Composing Conversations:
Implementing Writing Conferences in High School
Talking one-on-one with
students about their work is
one of the most effective
instructional techniques a
teacher can use. Conversations
encourage the reflection and
feedback that educators know is
essential to student learning.
With traditional written
comments, frustration can be
two-fold; teachers are frustrated
when students simply look at the
grade on the paper and then
shove it into a notebook or folder,
while students who do read the
comments are often confused by the
teachers’ notes and repeat the same errors
without ever developing strategies for
improvement. Sitting down together to talk
about the writers’ strengths and weaknesses
helps both students and teachers focus on
the students’ continued growth as writers.
Process Conferences
Conference with students at any time
during the process of their writing.
Pre-writing conferences, for example, can
help students focus and refine their ideas
before they begin writing. Teachers can
suggest alternatives that may prevent
frustration in later stages. On the other
hand, drafting conferences can help
students focus on elaboration and analysis
of examples.
All students may not need to conference
at the same stage. Conferencing with
different students at different points of their
writing processes helps teachers manage
time and individualize instruction as well.
Students can select the time of their
conferences or the teacher can assign
conferences to target student needs.
Because they feel that the teacher input
comes before the final product, students
often appreciate process conferences and
feel less threatened by the feedback.
However, students may need to be
encouraged to take the conference
seriously and bring their best first efforts
to the conference for refinement, rather
than waiting for the teacher to tell them
what to do.
Grading Conferences
Try grading students’ papers aloud, with the students taking
notes on your comments. Make no written comments or
marks on the paper; you can make holistic written comments
at the end or let the students’ notes be the record of your
assessment. As you read the work, discuss your impressions
with the student. Hearing the paper aloud, interwoven with
your questions, may help students see areas of confusion,
while witnessing your metacognition will help students
understand your expectations. Moreover, by listening to the
students’ responses to your comments or reviewing their
notes, you may find out which comments have been
understood and which aspects still confuse students.
Post-Grading Conferences
Meet with students to discuss comments and suggestions that
you made while grading their papers. After papers have been
returned and students have reviewed them, have students ask
questions about areas of confusion, summarize their overall
conclusions about the biggest areas of concern, and make
plans for improving those areas in future assignments. Like
the grading conference, these conversations can help both
students and teachers recognize which comments make sense
to students and can allow for additional clarification of
other points.
Revision Conferences
Focus on the possibilities of revising completed papers. In
addition to discussing students’ questions and confusions about
the comments on the paper (as in the post-grading conference),
logistics of the revision can be considered: What should the
primary focus of the revision be? Will (and how will) the
students mark or annotate changes so that you can more easily
identify the revisions? How might the revision change the
students’ grades (replacing the original, averaging with the
original, adding a certain number of points, etc)? A written
“contract,” signed by both the teacher and the students, might
help clarify these issues and keep the students focused on
content revision instead of editing changes.
Portfolio Conferences
At the end of a quarter or any unit, sit down with students
to review collections of their work. The students can prepare for
the conferences by identifying pieces that illustrate growth
throughout the unit, perhaps even focusing on one area of
development, such as supporting details or analysis of ideas.
At the end of the conferences, students and teacher together
can evaluate progress and then identify the next steps for the
students, setting goals for future assignments.
Prepare for the conferences.
Tips for Successful
Writing Conferences
Set manageable goals
• Instead of trying to conference with all 150 students on each
paper, try to identify one class or group of students per
assignment (or per stage in a longer process assignment) for
focused help. Rotate groups so that each student has some
individual conference time each semester.
• Keep conferences brief. Help students maintain focus on
the most important areas for improvement during the
conference, rather than trying to discuss every possible
revision.
• Discuss content and organization with the students. If you
respond as a reader to the students’ ideas and styles, rather
than as a proofreader to their mistakes, students may be
more likely to try alternatives you suggest, rather than
just correcting errors.
• If you do notice substantial grammatical or mechanical
problems, you might address them briefly at the end of the
conferences and/or suggest that the students come back for
help with the grammar at another time, after the content has
been revised.
Listen to the writer.
• Establish a friendly tone for the conference by beginning
with a quick personal question for the students. Anything
from “How are you doing?” to “Did you enjoy the game last
night?” reminds students that you care about them and
their growth – not just about their performance on the
compositions you will discuss.
• Encourage students to lead the discussion. This can help you
understand better the students’ confusion and questions
about the papers. Students also respond well in conferences
when they feel that their concerns and efforts are respected.
• Offer alternatives and suggestions when possible, rather
than commands or directives.
• Try not to hold a pen or pencil yourself – let students take
notes. Students can internalize the information, and teachers
will have time to reflect on the focus of the conference.
• At the end of the conference, ask students to review the
notes which they have taken. Make sure the students share
your understanding of the conferences and of their strengths
and weaknesses in the compositions.
• Let student notes with teacher’s initials serve as records of
the conferences for accountability purposes.
• In some cases, you may read or review the papers before
the conferences; however in others, you may want the
conferences to be your first interaction with the
students’ work.
• Help the students understand your expectations for the
conference time. Having students prepare a list of questions
in advance makes them more focused and gives the conferences a place to start based on the students’ concerns. Help
guide them to look at content rather than just editing
concerns.
• If conferences are held during class time, have thoughtful
and worthwhile activities to keep other students on-task
while you meet in individual conferences. Focused group
activities often work well; the entire class does not need to
be silent while you talk with one student. Make sure all
students understand and respect your time with the writers.
• If conferences are held outside of class time, perhaps before
or after school or during lunch, set up a realistic schedule
for students and yourself to meet. Having a sign-up sheet
helps everyone (students and teacher) keep up with the
appointments and the time allotted for each conference.
Let students know in advance the consequences of missing
their scheduled conference times.
Keep records.
• Since it is easy for students and teachers to forget or
misunderstand what was said, keep written records of the
conferences (teacher and/or student notes). As students
revise the composition or work on the next paper, they can
review the notes from the conferences. As you assess the
students’ progress, you can use the conference notes to see
if the students have focused on the skills that you discussed
together.
• For accountability purposes, make sure students keep
comments attached to their work. If the conference resulted
in a grade, be sure to write your notes down before the
students leave with the conference records.
• Make sure both teachers and students initial the notes,
indicating common understanding of the conference
discussion.
A simple chart like the one below may help students
come to the conference more prepared and may serve
as a record of the discussion.
Pre-Conference Notes:
Questions I have…
Notes from the Conference:
We discussed…
Content: main idea, supporting
details, reasons, examples,
organization, coherence, etc.
Language: style, transitions,
mechanics, grammar, etc.
Student: _________ Teacher:__________ Date: ________