Conferring – moving writers

April 9, 2021April 8, 2021Michael Ziegler

What Happens to Feedback When Conferring Gets Organized

Providing feedback that builds on conferring conversations can be a game changer…if you start keeping track of your conversations with writers!

April 7, 2021April 7, 2021Aishwarya M

Redefining Productivity for ELLs in the Writing Workshop

I kept trying to get better at giving students more independent writing time and ensure I conferred with every student every day. Yet, my ELLs continued to struggle in both their language proficiency and productivity. They wrote the least number of pieces every year.

March 16, 2021March 16, 2021Kristin Bond

Talking to Teachers: Finding Time to ‘Write Beside Them’ and Confer (in an IB Classroom) (during a pandemic)

This is a follow-up conversation with Matt Foss, the IB Language and Literature teacher from the American Community School of Abu Dhabi. I spoke with Matt in a previous post where he focused on three main topics: (1) writing beside his students, (2) how remote learning has shifted how he confers, and his goal of […]

March 12, 2021March 13, 2021Michael Ziegler

Turning the Page on Writing Conferences…with Reading Conferences

Some thoughts on why I always establish reading conferring in order to prepare students to confer about writing.

March 11, 2021March 12, 2021hattiemaguire

Conferring With Writers Who Don’t Know They’re Writers

I have not always identified as a writer. As a child, I was an aspiring writer for sure–I was going to be the next Ann M. Martin….but make it historical. Maybe Babysitters in Bonnets? I’ll admit it needed workshopping. Somewhere in high school, though, I shifted and I became an incredibly efficient student of writing–not […]

March 8, 2021March 7, 2021Starian Porchia

An Open Letter to Teachers (and those who love them)

Dear (overly tested subject) teacher, How are you? February in Texas was a rough ride. And, I’ve been thinking about how to support you. I’ve been thinking about the most meaningful thing to write about this month every day to add to the writing resources and ideas for supporting teachers of writing and writers themselves. […]

March 3, 2021March 4, 2021Aishwarya M

5 Ways in which Writing Conferences must Differ for ELLs

As I endeavored to practice what I learned, I found that conferences with a few of my students were more difficult than the most difficult examples in the books. I was stumped by blank stares and students who said, “I don’t understand what you’re saying,” or “Ok, but what should I do now?”

February 20, 2021February 19, 2021Rebekah O'Dell

Talking Through it All: Conferring Through the Toughest Year

Conferring with students about their reading and writing is one of those things I never feel like I will completely master. There will always be new ideas for simplifying, streamlining the process + making those conversations even more productive for students. Especially this year. Fortunately, Hattie + Mike love this stuff + are sharing ideas […]

February 12, 2021February 11, 2021Michael Ziegler

The Conference That Will Change Their Life*

Conferring with writers about their next English class is as important as those writing conferences you love having with them–here’s some ideas for how to make them effective.

February 11, 2021February 10, 2021hattiemaguire

Conferring in a Sea of Black Boxes

In late January, I learned my second semester virtual AP English Language class would have 45 students. We are doing both hybrid and virtual and some students switched at the semester, so, naturally, things got a little wonky. It’s since shrunk to the oh-so-manageable 42, and, to be fair, my hybrid classes are teeny, so […]