Paola Dalmonech
CPB 011.3957 – Reflective Practice Seminar II
Prof.Frias
November 11, 2009
Journal #5
Understanding teacher – student conferences
The writing conference is at the heart of teaching writing and is the core of the
writing workshop. The writing conference is a one-on-one strategy that takes place
between the student writer and the teacher. Conferring is perhaps the best opportunity for
direct and immediate teaching of the complex processes and skills involved in writing.
Individual conferences generally are short, about five to ten minutes, and occur while the
other students are involved in their own independent writing projects.
This morning when I went to my Internship school, I observed my mentor teacher
while she was conferring with a couple of students about their writing pieces. She told me
she always tries to have one conference with every student at least once a week. The
teacher-student conferences that I observed today occurred after a brief focus lesson that
launched the writing workshop, in which students were working individually on writing
projects. Mrs. Perlas reminded the students to ensure that their writing compositions
present any type of problem, and consequently, a solution to that particular problem they
picked. In fact, last week I remember she taught to the class this objective by
demonstrating her own story in which there was a girl whose parents were busy all day
and couldn’t take care of her. Therefore, she felt lonely and that was the problem. The
solution to it was that she found a good friend who kept her company every afternoon…
Hence, the students, who had already a draft to look at, began to read it again and check
if everything was in the right place.
While students were working on their individual writing projects, the teacher
roamed with a clipboard and a conference checklist, conferring briefly with as many
students as possible. She sat on the chair next to her desk and pulled out a student. The
teacher asked her, "Tell me about your writing in a couple of sentences. What is your
piece about?" The teacher was observing and listening carefully to understand what the
child was trying to do as a writer. In this case, the pupil showed the teacher what her first,
next, and finally parts were about. She then entered into a natural conversation with the
student, asking her in what phase of the writing process she is. For instance, this student
was revising because her draft was done. Next, the teacher had the child tell her what she
is planning to do, whether revising or publishing. Eventually, the teacher wanted to know
if she needed some help with a particular section of her writing.
At the end of the student’s talking, the teacher told her what she understood,
asked questions about what she didn't understand, asked for more information or detail
about something that piqued the teacher’s curiosity, or posed other probing questions
about the student's writing. My mentor teacher told me that one of the primary purposes
of the writing conference is to help students take a deeper look at their writing and ask
themselves questions such as, "What else do I want or need to say?" "What can I add?"
"Does this make sense?" "How can I change this to make it better?" and "What kinds of
questions will the reader ask?" Teachers, listening and asking questions during individual
conferences, help students look at their own writing with a critical eye while also helping
them begin to ask themselves these kinds` of questions.
What Ms. Perlas emphasized was that it is really important to listen to the student.
On the other hand, it is critical that students learn not to interrupt a conference that is
taking place. My mentor teacher explained me that in this period she is trying to make the
student talk most of the time without providing him or her with guided practice. Perhaps
the most important goal of teaching writing is to create independent writers. "Real"
writers are constantly asking themselves questions—such as the ones above-about their
writing and looking for ways to make it more meaningful, accurate, and clear.
I think conferences can be a powerful tool to begin to understand students as
writers and guide them to an understanding of themselves as writers. Mrs. Perlas pointed
out the fact that as you listen to the students talk about themselves as writers and about
the pieces of writing they are working on, you begin to get a sense of where you want
each student to go from here in his or her writing. Of course, previous conferences and
your overall knowledge of the student will help you provide feedback that will move the
student forward. Additionally, writing conferences are especially useful in tracking a
student's progress within a particular writing project because they ensure that students are
following through on writing projects to completion and engaging in the entire writing
process, which will naturally make students better writers.