Conferencing

Conferencing by Abigail Garthwait, Librarian, Asa Adams Elementary

"THE GOAL OF EDUCATION IS NOT TO FILL A BUCKET; IT IS TO LIGHT A FIRE."
(unknown)

But lighting a fire under a reluctant student sometimes requires a spark and that spark could be struck during a conferencing session with that student. As educators we continually hear the word "conference." Yet the pictures that come mind may vary.

Webster's Third International defines conference only as a noun: "the act of consulting together usually formally' or 'a meeting for consultation, discussion, or an interchange of opinions whether of individuals or groups." It concludes with the educational slant: "a: an informal meeting for purposes of intensive instruction between a teacher and a student or small group of students." ItÍs interesting that the general meaning of 'conference' indicates formality while the one referring to the teacher/ student interaction lies within the informal realm. Education has melded the dictionary meanings somewhat: a conference between a teacher and student or between two or more students may be either formal or informal, depending on the purpose. So the current educational use reflects more of the interchange idea, with expectations of the student being an active participant in the dialogue as well as a recipient of guidance. Regardless of how purists feel, the word is often used as a verb; "to conference."

In the school setting, the definition of "conferencing" becomes refined. We usually think of a teacher meeting with a student to discuss the student's work. Teachers such as Don Murray (1990), Lucy Calkins (1991) and Nancie Atwell (1987) expand the concept by including dialogue about the processes a student utilizes. They stress that the ultimate responsibility for writing and research remains with the student. Educators should act as guides, not as directors. A conference may also consist of more than one student or more than one adult. It also can be productive if a conference is comprised of students only. Library media specialists will find conferencing a valuable technique in student assessment whether they are looking at needed research skills (see the Research Process in Information Skills Guideline for Maine Educators ) or the level of questions students are asking (see Bloom's taxonomy in Appendix C). The role the adult fills is one primarily of coach. A conference might consist of a few spontaneous sentences following a casual observation or it may be scheduled in advance and last for an hour.

Status-of-the-class is an abbreviated type of conference which may be useful in the library media center. Before the students begin each day's researching, the librarian might quickly call on each student to ask what his or her research strategy is going to be that period. Their plans are jotted down next to the students' names. If it's done regularly this serves several purposes. The very format and timing of these interchanges will become a tool for learning. Students understand that they are expected to have a strategy ready before they begin, thus helping to eliminate aimless wandering. Often students may offer assistance to others. Just by listening, many students learn new searching and analyzing methods via their peers - a valuable source. Educators who use this technique must make clear from the beginning their expectation that students listen and assist others. (It is a natural instinct to focus instead on one's own work while blocking out the class activity.) For younger students the librarian can introduce, by way of paraphrasing, appropriate terminology such as, "It sounds as if you are narrowing your topic." or "You're starting with good key words." "Status-of-the class" conferences should be kept quite short - three minutes for a group or the purposes will be defeated. Questions that require a deeper answer or further reflection need to be asked in a one-to-one situation.

First Step: A simple status-of-the-class procedure may provide the ideal jump start for you if you are interested in adding conferencing to your repertoire of teaching skills. The process is designed to be short but it should give you a beginning point. It provides starting material for individual conferences.

You may wish to utilize the variation called "a conference with yourself" in which a list of questions might be individually addressed instead of conferring with a friend, the teacher or the librarian. Introspection is further explored in the Self-assessment chapter.

A CONFERENCE WITH YOURSELF

Questions to consider asking during a conference or to give the student prior to the conference in order to prepare for it. Please don't start at the top of the list and work down! There are far too many questions and many will not fit your situation. Notice that some are extremely open-ended while others are more specific.

Beginning of Project Questions:

Why is this important to you?
What do you already know about this topic?
How does it relate to your experience?

Middle of Project Questions:

Do you have enough information? Do you have too much information?
Tell me about your research.
Have you come across any barriers? What were they and how do you plan to get around them?
How did you feel when "X" happened?
What questions / comments/ suggestions did your conference partner have?
What questions do you have for me?
What have you learned about researching so far?
Why did you pick this project to illustrate what you've learned in your research?

End of Project Questions:

What part do you like the best, the least why?
What surprised you the most in this process?
How does this compare with other times you have done researching?
What can we do next time to make this a better experience?
What is the most important thing that you are trying to say in your final project?

A formal conference may focus on both content and process of conferences, although not necessarily at the same time. Questions may range from the specific: "What new idea was the most interesting to you? How does it address one of your research questions?" to the reflective: "What process did you use to find this material? If you found nothing, where did you hit a dead end? Let's look at the path again with a fresh idea for new leads." Be sure that you may assist him to see obstacles and next steps more clearly. A conference should be the student's vehicle for learning so allow the student to shoulder the responsibility for drawing conclusions or deciding what to do next. Many teachers expect students to follow up a formal conference with journal writing. This allows further reflection time and a chance for them to articulate what they see as next steps. Responding with margin notes to a few journals a day provides you with a further chance for guidance if actual class time is limited.

A new avenue to consider is conferencing via computer. Although significant research has not been compiled on the topic, the potential is tremendously exciting. Students need not limit feedback to only those within a close physical proximity; they may work with students from a different background or with international experts. An extended conference might take place with e-mail or a real-time conference might be played out in a "chat room" format. There are a number of examples of sharing writing on-line (Wresch, 1991.) Ask-a-Scientist was a project that was designed for fourth graders and undergraduates in the University of Maine's Science Education program. The younger students with inquiry-type questions would begin an e-mail dialog with pre-service science teachers who would not provide a definitive answer but who would in turn ask leading questions, suggest possible resources or indicate illuminating experiments: in essence an on-line conference.

