Conferring

Deb Gaby said this to me last week:

Conferring is the heartbeat of workshop.

I have to agree. Conferring is the way we gauge if our instruction is effective. It is the way we figure out what the writers in our classrooms need next. Without conferring we lose the pulse of workshop. Without conferring, workshop is dead.

Tomorrow, Wednesday, and Thursday Deb and I are working with three different groups of teachers, digging into the basics of writing workshop. These sessions will focus on minilessons and conferring. Then on Friday I’ll be with a school in Missouri. Again, we will be thinking about conferring. The following week Deb and I will be working with another group of teachers focusing on conferring. A few days later, I’ll be working with a school in Illinois. Once again, we will be zooming in on conferring.

Conferring is the heartbeat of workshop. I’m grateful for the upcoming opportunities to share my passion about conferring. Next to becoming a teacher who writes, conferring is one of the best ways to hone our skills as teachers of writers.