Romano says "talk is essential in a writing class. Writers need to share their writing and hear others...talk about it with interest, asking genuine questions it has raised." As a future teacher, I think that this book has been such a help with ideas on how to teach students. Romano also discusses how important it is for teachers and students to talk one-on-one in order for students to properly learn and be engaged with their work.
This article I found talks about some ideas and crucial topics on conferencing with your students. I liked this article because it gives you many tips of advice before you meet with your students. For example, establishing a good relationship, reassuring anxious students and elaborating on written comments you have written on papers and assignments.
All through high school I was never really required to conference with my teachers. We were always encouraged to meet during lunch or after school but of course like every other high school teen I never thought I needed the help. When I got to college, every single one of my English classes required a conference to discuss our upcoming paper or project. No matter what, conferencing with my professors was always beneficial, there was never a time that I wasn't given some kind of advice or tip to help better my work.
Shelby, I'm glad you've found conferencing useful in college. I found that I really like meeting with students individually once or twice a semester. It's harder to do with high school students because secondary teachers don't really get office hours and high school students have to give up lunch or come after hours to meet with them. If they can find a way to make conferencing work (like during independent work or while students are working on projects), I think it's really valuable.
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