How to implement successful student led conferences
Implementing student led conferences is a great way for your students to showcase their leadership to their parents. I first started doing them six years ago. I have held them two different ways, which I am going to tell you about in this blog post. The two schools I have taught in did them differently. You can see a previous blog post about SLCs here.
Why Student Led?
Holding student led conferences makes the conference less about the teacher telling the caretaker everything and more about the student showcasing themselves to their caretaker. There are a lot of benefits to holding SLCs:
- Leadership: Students thrive when they are given the opportunity to lead. They love to share their learning and what they take pride in.
- Different Point Of View: When I think of conferences, I think of the same thing every time- report card, grades, reading level, etc. However, students may think of something else. They may want to talk about their classroom job, their math review, etc.
- Accountability: Students are held accountable for their learning. They know their learning better than anyone (yes, even better than you!) and can share exactly what they have learned.
- Pride: I have witnessed many shy, quiet students proudly lead their parents around the classroom to show them all the things they have done.
- Parents Enjoy It: Parents like to watch their children proudly show them the different things they have learned. After all, they aren’t with their kids all day at school so they really don’t know everything that they’re doing. This is a way for them to see that.
Sitting Down With Caretakers
Like I mentioned above, there are two different ways that I have held SLCs because the two schools I’ve taught in did them differently. In this blog post, I am going to share about how to do SLCs while you are also sitting down with caretakers. In another post, I will share about ones that are similar to an open house. Both are a great way to hold student led conferences, but you will have to decide what is best for you.
In this type of conference, you will still make a set schedule to meet with families. However, your students will lead the conference. During that conference, students will share their goals, their data binder, classroom successes, and any piece of work they would like to share. Examples of work are: a writing piece, a book they could read after a lot of practice, a great math test, etc. I really encourage them to share something that they are super proud of that they did in that quarter.
Our conferences were 15 minutes long so I would let students share the first 7-10 minutes and then I would wrap it up with data, grades, etc. that I would need to share. My time typically didn’t take long because the students share so much and so well. I always made sure I left a minute or two for questions at the end.
How To Prepare Students
Remember, I teach first grade. I’ve only ever had student led conferences in first grade. So, if you are sitting there thinking that this isn’t possible in your classroom, flip your mindset! It is totally possible! To prepare students, I model just like I would in a lesson. I ask a student to “play” my mom/dad/caretaker (this always gets lots and lots of laughs!). We sit at a table and I model exactly what I expect them to do. Then, students pair off and practice. The next day, I model again with a pretend caretaker. Then, we practice with a buddy from my teammate’s classroom who also did student led conferences. It helped to practice with someone from a different classroom because what we would be sharing wouldn’t be exactly the same.
If you want to see the forms I use, you can check them out here. I’ve included a more detailed “how-to” guide, visual student schedules, data forms, goal sheets, self reflection flip book, thank you cards, data binder sheets {behavior calendars, attendance calendars, mission statement, celebration sheet}, parent surveys, conference reminders, and student reflections.
My biggest piece of advice when starting SLCs is to just go for it! If you want to do it, then rip off the band-aid and go for it. Your kids will love the independence and leadership!
