Here is the key: I offered the option for a ten minute private conference when the parents signed up for a time. One of their main concerns about having student led conferences in this format was, “How are you going to talk with the parents privately and address their questions and concerns?” GREAT QUESTION!!!! My boyfriend, who teaches fourth grade also wondered the same thing and was a **TAD** bit skeptical.
When I talked to my colleagues about this idea of student led conferences, they told me “good luck” and “sounds great” but were not willing to be a guinea pig with me. I didn’t know if 45 minutes was TOO long of a block of time but it turns out it was just right! In fact, I think some of the families could have stayed longer….not one family left early!! The candy was on sale because of Halloween! I made my students promise me that they would visit this station last…the TREATS station! Spending ten dollars at Super Walmart goes a LONG way and is well worth it. Many students also started playing a multiplication math game with their mom/dad!įor social studies, the students were learning about continents and oceans, as part of our landforms unit. The students also demonstrated how we use math manipulatives to master some tricky math concepts- making arrays, perimeter, area, quadrilaterals, ect. The student had a plethora of math projects to show their parents. Students went to our display of anchor charts and “taught” their parents all about our reading workshop mini-lessons. (I was happy to overhear some kids say that they love guided reading!!!) They showed the hard work they accomplished in their reading (thinking about their reading!) and explained our guided reading block of time.
I made sure I was at this center every time a new family got there, so I could review the paperwork.Īt the Reading Station, students showed their parents their book nooks and explained how they went shopping for a “just right” book in our classroom library. Here, the parents picked up their child’s manila folder that included district and classroom assessments, information about their reading level, and other information about how they could help their child at home. Parents were really impressed with some of the rewards that they were able to purchase with their hard earned money! They also explained their debits for bad choices. Students also went into depth explaining our classroom economy and how many credits they earned for good choices and good behavior. The students worked with their parents to create a goal that could be accomplished by the end of the school year. Here, students took a few minutes to share their self-reflection with their parents. The students took out their “self reflection” for the quarter, which was already filled out, and shared with their parents their strengths and areas for improvement. I purposefully chose centers that were hands-on, engaging, and challenging! The students were to be little show offs at the conferences!!! All the stations reflected what we were currently learning about in class for the different subject areas. Students then walked around the room and visited the different stations that were set up. This is what they used as their guide to walk them through the conference and remind them what items to discuss. The students also handed their parents a copy of the agenda for the conference and the students picked up their copy of the agenda. The students moved right onto their “top ten” things that they wanted their parents to learn at conferences.
(ALWAYS start with the positives, no matter what conference style you are having, right?!?). Here was our conference day agenda, which the kids knew like the back of their hand!!Īs the students walked into the classroom, they went straight to their desk…just like I taught them!Īfter I gave a brief 3 minute welcome and explanation about the conference format, the students became the star of the show! They began by talking with their parent (s) and sharing their snapshot of learning. I should not have spent ONE minute worrying…because the kids did AWESOME!!! So impressive to hear them talk about what we are learning in class! I was a little nervous because we did not have the time for an official “dress rehearsal.” I was also nervous that the kiddos would be nervous and clam up for the actual conference. Since our conferences were on Thursday night (and Friday morning- no school day), we just spent Thursday preparing for the conferences.
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