ACTION PLAN
What was implemented?
The purpose of my study was to determine if individual conferences during writer’s workshop would increase student achievement in writing. During this study, I implemented individual writing conferences during writer’s workshop each day. Each student was met with at least once a week with the teacher for a conference. Depending on the need, the student was met with more often.
"Can you explain to me why you chose to write this topic?"
"How can I help you be more successful in our writing environment?"
"What skill are you working on today, as a writer?"
How was the research implemented?
There are three different types of conferences that could be conducted within the writer’s workshop, research conferences, expectation conferees, and process and goal conferences. Each conference contained its own purpose. Through the implementation of this study, I had to implement all of these conferences at different times and with different students.
Research Conferences: I had to backtrack with some of my lower leveled writers to understand what held them back as writers. I used research conferences with some students in order to determine their overall ability as writers. I then understood what they were passionate about, how they organized and focused their writing, and common themes they showed when writing. These research conferences gave me more insight on how to help my lower leveled students with the production of writing before focusing on just one targeted skill.
Expectation Conferences: There were also expectation conferences that appeared in this study. These conferences were held with students that struggled to stay on task during writing time and became a distraction to themselves and others. Expectation conferences reminded students of the expectations that I held in the classroom during the writer’s workshop. In my classroom, I had 4 expectations in order to conduct an environment that fostered successful writing. The bathrooms were closed during writing time, the students had to be at a voice level 0, their pencils had to be moving the entire time unless they were in the planning stage, and they had to be in their seats unless there was an emergency. Consistent expectations that were carried out each day set a stable working environment where students were aware that work needed to be done. In my classroom, there were two students that often showed behavior. I foresaw implementing an expectation conference with these students in order to reinforce the requirements and get them accustomed to the environment. These conferences were not only limited to behavior students, but they were also held with any student that was continuously causing a distraction.
Process and Goal Conferences: Lastly, process and goal conferences were the style of conference that I strove to implement with all students once I understood each student as a writer. Process and goal conferences were typically the most effective conferences held throughout the six-week study. Individual conferences were designed to last around 8 minutes in order to meet with each student frequently. For the 8 minutes that I conferenced with a student, I went to their desk, sat at the same level they were at, and began a conversation with the sentence starter, “What skill are you working on today, as a writer today?”.
After the student identified the skill they were working on, a conversation topic had been created. The student and I held a conversation about something they were doing very well with the application of their said skill. Typically, this became highlighted as the strength of their writing. The research stated in my literature review highlighted the importance of positive praise. I always began a conference with what the writer was applying correctly. This created a sense of accomplishment for the writer and pushed for continuation fo that strength throughout future pieces of writing. Then, the student and I would dig into their writing and discuss a skill that needed to be enhanced.
After the identification of a skill that needed work, I had the opportunity to conduct a one-on-one lesson with a student. The teaching moment occurred either through inquiry, telling and showing an example, demonstration, or guided practice. After the teaching, the student went back to edit their writing and show that they understood what I, the teacher, had just explained. Then, the taught skill became the student’s writing goal. The writing goal was used to appropriately challenge a student to strengthen their writing. The next time I met with the student, they referenced this writing goal and we determined if they had applied it correctly and mastered the skill or if they were still working on the correct application.
How was the progress collected?
I created a data recording form that tracked the progress students made regarding their individual writing goals. Each time I met with a student, we filled out a section of the chart that highlighted the strength of their writing. Another section we recorded was the area for their differentiated writing goal. Additionally, the recording sheet had a section that marked when the goal was mastered. This way, when the students mastered a goal and moved to another one, they were able to see the prior goals on which they had worked. This provided the reminder that even though it was not their current goal, it still needed to be in their writing. This sheet stayed with the students throughout the six weeks. This prompted the independence of students to reference the sheet as a reminder of what they needed to accomplish, even when we were not in a conference.
An additional piece of information was collected that showed if students achieved an increase in their overall writing ability. Students were given a pre and post-writing assessment. They took the pretest before instruction of the unit and it was graded with a district-provided rubric. After the unit had concluded and the research had been completed, students completed a CSA (Common Summative Assessment) which served as the writing post-test. This post-test was graded with the same district-provided rubric used to grade the pre-test. The pre and post-test showed the growth students accomplished over the six week period.
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Culturally Responsive Teaching
With the implementation of writing conferences, I created a goal to meet with each student at least once a week. If I would not have met with each student frequently, conferences would lack equity. The students that were below grade level were likely going to be met with more than once a week. This was because they were applying skills that were more frequently used in writing. They were able to practice their assigned goal consistently within one piece of writing. On the other hand, a student above grade level had a more in-depth goal which took more time to apply as it only appeared within their writing a few times throughout the entirety of the story. The variation in meeting frequency showcases both equity and accessibility being fostered for students. Equity was being ensured as each student received the specific support they needed. Accessibility was fostered as content and delivery were differentiated in order to ensure each student to successfully access the content and skills expected of them. When students were not in conferences they still had accessible resources. Rubrics were within each student notebook, charts that were created in the whole group were posted on the board for reference, recording sheets were updated with specific skills, and mentor texts were available for students to use as guides.
