Writing conferences were held daily during writer’s workshop, specifically during the independent writing portion of the workshop. Conferences lasted anywhere from four to ten minutes. Data was collected over a nine week period from January 30th to April 7th.

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To conduct the conferences, I called four to six students to my guided reading table. The students were asked to write independently until I tapped in front of them. This signaled to the student that it was his or her turn for a writing conference. The student chose a piece of writing (it did not matter what stage of the writing process the piece was in) to share with me. The student read his or her writing to me. As the student was reading, I thought of a compliment to give the student as well as a teaching point to discuss after the student was finished reading. When communicating the teaching point with the student I used mentor texts and also modeled through my own writing. Before the conference was over, I checked for understanding with the student. The student was expected to communicate his or her goal back to me. We also kept track of each student's writing goals on a class poster. Lastly, I kept anecdotal notes during and after each conference.