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Mandy Flora, RESA 3
New Teacher Mentor & School Improvement Coordinator resa3tools.com

• Determine WHY you might have a Student-
Led Conference
• Define WHAT a Student-Led Conference is
• Look at examples & resources
• Think through BIG ROCKS of your Student-
Led Conference
• Decide how to communicate plans to school team
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• You’ve experienced student motivation problems this year
• Are concerned about student behavior and parental investment
• Have trouble with students taking ownership for their work
• Parent-Teacher conferences are less than
80% attended
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• Priority-Transition
• <10% attendance for
Parent-Teacher
Conferences
• Negative parent experiences
• 98% Free & Reduced
Lunch
• tinyurl.com/gesslc
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Student led conferences reflect the belief that students should be actively involved in their learning and assume responsibility for the learning process. Through a student led conference, students become more motivated, reflective and evaluative. They also become more critical in their approach to learning.
Joshua Edson, Principal, Kent Phoenix Academy
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Traditional
• Teacher Driven
• Short time frame-little time for conversations
• Focus tends to be on social and emotional rather than academic
• Fragmented
• Teacher vs. Parent
• Opportunities to connect with teacher
Student-Led
• Student Driven
• Longer time-conversation based
• High accountability
• Opportunities for goal setting
• Samples of work
• Student-parent-teacher as team
• Opportunities to connect with whole school
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Activity:
• table discussion about implementing student-led conferences
• list:
Likely Benefits Potential Pitfalls
• chart/report out
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Opens up communication between school and home
Practices real-life skills: communication, organization, leadership, goal-setting
Teaches self-evaluation & selfreflection skills
Focuses on learning
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Goal setting process has buy-in for all involved
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Easier scheduling- easily accommodates late arrivals, walk-ins
Provides quality time between parent and child
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Less stress on teacher during conference days
Accommodates parents who do not speak English
Students are at the center of the conference
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• Time of year
• Overall organizational plan – facilitators, drop-ins, set up, demos
• Structure- how many to hold at a time
• Scheduling process
• Parent notification process
• Preparation of teachers
• Preparation of students
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Before the conference….
1. Begin with student goal setting
2. Prepare samples of student work to show evidence of growth and goal progress (data notebooks and portfolio).
3. Notify parents well in advance of the conferences.
4. Provide opportunities for students to practice
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(1) Goal setting
• Identify strengths and challenges based upon data… WESTEST/SBAC,
Benchmarks, Grades, classroom assessment and performance, behavior, attendance, inventories, self assessments, parent assessment, teacher assessment, etc.
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(1) Goal setting
 Set goals with the grade level standards in mind ...
Reading, Writing, Mathematics,
Science, Social Studies
 Design a plan of action… student responsibilities, teacher responsibilities, parent responsibilities
 Decide on evidence to be included in portfolio, and from data notebook… the what shows progress toward achieving goals
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(2) Prepare samples of student work to show evidence of growth and goal progress
(portfolio).
 Include baseline evidence
• Benchmarks
• Classroom Assessment
• Writing Assessments
• Inventories/Self Assessments
 Have students organize their work with a table of contents
 Have students to explain and reflect upon their choices(post-its or note cards)
• I put this in my portfolio because…
• I feel good about this piece because…
• If I did this piece again, I would improve it by…
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(3) Notify parents well in advance of the conference .
 Send home a letter explaining the conference format and why it is being used…
• Why are you having student led conferences?
• How will the conferences be different?
• If necessary, when can parents talk to you without the student?
• When and where will the conference be held?
 Develop parent conferencing questions to guide parents through the process…..
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(4 ) Provide opportunities for students to practice….
 Model the process
• Teacher to teacher
• Teacher to teacher assistant
 With students, develop a checklist describing student role
 Organize student to student practice sessions
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1.
Introduction (1 minute)
2.
Orientation (2 minutes)
3.
Students Achievement Data (5 minutes)
4.
Students Goals (3 minutes)
5.
Action Plan (5 minutes)
6.
Students Work (10 minutes)
7.
Debriefing (2 minutes)
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Student Example
While we look at my work, please notice these things:
• Subject goal ________
• Steps I will take to reach goal
1.
_____________
2.
_____________
3.
_____________
• How parents can help me reach the goal
_____
• Plan to monitor progress _______
• These are the things I do well ______
• These are the things I am working on ______
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1. Student thank you letter to parent
2. Student reflection survey
3. Parent questionnaire/evaluation
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Survey:
• What did you like about the student led conference?
• How did you feel during the conference?
• What didn’t you like about the conference?
• If you could change the conference to make it better, what would you do?
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Survey
• Which conference (traditional or student-led) gave you a better appreciation of…
– What your child was learning?
– What your child studied in class?
– Your child’s study habits such as finishing assignments and handing work in on time?
• What could be done to improve student-led conferences?
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• Students and teachers willing to take risks
• Teachers willing to step aside
• Focusing in on student achievement-
Next Gen Standards and their accomplishment
• Committing to the process
• Learning
• Preparing
• Practicing
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• First time jitters
• Uncertainty of sharing control with students
• Need to adopt a student-centered philosophy
• Organizing the logistics of conferences
• Responding to families who don’t participate
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Unsuccessful Students Had:
• Very short horizons
• Believed their lives were in the hands of fate
• Had no idea where they were going academically or personally
Successful Students Had:
• A vision for their future
• Goals
• Believed in their own selfefficacy
• Saw multiple options in their lives
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Student benefits:
• Accountability for their learning
• Students learn to evaluate their own progress
• Students gain greater commitment to school work and learning
• Builds self confidence and self-esteem
• Encourages student/parent communication
• Builds communication and critical thinking skills
• Places responsibility on the student and parent
• Allows students to become involved
• Puts students in charge of their learning
• Time allowed to share and celebrate in learning environment
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Parent benefits:
• Increases the amount of information given to a parent
• Learn more about their child’s learning and skills
• An opportunity to help their child set positive goals
• Active participant in their child’s learning
• First language communication
• Eliminates standing in line for a conference
• Allows for more time in their child’s learning environment to see what the child has worked on over a period of time
• First hand opportunity to see their child in charge of the learning process
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Teacher benefits:
• Less stress on teachers, very relaxed atmosphere
• Less confrontational (more positive)
• Places responsibility on the student and parent
• Increased parent participation
• An opportunity to see students in a leadership role
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• Start small!
• Choose only 3-4 areas to focus on/showcase as a school, allow flexibility for classroom teachers within school goals
• Have a dress-rehearsal: enlist support staff, community members, and/or county leaders
• Keep traditional parent-teacher conference dates
• Stick to 80% parent-attendance goal, 100% studentconferencing with adult expectation
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S2TRxd1ozmk
• tinyurl.com/gesslc
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• Answer the Guiding Questions first
• Get to work!
IDEAS:
-design PPT to share with colleagues
-decide what each conference must include
-put together a sample student portfolio contents
-write conference checklist
• Feel free to use the internet or binder resources to aid in your planning
• Be prepared to share!
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