Writing Conferences

Writing conferences are an excellent way to teach and assess writing. My dyad teacher loves them and uses them often. Chapter 9 in Routman was helpful in blending my understanding of of this concept, what I have observed so far and how I will apply it for the benefit of students. The more I learn about assessing, the more concerned I become about having the time to do it well. The benefits of using Whole Class Share as a Venue in Which to Teach really caught my attention because it can address so many things at once. The whole-class share, where one student reads what he/she has written and the rest of the class listens for various elements as instructed by the teacher, keeps everyone's attention because they all have roles. The teacher can assess the audience by their contributions, while assessing the reader's writing at the same time. Another advantage is that everyone gets to learn from each others' comments about others' writing. Their input also keeps students involved which is great for classroom management. I think the Whole Class Share for writing should be used in every grade. It relates to the real world where employers want people to collaborate with each other to improve the quality of the end-product. I am sure it also helps with interpersonal relationships. I look forward to trying it.