Practice, Practice...

Conferring effectively is a new art for me. It is not one that I have perfected by any means. Just like when I began taking tennis lessons, I was pretty rusty, I am also a novice in the writing conference. I had played tennis before, but I didn't know all of the intricacies - how to hold the racquet, how to swing properly (low to high), and how to follow through. Now that I know those elements, I need to practice, practice, practice what I have learned.

In the same way, I need to practice conferring. My son volunteered to help I volunteered my son to help me. We read Vera B. Williams's  A Chair for My Mother and I taught him a mini-lesson on small moments and adding details.

Then I asked Lukas to write for a bit before we conferred.

I would love to tell you to watch this video as a perfect example of conferring, but I can't do that! I can tell you that it was a really good exercise for me to walk through the writing conference with my son and to then go back and watch myself.

Here's what I noticed:

1. Conferring can be awkward--especially when it's new for both the student and the teacher. We had the parent-child element going on, as well, but Lukas hasn't experienced very many writing conferences (with a focus on the writer and not the writing) so this was new for him, too.

2. I needed my notes. I definitely will put my record-keeping binder to good use!

3. I should have focused on ONE teaching point. Instead, I showed him how to make revisions AND I asked him to stretch the small moments by adding details.

4. I need to keep the conference brief!

So, I will continue to practice. And as I practice, I hope that I will continue to learn how to be a successful coach during the writing conference.

Assessment and Record-Keeping

Record-keeping is something that I have always wrestled with. Lucy Calkins says “Our records need to embody our teaching priorities” (2005). I have found a number of resources that I compiled into a record-keeping binder. I'm hoping this will help me keep my conferences focused and effective.

CONFERRING NOTES

Jessica Hursh -- The Teacher Talk

Carl Anderson

Mrs. Bainbridge's Class Website

Julie Shope

Teach Talk Inspire

RUBRICS

First Grade Writing Rubrics -- Miami-Dade County Public Schools

Sarah Paul

Here's a peek into my binder.

Anchor Charts

I love to use anchor charts in my classroom! Here are several anchor charts that can be introduced during a mini-lesson and referenced during the Writing Workshop. The hard part is finding enough wall space to display all of them!

The First Grade Parade

This anchor chart is a great way to launch the Writing Workshop. It's also a nice reference point during a one-on-one conference or a "drop in" conference to direct students to why they are writing.

 

The First Grade Parade

I introduce this anchor chart after we read The Best Story by Eileen Spinelli. I teach students that our best stories come from our heart and we brainstorm topics we can write about. The students make their own heart maps and add them to their writing notebooks or folders.

Apples of Your Eye

Anchor charts can be used to introduce expectations and the basic structure of the Writing Workshop. It's helpful to have an anchor chart to refer to during an Expectation/Behavior Conference with students.

Writing Checklist

I'm not sure of the original source for this anchor chart--if you know where it's from, please comment! I like to introduce a checklist like this to teach my first graders how to use individual checklist with their writing. 

 Spotted in First Grade

I love to use interactive anchor charts. This Writing Goals anchor chart can be used to introduce various writing goals throughout the year. It could be added on to as each goal is taught. Then students or teachers can choose a goal for individuals to work on in their writing. 

There are so many wonderful examples of anchor charts available online. I truly believe that anchor charts are an excellent resource for both students and teachers to refer back to after a mini-lesson. What anchor charts do you find to be essential for Writing Workshop?

Peer Conferencing

Have you ever sent students to peer conference and they are not sure what to do?

I created a PowerPoint presentation to use in a Writing Workshop mini-lesson to introduce peer conferencing to my first graders. I think it's important that my students are already familiar with accountable talk and one-on-one conferences, as well as the language we use during group share time (asking questions about and complimenting the author's writing). Click on the picture or the link below to view how I use the PowerPoint in my classroom.

Peer Conferencing Screencast

Click here if you'd like to download the file for your own use!

A Story About Coaching

I know a young girl who has been involved in gymnastics for many years. She enjoys the performance aspect and continues to pursue it still.  Although she learned many new skills, she often found herself disheartened after joining the junior varsity team.  She did not always know what she needed to do in order to improve or excel. This same girl also recently began to compete in high school track. She immediately loved the sport and made excellent gains in both pole vaulting and hurdles. What was the difference? The coaching. The track coach invested in her and every other member of the team. Following each meet, the coach sought out the athletes individually to discuss what went well and how they could improve for the next time. This was a new and impactful experience for the young athlete who had never really had one-on-one coaching before.

In the same way, teachers can directly influence the writing growth of students in their classrooms by meeting with them one-on-one in a coaching format. Once the student leaves the conference, she should know exactly what it is she is doing well and how to improve upon not only the piece at hand, but also future writing.  Good coaches often ask athletes what they think they need to work on in order to make sure they have a goal in mind and to help narrow down one specific skill or technique to practice. Likewise, students should not leave the conference without knowing how to grow and develop in their writing. Just as the young athlete above struggled through her gymnastics season due to a lack of direct guidance, writers may struggle without specific content information offered in the gradual release of responsibility mode during the conference time.  The writer may even decide to give up on writing, rather than continue to pursue it on her own.

In my own classroom, I have wrestled with the conferring aspect of the Writing Workshop. I have always made it a goal to meet with students individually, but too often, I find myself pointing out punctuation and capitalization errors (they are plentiful!) and I forget to focus on the craft of writing. After extensive research on the true art of conferring, I am now able to see the conference as a time to really connect with my students – to ascertain what is “near and dear to their hearts," to gain insight into their writing thinking, planning, and goals, and to coach them towards better writing.

