Writing Conferences

My only concern with having writing conferences in a typical ELA classroom in a public school is that there might be not enough time to spend as much time I'd like on writing conferences because there is a list of things that teachers are required to teach in ELA class for the year.  Despite the time limit, however, I think it is important to let the students be exposed to writing conference experiences at least because writing conferences can do multiple things like it did to me.  I had my first writing conference when I was a freshman in college.  The professor who held these writing conferences for us still remains as my favorite English teacher till today because he helped to spark my interest in studying English--reading and especially writing.  He helped me see and realize what first drafts are supposed to look like, how revising should be done, and how revising is different from editing, and what I need to pay attention to when I am revising to prevent both mistakes that most people make and mistakes that I personally tend to make.  He also allowed me many opportunities to look at writings of different levels through peer-review sessions and helped me develop the skills to distinguish "good" writing from "bad" writing.  I am glad that I had this professor in my freshman year, and I am also appreciative that I got to experience such a living model of a productively and effectively run writing conference before it's too late because I know and can envision what  a good writing conference should look like for my own classroom.