A couple years ago, when my principal first told us she wanted all teachers to start implementing student led conferences (SLC) you could feel the collective invisible eye roll. You know the feeling. We all thought,"Great, another 'new thing' we have to do." Now, years later, all our teachers in K-5 are sold on the benefits of SLCs. Here are some tips and tricks that have worked for us. I've broken it down into three sections:
Why Start Student Led Conferences?
Student buy in- One of the challenges we often face is students' lack of ownership for their work. By tracking data or setting up a portfolio, students start to see that they must be active members in their own learning. I had students who really didn't understand their role in their grades, as if I just randomly assigned grades. It's powerful to see the shift in ownership from teacher to student.
Goal Setting - When students track their data, they can see in a clear and concrete way where they are and where they need to go. For example, when students track their multiplication success, they have a visual of which facts they have accomplished and which facts they need to tackle next. Plus, kids are competitive. If they set a goal, they want to beat it.
Growth Mindset - We talk a lot about what we're proud of and what we need more work in. Talking about data helps kids to see that learning isn't a straight path forward. They start to see that setbacks aren't set in stone and that they can still improve over time.
Parent Communication - I love this one. When the student explains their scores, their successes, their challenges, and their goals, the pressure is taken off of the teacher. They don't accusingly ask "Why is my son getting a D in math?" Now parents look to their child (and sometimes the teacher) and ask "How can I help?" Once again, their is a shift in ownership of learning from teacher to student.
Different Kinds of Student Led Conferences
1. Typical Conference with Student in attendance - When our principal ask/told us to start student led conferences, she wanted us to just start small. She asked us to do our conferences the way we had always done them, except the student must be present. This was the easiest way for teachers to buy into the idea. At that time, we didn't have data notebooks or portfolios, we asked that the student come to the conference and tell their parents what makes them proud at school, and what frustrates them at school. Don't feel like you need to jump in with two feet and be the SLC teacher of the year. Start small and add a little each year.
Benefit: You stay in your comfort zone.
Drawback: Student is a passive participant.
2. Student, Family, Teacher Conference - You set up a conference like you normally would, but the student has an agenda and leads the conference with your guidance. The student has an active role and the teacher has a passive role. This does take more preparation before the conference because you have to teach your students in how to host the conference.
Benefit: Student has an active role in the conference.
Drawback: You have to teach students how to lead.
3. SLC Night - You set up a conference night for 2-3 hours after school and ask families to come. Several families are conferencing with their child around the room. As the teacher, you monitor the room to answer questions or support students.
Benefit: It's completely student centered.
Drawback: Students need to know exactly what they're doing without support.
How To Prepare Students for Student Led Conferences
1. Data notebooks or portfolios - This can feel like the most daunting part of the SLC process. Start with where you're comfortable and add a little bit each quarter or each year. Eventually, you'll want each student to track their Reading, Math, and Science assessments using bar graphs. Most academic programs have an online tracking program. For example, I print the graphs from I-Ready, and stick it in their notebooks. In order to collect enough data, I typically hold student led conferences in the spring.
2. Teach students how to lead - You want to give students an agenda to follow. The agenda aligns with their data notebook. Model for students how to go through the agenda, share data, and share their current goals. Pair students up to practice going over their notebooks. You can also pull students up to a small group table and give them time to practice and ask questions. For some students, leading a conference is easy, while for other students, they will need more support and practice.
3. Designate a time for families - Here are a couple different ways I've seen SLCs run. Each conference style puts the child at the center of the meeting.
Individual family conferences - This follows a typical conference schedule. It's nice because you can give attention to each family, but it requires a lot of scheduling and a lot of your time.
Family Conference Night - This is my favorite type of conference event for fourth and fifth grade. I schedule and evening from 5-7pm where families come when it is most convenient. I greet families and walk around the room while students conduct their conferences. The magic of this has been seeing non-English speaking families communicate comfortably in their own language. Your students need to be proficient with sharing their data and goals.
Rotating Stations - I've seen kindergarten and first grade teachers hold these types of conferences. They schedule a family night. At each station, the student shares their work for that station. The last station is the teacher station. Here, the teacher can show more specific data and academic projections and parents can ask questions.
All the worksheets in these pictures are available in my Teacher's Pay Teacher's store named White's Workshop. Click below to see the entire resource.
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