Minimalist Approaches | Hands-On Approaches | Additional Resources
Why Conference?
One of the benefits of conferencing with students is that it often takes less time than providing full, written feedback on a set of draft essays. Even more important, 10-15 minutes spent discussing the paper at an early stage of the process can often prevent future misunderstandings about your expectations, goals, and/or the assignment. Students also enjoy the individual attention to their written work – they can ask questions of you and express their intended meanings.
A writing conference about a single paper typically lasts between 15 and 30 minutes. In that time frame, it is impossible to cover every aspect of the student’s work. Even if it were, studies suggest that writers have difficulty taking in too many revision suggestions at any one time. Therefore, choosing a few (2-4) main topics for your conference is a good idea. You might address one or two overarching issues (e.g., the breadth of the claim statement, treatment of evidence, organization) and another more mechanical issue (e.g., word choices, sentence patterns, use of prepositions).
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Minimalist Approaches
A lot of advice to writing tutors/coaches suggests that a “minimalist” approach – guiding rather than editing – respects the student’s autonomy as an author. In fact, putting the pen back in the student’s hand is a useful exercise – if a student writes down the results of your conversation, she/he will be more likely to remember it than if you do the writing. This approach to conferencing emphasizes asking students about their intentions and rhetorical choices. The drawback is that students often expect us to have all the answers and may become frustrated by a “hands-off” approach. Here are some ways to help make such an approach effective.
- > Ask students to begin the conference by explaining their thesis or controlling idea. Use this conversational opening to explore what you found in reading the essay. (Did the student express in writing what she/he just said aloud?)
- > Ask students to set the agenda for the conference. What do they want to talk about? What are they proud of in the essay? What are they still improving?
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Hands-On Approaches
Many writers benefit from specific, detailed editing (on a word-by-word level). This approach to conferencing requires the faculty member to set the agenda for the conference – providing lots of feedback in both written and oral forms. Students often appreciate the intense discussion of their work, but they may become overwhelmed by the number of topics or suggestions presented to them all at once.
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> Consider asking students to complete a brief pre- and/or post-conference worksheet. Questions might include: What did you do well in this essay? What is your revision plan? What questions do you still have?
- > Work on revising a single sentence or paragraph with the student. Work together to write several versions of a claim statement. The opportunity to collaborate with you in this way can help students understand (and commit themselves to) the revision process.
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Additional Resources
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