Response to Lane, Chapter 7

During the spring semester two years ago, I was finishing up my research about creating community in the classroom and how to reach the reluctant writer. I came across several articles and book excerpts that defined the importance of conferencing with students as one way to connect with them and advance their writing. Previously, I had given verbal feedback, but I really relied on the margin comments in red ink. Not surprisingly, students rarely followed through on my suggestions--they were much more interested in their score.

In chapter 7, Lane reiterates the importance of conferencing as a tool for helping students grow in their writing. Some suggestions he gives to improve the effectiveness of conferencing, which I will definitely try, include: let the student speak first to encourage them to talk about their writing; all students to draw their own conclusions about what will improve their piece; as a student talks, take notes because this helps reflect accurately what was said; work with 2-3 students at a time to deflect your need to "fix" the student's writing.

For me, the most interesting suggesting was to encourage the student to speak first during a conference. Perhaps the greatest benefit of this will be that students will feel much more ownership of their work. I'm anxious to see how my students will respond when I try this.