Publication: Learning to Confer

• Harwayne, Shelley

In her book, Writing Through Childhood, Shelley Harwayne set
up a framework to guide teachers in responding to student
writing. Now, with this video, watch Shelley confer with
several children about their writing. Based on the
conference guidelines she explains in her book, the video
follows Shelley as she gently inquires how a student feels
about being asked to write, notices if a student takes
risks as a writer, checks whether a student understands
what writing is for, and ensures (once the above conditions
are in place) that a student has strategies in hand for
improving the work. 

Responding to student writing is an art, not a science.
Knowing exactly what to say in a writing conference is not
obvious. By viewing the conferences on this video, you can
polish your art of conferring and guide your students
through the "stuck" parts of their writing.