We all know this story: students seem to be engaged in their independent writing, so the teacher grabs her folder, special pen, and hopes for the conference she’s about to have with a lucky writer. She pulls a chair beside him, leans in, and starts researching.
“How’s it going?”
Student shrugs.
“Show me what you’re working on.”
Student hands over the paper that sits in front of him.
“Wow, you started the story with ‘One time…’ I can tell you now how stories usually go.”
Student nods.
At this point, the teacher keeps pulling phrases to get the student to engage in a conversation about his work, but after a few minutes, nothing happens. Or, as the teacher researches the writer, she notices so much evidence of her own teaching that she’s not sure where to go from there. What do I teach him now?
Conferring is the ultimate challenge for every writing teacher. There’s a reason most coaches suggest we first focus on becoming strong at delivering mini-lessons. The art of engaging a student in a one-on-one conversation AND teaching them something on the spot requires a repertoire of teaching points at the tip of our fingers. On top of that, it seems like for every unit, those teaching points change and become more specific. It’s like choosing what to wear when they tell you about the dress code seconds before the event. Stressful!
I’ve been conferring for many years. I’ve had many successful conferences, and many failed attempts. I will never stop learning how to support writers during those precious minutes, but as I plan for our next writing unit, I want to reflect on five things that matter most:
- Know when to step away.
First and foremost, jumping in and meeting with “struggling” writers might feel right, but when we go in too soon, we rob them of the chance to figure things out in that productive struggle. I’ve learned to do whatever I need to do to meet with one or two other students before going to their aide. There’s power in giving them a bit of (not too much) wait time.
Also, I shouldn’t waste our time if I meet with a writer who isn’t ready to converse with me. I should say, “I can see you’re busy working; I will check in again tomorrow,” and walk away. Yes, every student should engage with me in a conference, but I should not waste precious minutes trying to pull something out of a student who may honestly want to work without interruptions.
One last thought: sometimes, just complimenting is all you need to do that day.
- The unit will only last five weeks; teach the writer.
I say this to teachers every time I facilitate Writer’s Workshop PD sessions: we only get five weeks in a unit, so, in theory, we’ll only get to give writers feedback four times. We only get four conferences to help them get better at narratives or poetry. Knowing this can cause much anxiety, so much so that meeting with a student for a conference can freeze us. For me, the best antidote to “conferring insecurities” is to have a map of where I could go with them. I use the student checklist/progression (not just my grade’s goals) as a guide to determine where to focus.
The checklist also helps me teach the writer because it pushes me to focus on organization, leads, and elaboration techniques, and those are goals students can continue to aim for in future units.
- Don’t drown them in questions; get to the point.
I’ve learned that open-ended questions are the best way to get the conference going. However, I’ve found myself asking so many questions that I end up extending the research part way too long. Carl Anderson says it best: Ask a question and then shut up. I get uncomfortable with long pauses, but engaging in “talk” with Elena has helped me practice to wait. I say something to her, make some sort of noise, and wait five to six seconds for her reaction or response. In the classroom, I do the same mental countdown as I silently wait for a student to retrieve what they want to say.
Questions that help keep the focus:
- What are you doing as a writer?
- Where are you doing that?
- What are you hoping to do here?
- How do you _____?
I suggest writing your focus questions on a cheat sheet and sticking to those.
- Use the mentors!
Today is the day we start our narrative unit in Grade 3, and we have planned for three days of immersion, where we’ll study a few mentor pieces. Through samples of other students’ stories, we’ll list all the things we hope to learn throughout the unit. The biggest mistake I’ve made in the past is to not refer to those mentors afterward. I sometimes make life too hard for myself by creating specific mentor passages for every single conference when there’s already a compilation of great writing students have already studied.
Learning to write is much easier when we see an example of what we’re trying to do. Let us tap into the power of visuals that can help students anchor the words I’m saying. “This is what I want you to try, and this is how you can do it.”
- Get that toolkit ready!
From the creators of “Use the Mentor” also comes “Prepare a Toolkit!” I haven’t done this in a few years. The last time I had a useful conferring kit was in 2019. I kept learning progressions, student checklists, mentors, and sticky notes in a little pouch I carried with me as I visited writers. These few things made things more efficient and helped me keep track of what I was teaching. The mistake I hope I don’t make again is visiting writers with nothing but my notebook and pen. I should only do this if I plan to research and compliment. But if I intend to teach, I should lean on the tools at my disposal.
Today, we launch this new writing unit, and since we start with immersion and a bit of free writing, I won’t start conferring right away. However, I wanted to write these thoughts to ground me before we get to the good part, and hopefully, they can also help other colleagues lose the fear of having conferences with their students.
Happy conferring!
Start with a Story 