Conferences - Guiding Kids to Reflect

So in my post on student-led conferences last year, I added one tid bit that made it much better this time around.  I HELPED them with wording to reflect on their thinking.

Here is just a sample of what I encounter yearly...

• What are your strengths and weaknesses in ___ subject? 
• Typical student answers: "fractions,"  "reading"... 
• Are these strengths or weaknesses?  These are way too generic and broad. The best part is when they list a subject as a strength when they're getting a D...really? :/

We need to teach kids the process of reflecting so that they are better able to make decisions for how they will improve.  I always talk about how reflecting allows us to look back at what we do right and what we can change.  The change part is key because without knowing our weaknesses, we will never make a conscious effort to do better.  If we think we're "all that," then we have no further we can climb. 

This is part of the reflection form for each subject area and behavior. I want students to think of what SPECIFICALLY causes them to have strengths or weaknesses in a subject area.  This is where I come in with some ideas and suggestions.  I provide a list of habits or behaviors that lead to either doing well or not.

Overall: (academic)

• pay attention when lesson is being taught
• turn in work on time 
• pace assignment work so it's done with quality rather than rushed work
• organized and neat with notes/materials
• ask help when needing clarification
• pick good partners to work with

Specific Subject Areas - In addition to the "overall" academics, there may be certain behaviors that affect certain subject areas. If so, I note these when we discuss that school subject.  Some examples are below:

• Math behaviors: neat notes/work, know basic times tables, double check work
• Reading behaviors: check for understanding, skipping over multisyllabic words when reading aloud, etc.

Behavior

• listen attentively
• don't get distracted by peers or desk items
• participate in discussions
• honesty/accept responsibility
• helpful
• use time wisely
• follow rules

Homework

• turn it in on time
• use planner to check what is due
• bring materials to and from school

This is just a sample of some behaviors that I discuss as student fill out their reflections.  They are able to put the specific behaviors in either "strength" or "challenge" rather than be too generic and broad.