Conferring with Students

Conferring with Students during Narrative Writing
This is always hard for teachers.  They often shy away from it because it can't be planned.  A teacher has no idea what the students are going to say or write about when approaching a student.  I consider myself a decent writer, but still fear conferring with students.  Why?

I attended a conference given by Carl Anderson and it really helped me with conferencing.  When I approach a student, the first question I ask him/her is "What are you working on today?" I can usually get my teaching point from that conversation.  I can tell right away if a student is struggling to even get started.  If that is the case, then I know I need to help spark some ideas of what to write about today.  If a child has begun a piece I like having them explain to me the topic and maybe pick out a part that he/she feels he or she has done the best.  That way I can use this part during our share session at the end of the workshop.  It also starts the conference on a positive note.  

Some questions or ideas to have on your plate as a teacher:

• Did the child use dialogue in his/her piece?
• Did the child focus on one small moment of time? Or is it a list?
• Did the child put his/her inner thoughts?
• Did the child show, not tell?

These are all teaching points that you can work on with a student, especially in narrative writing.  

I like to help a child with the above questions by asking them questions to prompt them or to help them retell the story to recreate that visual.  

I don't usually focus on conventions during a writing conference, unless there is great need.  If I am seeing the same thing happening again and again, then I will bring it up to the child.  For example, if the word "I" continually is not capitalized, I may mention it to the student.  

Below is a video of myself conferring with a third grade student.  After my initial questioning of the student, I realized that this student was having problems finding the "heart" of her story.  She was writing about her grandfather passing away.  She kind of skimmed over the part where her mom told her that her grandfather passed.  I wanted her to expand on this because it is the "heart" of her story.  

Video of Student Conference about Writing