The areas composition teachers must address when developing a sound system of conferences with students include defining the conference, scheduling, preparing, conducting the conference, and keeping conference records. There are four general kinds of conferences: (1) the diagnostic conference for discussing students' writing experiences and particular strengths; (2) the brainstorming conference for informally exchanging ideas; (3) the detailed critique conference, designed to give students a sense of how they can edit and substantially revise their manuscripts; and (4) the workshop conference, during which students discover options for revising and in turn begin to sense their individual "style" or "voice." Fifteen minutes per conference appears to be a minimal duration for tending to business and making the students feel they have received individualized attention, and holding at least four conferences per term allows use of each of the four conference types. Students and teachers alike must be "primed" for a conference, and both should write down one or two questions or problems to initiate the conference. Regardless of the kind of conference being conducted, certain basic procedures should be observed, including breaking the ice, inviting the student to raise pressing questions, reinforcing the student's strengths, and discussing key concerns about the writing. A good conference recording system is index cards, with biographical information on each student and space to record the "minutes" of each conference. (HTH)