A major impact for my study was the accessibility to the conversation. According to the research through my Literature Review, one of the most important aspects of a writer’s conference is to have a mutual conversation with the student; not hold a lecture. This way the writing goal is created by the student and the teacher, simultaneously. I made it a point to show I was open to help the student, not critique and diminish their writing. By the frequent check-ins with students through mutual conversation, having goals accessible on their desks, and the openness to talk about strengths and areas for improvement within their writing, students were able to increase their writing ability.
Writing conferences were conducted in multiple ways. Stated in my literature review, there were multiple perspectives that influenced my instruction during conferences. Every learner comes with different backgrounds and styles of learning. Writing is a subject that allowed for different forms of skill application, it truly depended in the writer. The research I conducted was driven by Lucy Calkins and her workshop model. I was able to learn how to conduct different forms of conferences in order to meet the needs of the specific writer. As I highlighted in my research, students also play a major role in conferencing; it is two-way communication, not a lecture from the teacher. Carl Anderson was a guiding resource for research. He provided insight into the student's role within the conference and how to teach students of this role in order to make conferences the most beneficial. Skills can be taught in multiple perspectives in order to meet different styles of learning among students. The way that one student learns is not the best way another student learns. Martinelli added more insight on guiding prompts and questions which engaged the students. Having multiple perspectives on holding conferences enabled me to reach all learning styles in various manners. When a student had a hard time of understanding, there were many approaches I had available in order to reach the student. Offering different approaches and perspectives to students allowed for more opportunities for student understanding and successful application.
Internal Stakeholders
Collaboration
Literature Coach: This study offered benefits to students and their writing proficiency. A way to further ensure student benefit was to collaborate with other professionals who supported my instruction. One significant internal stakeholder which I collaborated with was the Literacy Coach within my building. She provided me multiple resources for my literature review, which then supported my implementation of best practices within my writing instruction and conferences. She also came into my classroom to model writing conferences. Her modeling afforded me the opportunity to observe, take notes, and ask questions about her techniques, questions, feedback, and structures. Furthermore, she came into my room and observed me conduct writing conferences and offered me great feedback to build upon. She noticed that my conferences were, at times, too long with one student. She gave me insight on how to offer guidance to a student, let them think and apply, then meet with them again that same day. During that time where the student was able to think and apply, another conference was possible with a different writer. The feedback she provided me allowed me to utilize more of my instructional time during conferences. Being conscious of time and implementing this feedback, I was able to meet my goal of meeting with 3-4 students each day during writing time; which then allowed me to meet with each student once a week.
Principal: The principal within my building also came into my classroom and observed me teach writing. After the observation, she gave me great feedback regarding a student in my classroom that often showed behavior during writing. This student had the struggle throughout the year to produce writing and therefore acted out in order to avoid the work. The guidance she provided allowed the student to have a "break chip". Whenever this student felt frustrated during writing, he would use his chip. He would place this chip on my desk which informed me in a non-verbal manner, he needed to cool down. The chip allowed him to take a quick break for the bathroom, to get a drink, or to take a quick walk in the hallway. This cooldown time allowed this student to gather himself and then return to the room, ready to write. The break chip was a huge success and the student did not act out once after the implementation of this chip.
In-school Colleague: There was another teacher within the building I had the opportunity to observe during her writing conferences. This teacher exemplified great skills that were valuable for me to see. She displayed great classroom management, guiding questions to prompt a conversation with students, and the ability to understand the skill that needed to be built upon within a student’s writing. After the observation, we were able to collaborate and discuss her frequently used strategies. She provided me question prompts that I used in order to spark conversation with students. I kept this document with me and referenced it when I was struggled to have my students converse about their writing. She became a teacher I went to often when I had a question about my writing conference format, questions, and goals.
External Stakeholders
CADRE Mentor: My CADRE associate became a great factor in strengthening my implementation of writing conferences. He video recorded many conferences I held with my students. We created a shared folder where he posted videos, which prompted great documents for self-reflection. I was able to learn what part of the conference went well and what part could be strengthened. Moving forward in the study, these videos allowed me to alter conference conversations to ensure students received strong one-on-one instruction.
CADRE Cohort: The CADRE cohort was also great support for my study. There were other teachers within the cohort that researched and implemented writing conferences. These teachers and I were in communication about what we found common in our research and how we implemented the research into writing conferences to best aid our classroom students. A great benefit was using the cohort to determine research gathering methods that were used in our studies. Talking through ideas helped me determine the use of a goal tracker sheet and a pre and post-test. If at any time during my study I needed guidance or was curious about the data being shown, I knew these CADRE members were a great resource to utilize.
In-district Colleague: I had the opportunity to collaborate with a teacher in another school within my district. This teacher invited me into her classroom to observe writing conferences. This teacher was also a second-grade teacher, so I was able to compare my conferences directly to hers, as the content covered was exactly what I had taught. This teacher gave me insight into how they formatted conferences and different strategies they used within the conference. For example, I observed the teacher create a conference with three above grade-level students at one time. When these students were grouped together, the teacher challenged the students with a skill not taught in a second-grade whole group lesson. Additionally, she offered me insight and resources which prompted successful peer conferences held among students. This was a strategy I found extremely intriguing and immediately knew I wanted to be implemented in my classroom. She took her own time to show me how she taught it to students and how she made it most beneficial for student success.