Writer to Writer: How to Conference Young Authors

As a former editor who became a teacher late in life, I was miserable at conferencing. All I could do was point out mistakes and things that need to be revised. No wonder my kids didn't enjoy writing! The one line from Dr. Thomason's book that jumped out at me was "The editor's job is to improve the writing; the teacher's job is to improve the writer." That says it all. His book is easy to read--I read it in about 3 hours, then wrote a summary of it for my colleagues. Lots of practical advice...how to conference, how to start peer conferencing, how to get them to self-conference. Another valuable piece of advice from the author: Don't praise the writer, praise the writing. Always find something to praise, even in poor writing.

Writer to Writer is an easy "read", one that allows busy teachers to pick it up, read a chapter and come away with a practical and effective strategy to use with student writers. The strategies suggested by Dr. Thomason are designed to help turn a classroom into a writing community and go beyond improving a piece of writing to developing the writer in each child. He is a writer who truly understands not only the writing process, but the challenges for teachers and students in today's classrooms.

Dr.Thomason's book Writer to Writer allows any teacher the freedom to take the writing process one step further in their classroom. We had the luxury of bringing Dr. Thomason to our district as a consultant and I was convinced that he alone, initiated our teacher's to be risk takers and allow their children the opportunity to express their thoughts freely and without failure. I recommend this book to any teacher struggling with implementing the writing process in their classroom.