THE CHOREOGRAPHY OF CONFERENCES

WITH CARL ANDERSON

By: Sara Moroz

Lisa Wilkes

Rachel Singer

Kendra Beedle

HOW’S IT GOING?

By: Carl Anderson

LAYING THE GROUNDWORKWhere should conferences be held?

Choose to go where students feel most comfortable (desks, table, on the floor in the corner, etc.

Avoid using the teacher’s personal desk. A special “conference table” can be used but this

often doesn’t make students feel comfortable either.

Get down at eye-level when talking to students, no matter where they are.

TOOLS TO BRING TO THE CONFERENCETeacher: Record keeping forms

What the teacher has learned about the student as a writer. What the teacher has taught the student in the conference. If what was taught in the conference could be used as a mini-lesson for

the whole class. Literature- Teacher should bring own pieces of writing or writer’s notebook

to the conference. Post-it notes- If student’s need a reminder of what was discussed in the

conference the teacher can write the keys of the discussion. Clipboard, pen/pencilStudent: Writer’s notebook Most recent drafts and previous drafts Mentor text that is being used at the time Pen/pencil

TIME SPENT IN EACH CONFERENCE Typical writing workshop period: 45 minutes total,

with a 10 minute mini-lesson and 5 minutes at the end for sharing. This leaves only 30 minutes for conferencing.

It’s best to confer with 4 to 5 students each day. This gives about 5 minutes for each student. Don’t spend less than 3, or more than 7 minutes.

THE TEACHER’S ROLE IN THE CONFERENCE

“I finally realized that my role in a conference is to find out from students what work they are doing as writers and then teach them how to that work better” (25) Carl Anderson

2 parts to every conference1. The teacher talks with the student about the

work they are doing as writers.2. The teacher talks with the student about how

to become better writers.

PART ONE Invite the student to set the agenda by

describing the writing being done. Assume the LEAD role in the conversation by

getting on the line of thought of the writing. Ask questions and look at the students writing.

How’s it going? What are you doing today as a writer? What work are you doing as a writer this period? What do you need help with today?

GETTING ON A LINE OF THINKING“We assess what a student can do as a writer by

considering several sources. What a student says about his writing at the beginning of the conversation is the most obvious source” (36) Carl Anderson

Look at the tone of voice and body language of the student while they are talking about their writing.

ASKING RESEARCH QUESTIONS Carl Anderson describes 6 categories of

questions a teacher can use to discover more about the student and their writing.

Questions that nudge students to say more “Could you say more about that?” “What do you mean by…” “Could you explain what you mean by…”

Questions that grow out of our knowledge of what good writer’s do “Have you planned out you draft?” “What’s the focus of you piece?” “What kinds of revisions have you made?”

Questions about students writing strategies “How are you going to do this work?” “What strategies are you going to use to do this work?” “How are you planning to get started with your draft?”

Questions that come from what we already know about students “Have you done some of the revision work you tried in you last

piece?” “How did you pick the idea for you draft this time?”

Questions connected to mini-lessons “Have you tried out what we talked about today in the mini-

lesson?” “Remember how we talked yesterday in the mini-lesson about

revision strategies? Have you used any of them to help you revise?”

Questions about a students decision “What did you pick these places to add on?” Why did you decide to structure you draft this way?” Why did you repeat this line several times?”

These questions help to make the conference more productive for both the teacher and the student.

LOOKING AT THE STUDENTS WRITINGThe last thing to do for the first part of the

conferences is to look at the student’s writing.-Don’t read the student’s whole piece during the

conference.

-Look, instead, at what the student has written with a writing teacher lens to get a feel for the piece and to see where the student is going.

PART TWOIn the second part of the conference the teacher will have a conversation with the student about how they can become a better writer. This time, the teacher takes the lead of the conversation.

1. The teacher gives critical feedback about the students writing.

2. The teacher instructs the student how to do their writing work better.

3. The teacher nudges the student to try the technique.4. The teacher links the conference to the students

ongoing work by giving them expectations that that the student will follow up on.

POST-CONFERENCE WORKAfter the conference has concluded the teacher should take notes about the conversation on record keeping forms or in a personal notebook.

The teacher should include in the notes: Date of the conference. What the teacher learned about the work

the student was doing. What was taught by the teacher to the

student.

WHAT IS EVERYONE ELSE DOING? In order to run a successful writing workshop

the students who aren’t being conferred with must be able to stay on task.

Teacher should set up a management plan. Envisioning the workshop Teaching independence Developing a repertoire of diagnostic questions.

ENVISIONING THE WORKSHOP The first thing is to think about how students

will transition from mini-lesson to independent writing. The most effective thing to do is to have writing

materials out on the desks so students can settle into their writing more easily.

A mini-lesson at the beginning of the year could be taught to teach students what they should be doing during the writing workshop.

TEACHING INDEPENDENCE Students must be able to work on their own

writing independently for a continuous period of time.

They need to be able to find ideas, write fluently, and be able to know what to do once they are done. A mini-lesson at the beginning of the year should

taught on how to do these things

DEVELOPING A REPERTOIRE OF DIAGNOSTIC QUESTIONS Are students invested in their writing? Do students make plans and set goals for their

writing? Do students have easy access to writing

materials?

Are students invested in their writing?

One way to get students more excited about their writing is to have them publish more frequently.

Reading aloud published pieces by authors also gets students to be more engaged in their own writing.

Do students make plans and set goals?

Give students a reason to set goals by:Using frequent publication datesSetting deadlines for completion of drafts, revisions,

and edits. Use a mini-lesson to teach students how to

make plans and set goals

Do students have easy access to writing materials?

It is crucial for students to be able to have access to writing materials. They need to know where they are and that they are allowed to use them.Designate special places in the room for writing

materials.Have a writing materials center.Have a special section of the classroom library

dedicated to mentor texts and texts studied in mini-lessons.