Student-Teacher Writing Conferences Title I Tutor Training January 31, 2012

Teach skills and strategies specific to each student’s needs Give students an immediate audience for their work Ask good open-ended questions to guide student’s critical reflection on writing Purpose of writing conferences

1.Student comments on the draft. 2.Teacher reviews the draft. 3.Teacher responds to student’s comments and writing. 4.Student responds to teacher’s response. 5.Teacher provides students with the next task. Conference Structure

Conference Tips Conferences should be about 15 minutes or less. (use a timer) Give the student an opportunity to share their writing. Ask what they liked about their writing or what they would like assistance with. Allow them time to think about their writing before the conference.

Student Response Card A card created to help scaffold student-teacher conversation during conferences.

Highlight what the student did well. If time permits, read the student’s paper before the conference. State what is unclear and help the student to draw conclusions about their writing. Take advantage of the one-on-one time. Provide a brief explanation of concepts and check for understanding if necessary. Conference Tips

Don’t try to cover everything. Focus on one or two things to work on, taking into account what the student should already know and the recent instruction in class. End with at least one concrete assignment and clear expectations of the expected outcome. Conference Tips

Good Questions to Ask Who is your audience? What are you pleased with? What would you like to change or revise? Did you stay on topic? Do you need to add more vivid vocabulary? Is your grammar correct? Reread to find out. What kind of help would you like from me?

Conference Follow-up Keep notes about each conference in order to remember how to hold the student accountable for work. Can conference with students more than once focusing on something different each time.

Goal is to help students be reflective writers and learn to improve writing independently.