"Conferring well is every bit as challenging as writing well."

Lucy Calkins (1991)

STRATEGIES FOR PRODUCTIVE CONFERENCES

1. Find out who else in your school employs conferences in their daily class routines. Take the time to observe and talk with them. When you are ready to become involved, it is crucial that you find out the conferencing processes already developed in the classroom. If students haven't participated in a conference before, modeling and possibly role-playing are beneficial. Students might be expected to keep a conference journal which provides a vehicle for self-reflection and aids in preparation for research and the conference. Work with the teacher to incorporate such strategies into the project's goals and mini-lessons.

2. It is important to train students if they have never used these techniques before. Modeling and role playing assist the student in learning the right methods; to avoid being judgmental, overly gushy or sarcastic.

3. Expect a student to prepare for the "formal" type conferences. This places her in a position of responsibility for the tone of the conference. This may either be a verbal self-reflection or short notes. Be sure that they know from the beginning what is expected of them. Depending on the manner in which the project has been developed, the timing of the conference or the age of the researchers you may ask the student to:

Use his or her timeline or flowchart to describe the progress made in terms of content and process.
Discuss how information was located, noting a variety of resources and indicating which sources were the most useful and least helpful or hardest to access or understand..
Think about how the focus evolved and how descriptors or keywords were discovered.
What does a good researcher do? What characteristics does a good researcher have? (Nice exit conference questions.)

4. Take care not to overload on conferences. Teacher and student burnout occurs when this strategy is used to extremes. Perhaps plan on only 3 or 4 full length conferences a day and only cover a few points.

5. Be organized about how you will be keeping records of the conferences you do. You may wish to use the assessment tool below. But make the decision ahead of time whether it will be kept in the library, in the classroom or in the student's working portfolios.

6. Don't fall into the trap of thinking that you are the only one who can give a research conference. They can and should take place between student and student. Peer help may be more comfortable and beneficial to some students. Children and young adults can learn to point out or affirm what is right in their friend's work so the writer won't remove parts that work or the researcher wonÍt give up too soon. Encourage a network of expertise in the classroom; post a list in the library media center of students capable and willing to assist others and their special areas of interest. The volunteer coordinator or the principal can serve as a switchboard for hooking students up with outside resources, or other students.

7. When is it a good time in the project to schedule conferences? This depends on the purpose. Conferencing before and during research is formative and guides "next-steps" for both students and the librarian/teacher. Conferences at the end of the project (summative) should be used for:

assessment of students' work
reflections on the teaching on the unit
reflections on the overall learning of the student
evaluation of the resources and programs utilized in the library media center.

8. When the conference seems to have ended, that isn't all there is to it. Observe what happens to the student next; you will receive feedback on your conferencing technique. Do they appear motivated and have a clear action plan?

9. Keep in mind that the goal of conferring is to assist students in becoming independent information users. No matter what assessment method is used: journals, conferencing, checklists, note cards, the time to reflect daily, weekly and monthly should be built in to each project.

Example of a Project Incorporating Conferencing.

CRITERIA FOR INQUIRY RESEARCHING
Score Criteria
5

Questions of substance are developed that go beyond egocentrism or the trivial.
Use of a variety of materials besides the traditional reference sources and beyond the school walls.
Information is well organized as it is collected. (Conferencing along the way helps to assess this concern.)
Extensive use of library and primary sources are used.
Student works productively
Student works to articulate prior knowledge and fit new
information into that schema or works to revise the schema.
No plagiarism
Conferencing and observations show that student uses study aids (table of contents, periodical index, etc.)
Conflicting sources of information are considered.

Questions of substance are developed that go beyond egocentrism or the trivial.
Use of a variety of materials besides the traditional references
Information is well organized as it is collected. (Conferencing along the way helps to assess this concern.)
student works productively
No plagiarism
Student works to articulate prior knowledge and fit new
information into that schema.
conferencing and observations show that student uses study aids (table of contents, periodical index, etc.)
Some assistance needed to utilize more difficult reference works.

Questions are formulated independently
Information is gathered from a variety of sources.
Students appears to have trouble getting started.
Some record is kept (e.g. note cards) of the data collected.
Students is observed using a few study aids.

Questions are developed with minimal educator help
Information gathered and used is from encyclopedias only.
Continual assistance needed to find information and to stay focused and to complete the assignment on time.

Questions are formulated only with educator assistance.
Only a minimal attempt is made in any investigation.
Student is unable to begin without help.
Does not keep new data in any organized fashion.
Ignores what he or she already knows about the topic.

REFERENCES

Atwell, N. (1987). In the middle: Writing, reading, and learning with adolescents. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Calkins, L. M. (1994). Art of teaching writing. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann. Chap. 14
Calkins, L. M. with Harwayne, C. (1991). Living between the lines. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann. Chap. 14
Harlen, W. (1985). Primary Science; Taking the plunge. (ed.) Heineman. Chapter 4.
Murray, D. (1990). Write to learn. Chicago, IL: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.
Tallman, J. (1995). "Connecting writing and research through the I-Search paper: Teaching partnership between the library program and the classroom." Emergency Librarian. 23:1
Tchudi, S. N. & Tchudi, S.J. (1991). The English language arts handbook: Classroom strategies for teachers. Portsmouth, NH: Boynton/Cook.
Wiggins, G. "Class" a workshop given in New Hampshire 11/91.
Wresch, W. (ed.). (1991). The English classroom in the computer age: Thirty lesson plans. Urbana, IL: National Council of Teachers of English.

October 1997
Maine Educational Media Associaton

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