What Does Conferring Look Like?

The structure, or anatomy of the writing conference is important.  Using a structure allows me to have a framework for approaching the writer.  I don’t have to invent an organizational plan with each child approach. Also, by having a format or an organizational plan, I can deviate from it or adapt it to suit the situation.  Finally, there is intentionality when entering a conference with a format. I can be focused and confident in my approach.  There are several approaches regarding the anatomy, or structure, of a conference. 

Lucy Calkins (2005) suggests that within each 5-7 minute conference, the teacher will move through four phases with the writer:
1.     Research    
2.     Decide
3.     Teach
4.     Link

Research
Calkins explains the research phase must begin with the teacher engaged as listener. I am mainly an observer at this point, although I will also want to take notes for recording purposes. As I listen to the writer, I can begin to fully understand him and what he is writing about and what his intentions are for his writing.

Decide
In this phase, the teacher must decide how she can best help the writer by sharing a strategy or craft. I need to consider what I know about both the writer and the writing. Rather than reading the entire piece, I may focus on just one part. Although it is likely the writer will have many things to work on, as young writers often do, it will be most effective to choose just one thing to teach. Calkins says to “teach the writer” and “not the writing” (1994). I will decide what I can compliment the writer on doing well, what should be taught, and how to teach it. Whatever I decide, it needs to be focused on the child as a writer.

Teach
This phase is also referred to as “Compliment and Teach”. Once I move to the teaching phase, the student should know that the conference is taking a turn. I will name, or compliment, something the student is doing in his zone of proximal development. He may not even realize he is doing it! I can also say something like, “Can I teach you something writers do?” Calkins says “We need to give the writer something that will help not only today, with this piece of writing, but also tomorrow, with other pieces of writing” (1994). It is crucial that I explain why and how to do whatever it is I am teaching.

Link
In the final link phase, the teacher names what the child has done as a writer and reminds the child to continue to do this in future writing. I might say something like, “Now every time you write you can reread to make sure you put down all of the sounds you hear in the word” 

I find four phases listed by Calkins to be the most straightforward for me to remember and the clearest for me to impart to my students as well. Calkins says that the students should recognize a distinct shift between each phase of the conference and this approach would also lend itself to a simple form of record keeping for conferences.

Reading & Writing Conference Form from Jessica Hursh @ The Teacher Talk 

What is Conferring?

What is conferring and how exactly does it work? 

Different teachers may approach the writing conference in various ways. As with many educational practices, there are a variety of perspectives to the conference approach. But almost all research says the student ought to be the focus of the writing conference, regardless of the technique.

According to Lucy McCormick Calkins, conferring is essentially having a discussion with the writer (1994).  Ralph Fletcher and JoAnn Portalupi tell us that writers need response (2007) and as teachers our first response ought to be to react naturally to our students’ writing. Instinctively, we laugh when the piece is funny, cry when it is sad, and so on. Sounds easy enough, right? But here's the twist...during this essential one-on-one conversation with writers, the teacher does not act as an editor. Rather he or she encourages the writer along in the writing process. 

In her book, No More "I'm Done!" (2010), Jennifer Jacobson notes that in order to fully listen to the message of the writer, she always has the student read his writing to her first. Jacobson says, 

If I look down at a sheet of writing, my brain becomes a convention detective and notes every missing capital letter, punctuation mark, or misspelling of a frequently used word…So instead, I ask students to read their work aloud and that allows me to focus on content.

Oh how I can relate to the pitfalls of becoming a "convention detective"! Can anyone else?

After the conferring discussion, Fletcher and Portalupi remind us “...the conference is simply the next utterance in a longer conversation." Ideally, that conversation continues once the student leaves the conference through dialogue with himself or with his peers in regards to his piece of writing and any future writing he does.

When it is a new concept for a writing teacher, conferring without a constant focus on editing can seem difficult and even awkward, at times. But, “...conferring with students is a skill we can all learn” (Fletcher & Portalupi). Effective instruction is linked to the gradual release of responsibility. During the conference the teacher gives individualized guidance within the student’s zone of proximal development. The level of scaffolding provided by the teacher is determined by the specific needs of the writer. Donald Graves (1994) suggests a “good conference” consists of the student speaking 80% of the time and teacher speaking just 20% of the time. 

Linda J. Dorn and Carla Soffos say the success of the writing conference is based on the teacher’s knowledge of the writer and the teacher’s knowledge of the process (2001).

So...there's more to conferring than just "simply" meeting with a student one-on-one. And there's so much more to conferring than editing a student's piece of writing. As I continue to research and learn about conferring, I aim to become more of a writing coach and less of a convention detective. 

What does conferring look like in your classroom?

References:

Calkins, L. (1994). The art of teaching writing. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Dorn, L. J., & Soffos, C. (2001). Scaffolding young writers: A writers’ workshop approach. Portland, ME: Stenhouse Publishers.

Fletcher, R., & Portalupi, J. (2007). Craft lessons: Teaching writing K-8. Portland, ME: Stenhouse Publishers.

Fletcher, R., & Portalupi, J. (2001). Writing workshop: The essential guide. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Jacobson, J. (2010). No more “I’m done!”: Fostering independent writers in the primary grades. Portland, ME: Stenhouse Publishers.