Reflections on Conferences
To make sure the students know that I value what their peers thought about their paper, I always begin each individual conference asking them what their peers thought about their paper. I would recommend telling your students that they need to come to the conference with the two or three things they plan on changing in their paper after listening to their peers. Often times the peers will have noted weakness that I noted as well, so it leads into an easy discussion of that aspect. This also helps them lead the discussion about what needs to change in their paper. The second question I usually ask is what idea in their paper they are most excited about. After that, I often tell them what idea in their paper I found particularly interesting. Many students will need to do major revision on their first paper, so if you can focus on the couple of ideas that are working the best you can usually lead them to a good second draft. By focusing on what is exciting about their paper, rather than what is wrong with their paper, they will also feel much better about the revision process as they strive to make their paper into something better than they could have created on their own. Useful Metaphor: I always compare the revision process to remodeling a home. Some times you need to simply hang decorations, but other times you need to bust down walls. I tell my students that after their conference with me they should expect to bust down walls and put in new staircases.
Adam Rutledge (2011)