats another step of the process Don't patronize offer suggestions AND accomplishments

What should a student do?

Focus on the goal that is set for the editing step of the Writing Process Learn from the suggested improvements that need to be made in order to avoid them in the next essay Reflect upon their writing as a process rather than the product

REMEMBER!
Writing Conferences are only successful when both parties (teacher and students) work together to make an essay better