A Brief Introduction to Peer Conferencing

1. A Brief Introduction to Peer Conferencing What it is, why it’s important, and how to do it.

2. What is peer conferencing? • Peer conferencing is an opportunity to get structured writing feedback from a second reader. • Peer conferencing gives you the opportunity to look at your writing through a new lens, provided by your reader. • This feedback will help you in improving your work.

3. Why peer conference? • Reflect on the strengths and weaknesses of our own writing before asking for help • See our writing through a new lens • Develop a critical eye by reading the work of others • Build a writing community centered on feedback and trust

4. The Writer’s Memo • Letter format • Discuss strengths of paper first • Tell your reader exactly where you’d like help • Thank your reader for taking the time to read your work • Sign your name

5. Sample Writer’s Memo Dear Eric, Thanks for reading my paper. My essay’s structure is really strong—my topic sentences are solid and support my thesis really well. However, I need help incorporating more textual evidence to make my argument stronger, especially in paragraph 3. If you could help me figure out where would be good to integrate quotes and other textual references, I’d really appreciate it. --Erin

6. How to Be an Effective Reader • Read writer’s memo thoroughly before beginning. • When reading, concentrate on the writer’s areas of concern as indicated in the memo. • Address patterns of mechanical errors in your final writer’s memo response. • After reading and commenting in the margins, summarize your feedback in a response letter on the same sheet as the writer’s memo. Return to the writer.

7. Sample Response to Writer’s Memo Erin, I see what you mean about your essay’s structure; your thesis statement is really supported by your topic sentences. For textual evidence, I would pick one specific scene in the book that fits what you’re talking about. For example, in paragraph 3 when you say that your relationship with your parents is better than Anna’s relationship with her parents, find a scene from the book that really shows Anna and her parents not getting along. Describe the scene and use a quote that illustrates your idea. Remember to explain the quote so that a reader can see why it proves your idea. Also, I didn’t mark it on the paper, but make sure you check your spelling before handing in your final paper—I saw a couple of errors. I hope this helps! --Eric

8. Let’s Begin!