Student Led Conferences 10/17/16

Student led conferences are approaching quickly in 2 1/2 weeks on November 3rd. Please take a look at this article & examples of her 3rd grade classroom's goal setting in writing (this easily transfers to ALL SUBJECTS) from the blog Two Writing Teachers.

Betsy Hubbard explains the steps she took to get the students owning their own goals, how she supports and holds them accountable. What I like most about Hubbard's article is how she had to build goal setting conversations into their everyday routines to be impactful. Make sure you read to the end "Steps 6-7" and her "Next steps to think about..." to gain the most insight into her journey. With a system in place like this, student led conferences will go smoothly because our scholars will be used to discussing their growth, goals and plans to improve.

Feb. 8, 2016

This week I have spoken to many of you about student led conferences. As a reminder, one goal of our Portrait of a Graduate is to grow self­-regulated learners. One way we do that is through goal setting, data collection, reflection and student led conferences. I have found several videos that I wanted to share. These videos are just a glimpse into conversations but are by no means an expectation. I thought by sharing these videos, it will help you process and prompt conversations within your teams.

Here is an example of a kindergarten student sharing his goal notebook and data. The powerful point to me was when the family wrote a goal with their child. Promoting teamwork helps bring awareness and responsibility for the parents too.

This video is a teacher that actually walks the parents through “what to expect” at the student led conference. If the student and parents watched this at the beginning of their
conference, they would know exactly what to do ALONG with a personal touch from YOU!

Jan. 25, 2016

STUDENT LED CONFERENCES

As we are approaching the two half days in February, I know many of you have started brainstorming how your conferences will "look". Since we are all at different levels of implementation of this process, I thought it would be important to review the "why" behind this process and provide some helpful resources.

As we work towards our students becoming “self-regulated leaners”, it is important that we help students have a VOICE as they reflect on their progress through self evaluation. (I realize this process is led by you in the classroom prior to the conferences.) I truly believe this process leads to more student responsibility to help drive their academic progress. The purpose of these conferences is to allow students to highlight their progress and discuss with their parent a plan to reach their next goal.

I have placed a folder called Student-Led-Conference Resources in your grade level PLC folder. You will find two resources that have some great ideas and examples regardless of your grade level. I would like to highlight three things you might find beneficial:

1) parent communication examples to explain the purpose of the conferences

2) a form that allows a parent to write questions or concerns that they have PRIOR to the conference

3) student self evaluations of “Work Habits” and “Social Skills”

To see the resources shared by Tona in last week's staff newsletter, click here. Also, Irene also shared this article with me from a teacher named Melissa Kozerski about her journey of implementing student-led-conferences. Thank you, Irene!!

Please do not get caught up in the details of specific numbers of “student led conferences” required. Focus on the value and impact these conferences will have on your classroom. I would love to brainstorm with you!

January 5, 2015

     As I begin 2015, I am rested and feel thankful for many things. One thing I am thankful for is the opportunity that I can take a deep breathe and REFOCUS on the goals (personal and professional) that I need/want to grow in. Continue to read this article to see how we can pass that REFOCUS onto our students as well.  (click on link)

HELP STUDENTS START THE NEW YEAR RIGHT!

Try these strategies and tactics to help students get off to a good start for the second half of the school year.