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.

What a Week! Cheers to November!

So this past week was conference week.  MAN, AM I TIRED!!!  We got today off, so you better believe I slept in.  But when you have to teach all week (full days) and then conference until 8pm multiple days in a row, it can drain you.  (I would also throw in my current state of pregnancy doesn't help, but I've really been feeling fine.)  It's different when I think of things to work on and end up working until 8pm because I choose to; but there's something about back to back meetings and 12 hour days that can just get to you.  On my first day, I only had a 20 minute lunch break in between two conferences and had to chow down fast.

So anyway, my student led conferences went really well.  I posted how I ran them here.  92% of my appointments showed, which is great!  I would say my most successful conference was also my most difficult parent.  Have you ever had one of those parents that is more difficult to work with than the kid?  Who am I kidding.  Do I have to ask?  Yeah, the one that doesn't support you from the get go, believes everything the lying kid says (who, by the way, is smart enough to know this and manipulates the adults in his life to pit them against each other), and claims to want the kid to be accountable, but they give in every time.  That's the conference I asked my principal to sit in on with me not because I couldn't handle her myself, but because I wanted the conference time to be focused and have his support.  Anyway, the kid's lies were all out there, miscommunication/more lies he told them at home surfaced, and samples of his lack of effort were unveiled. among other things.  Parent even apologized to me for pitting herself against me and believing every word her kid said before asking me, etc.  I also turned around the anger she felt towards her kid by showing her what he is capable of and giving her suggestions on how we/kid could move forward.  We discussed two goals the kid can focus on this quarter, and what we (home & school) can each specifically do to ensure we help him this next quarter.  I also sent a follow-up email detailing this information so it's clear.  Phew!!! How long will this support last throughout the year?  Who knows, but I'll take it as it comes.  :)

We also finished our first read aloud for the year, The Witches, by Roald Dahl.  I love this book!  I make the Grand High Witch voice when she speaks, which makes the students laugh, and I always stop at the worst times (which is when something is about to happen).  It was a perfect ending time for the book because we were able to watch the movie before Halloween to compare and contrast the book and movie.  Anyway, this year, I decided to do something different with my read aloud time.  Listening AND comprehending is a skill and I don't necessarily like them drawing or working on other things, tuning in only when they want to.  So I created these listening response questions that students answer after each read aloud (or whenever I have time for them to respond).  Here are some student samples below:

Conference Season

So it is conference season now.  It's a busy time of year with report cards, comments, and preparing for meetings with my students' families.  I have been trying out Student-Led Conferences for the past couple of years now.  Overall, it has turned out well and I'm pretty sure there are some things that I need to tweak, but I thought I'd note some things I've been doing.

Here's a quick glimpse into how I plan to have students guide their parents this year:

Agenda Guide: