Student Led Conferences

Posted by Micky at Monday, March 16, 2015

I switched my teaching schedule around so I could attend the kids’ “Student Led Conferences” at their school. They canceled school so everyone could just focus on the conferences. These were conferences that the kids had been preparing for days. They were excited to show what they had prepared; not the teacher. They had the opportunity to choose what they would share with me, what activities we would do together in their classroom, etc. Each of the kids were so proud of their work, their accomplishments, the things they’d learned, etc. I was so pleased to see more of the teaching methods that they use at the school too. It’s all inquiry based learning, done independently or in small groups. Everything is driven by curiosity. The kids ask a lot of questions about a certain topic first, and then they research the answers. They acknowledge when they learn things that they had not questioned as well. There are no “cookie cutter” ways of presenting their projects either. I’m used to seeing a classroom full of identically completed assignments displayed around the room, even in rooms of older children. So I enjoyed seeing how all of the students, especially my own children, were able to express themselves through the presentation of what they had learned. And I think one of the greatest skills the kids have learned is “reflection,”--how to reflect. For each assignment, large or small, they had written a reflection on how the project/assignment went—what they enjoyed or didn’t enjoy, what they found to be difficult or easy, what questions they still weren’t able to answer, what they would differently or the same next time, how it was working in their group, etc. The teachers also provided parents with suggestions of thoughtful questions we could ask during our child’s presentation to stimulate more reflection: What project are you the most/least proud of and why? What area do you think you struggled with at the beginning of the year but find easier now? Why is it easier now? What do you like/dislike about ______? I was expecting to hear, “I don’t know” with a shrug of their shoulders. But the kids actually had thoughtful answers to share, which I loved. I could tell that the kids loved sharing as they pulled me around the room and said, “Oh, and come see this mom!” It’s rare that they get one on one time in their own classroom with a parent to share what they have learned away from home, for months. I walked away exhausted, but grateful that I had this time with each of them without anyone or anything else calling for my attention.

Here the kids are playing on the playground, killing time before the conferences started.

Rhea's classroom. She read me a book and showed me the painting area. She quickly picked up a paintbrush and paint, and without missing a beat, started painting an American flag. :)

Ms. Kerrise--Rhea loves her!

Thomas has Mr. Aongus this year. It tells you something when your child asks you if we can have his teacher over for dinner. :) Here we are looking at Thomas' portfolio that he had put together.

I love this wall where they kids wrote their questions, "connections," and opinions on a topic they had been learning about. The topic on this board was "Changes in the Earth and its atmosphere impact people's lives." Next to it are pictures that the kids drew of half of themselves to complete their face. Not bad! :)