Hows it Going?

Written By: Carl Anderson

Presented By: Meredith Clark, Devon Dudash, Lauren Ring

In the first part of the conversation:Invite the student to set an agenda for the conferenceGet on a line of thinking about the student’s writing work by asking research questions and reading the student’s writingDecide what to teach the student

In the second part of the conversation:Give the student critical feedbackTeach the studentNudge the student to have-a-goLink the conference to the student’s independent work

That nudge students to say more

That grow out of our knowledge of what good writers do

About students’ writing strategies

That come from what we already know about students

Connected to our mini-lessons

About a student’s decisions

“Could you saw more about that?”

“What do you mean by…”

“Could you explain what you mean by…”

“Have you planned out your draft?”

“What’s the focus of your piece?”

“What kinds of revisions have you made?”

“How are you going to do this work?

“What strategies are you going to use to do this work?”

“How are you planning to get started with your draft?”

“Have you done some of the revision work you tried in your last piece?”

“How did you pick the idea for your draft this time?”

“Have you tried out what we talked about today in the mini-lesson?”

“Remember how we talked yesterday in the mini-lesson about revision strategies? Have you used any of them to help you revise?”

“Why did you pick these places to add-on?”

“Why did you decide to structure your draft this way?”

“Why did you repeat this line several times?”

In the first part of the conversation:Set agenda for the conference by describing her writing workRespond to her teacher’s research questions by describing her writing work more deeply

In the second part of the conversation:Listen carefully to the teacher’s feedback and teachingAsk questions to clarify and deepen her understanding of the teacher’s feedback and teachingHave-a-go with what the teacher taught him/herCommit to trying what the teacher taught him/her after the conference