Publication Information: Harris, Muriel. (2015). Teaching One-to-One: The Writing Conference. WAC Clearinghouse Landmark Publications in Writing Studies: http://wac.colostate.edu/books/harris/. Originally Published in Print, 1986, by National Council of Teachers of English, Urbana, Illinois. This groundbreaking book offers advice for teachers new to conferencing, experienced teachers seeking to refine or expand their approaches to conferencing, and tutors working in writing centers. Since it was published in 1986, it has become one of the most widely cited books on conferencing. Harris offers a theoretical framework for conference teaching, descriptions of activities typical of and central to writing conferences, advice on diagnostic strategies for individualized instruction, and instructional strategies. Discussions in the book borrow from a wide range of fields, including counseling and therapy, cognitive science, anthropology, and education. In appendices, she includes a set of teaching materials that can be useful in tutor and teacher training.
From Praxis: "The notion that writing is a constantly negotiated activity with no clear-cut right or wrong answers may be a cliché among writing center professionals, but among undergraduate tutors, especially newly hired ones, it can be an earthshaking realization."
The Writing Centres of the University of Waterloo, the University of Guelph, and Wilfrid Laurier University in Ontario, Canada, collaborated on the production of this online and publicly-available writing resource, www.WriteOnline.ca. Taking a WID approach, the website introduces students to writing three assignment genres -- a lab report, a case study report, and a reflective essay -- through descriptive text, models, and interactive activities.
From Praxis: "The warm glow of a computer screen can never replace face-to-face training courses, workshops, or advice from colleagues. But electronic training resources can be engaging supplements; they give us perspectives from outside the walls of our own centers, and they let us move at our own pace through training activities."