Conducting Student Led Conferences

A few weeks ago we had our second round of conferences for the school year.  I've blogged before about how I prepare for and conduct my parent conferences, but at my school our spring conferences are a little different.  They are student-led and conducted in more of an open house style.  Here's how they work:

Scheduling

For my traditional conferences, I schedule each family for a 15 minute time slot.  For student-led conferences I schedule two families to a 30 minute time slot.  I let families know that these times are more flexible, and don't kick them out right at 30 minutes, although most families stay for about 20.  At any given moment, there are as many as four families in the classroom at a time.  It actually makes scheduling WAY easier than traditional conferences.  (In past years, if I had a student who I know had a particularly tricky conversation ahead of him or her--behavior issues, etc, I'd be sure to schedule him or her for a time without other families and shut the door for that conference.)

Preparing the Kids
In order for student led conferences to be successful, it is so important that the kids are prepared.  I'm talking seriously well-rehearsed.  I start by having them fill out the same Conference Report I do for all conferences, as well as updating their MAP goal setting sheets.  (Both are explained in more detail in this post.)

In addition, I have the kids organize several items to put in a construction paper portfolio.  Here's what we included this year:

I give the kids a copy of this checklist, and we put them in the front of each folder.  Then comes the fun part--rehearsal!  I choose a student to help me model a conference for the class.  The two of us sit together with the rest of the class gathered around.  Then, I pretend I'm the student and the student is my parent.  :)  The kids love this, obv.  I model using the checklist to help me explain each piece in my folder.  Then, I have the student model with me pretending to be the parent.  Once we have explicitly demonstrated what to do, I have the kids find a partner or two partners to practice a conference with.  I have the kids practice twice at MINIMUM, meanwhile circulating and make sure the kids know everything from what to say to how to page through their folders without getting papers EVERYWHERE.  (You know the disorganized darlings I'm talking about!  God love em!)

Setup

Before leaving school on Conferences Day, I have the kids clean extensively.  Then, they put their folders out on their desks, including their writing notebooks and a book they are currently reading.  Last, we set up a "science station" with materials from recent science labs.  This is a favorite part for kids--getting to demonstrate our experiments and show off their science knowledge for their families!

Conference Day

Conference day is actually relaxing and wonderful in comparison to the nonstop go go go of traditional conferences.  I greet families when they come in, let them know that their child is in charge of leading the conference, and invite them to sit down and get started.  I typically let the kids facilitate the beginning of the conference on their own before popping over to add my 2 cents and answer any questions.  For some students and families, a quick check in is all that is needed, where with other families I will sit with them for longer periods of time to discuss their child's progress.  It's great to have this flexibility. 

After the kids finish the checklists in their folders, I invite them to take time to show parents anything around the room they wish to share, and to take their time before heading out.  The kids love this chance to play tour guide and show off.  :)

Thoughts on Student Led Conferences

I had a lot of anxiety about running conferences like this my first year teaching, but after getting the hang of them, I love them.  We only do conferences like this in winter--fall conferences are a traditional format where I meet with each family one at a time for 15 minutes.  By winter, I think the students are ready for this.  Even the little ones!  Our 1/2 teachers successfully run student led conferences too.  Even though this is a long day, I always find it rewarding and fun.  It's great to check in with families and share student growth and goals, but it's also amazing to see the kids take OWNERSHIP over their progress and share it with their parents!  So exciting to see my little babies feel proud and confident in front of their families.

Do you do Student Led Conferences?  Any tips?

How to Survive Parent Conferences

Don't forget to enter my Endorphin Warrior Bracelet giveaway before it ends Saturday!

After I mentioned my marathon day of conferences last week, one of my awesome readers asked to hear more about how I manage parent conferences.  Here's how I make it through what amounts to a looooong day:

First, after scheduling my conferences, I send home a confirmation slip two weeks before our conference and another reminder the day before.  While parent involvement isn't as big of an issue at my current school as at my previous school, I still want parents to have plenty of reminders just in case!  Also, in the week leading up to conferences, I try to take some time to reflect on each of my students' strengths and goals, both academically and behaviorally.  Even though we obviously know these things about our students, I find that in the whirlwind day of conferences, important things slip my mind if I don't have them written down.  So, I type up brief notes of a quick strength or goal for each child that I'd like to share and have the notes at hand on conference day.  I don't look at them during a conference typically, but will glance at them during the odd open time slot to refresh my memory.  Sometimes just the act of typing the notes up is enough to get everything to the forefront of my brain!

My notes for conferences

During the week of conferences, I start putting together my student folders that I'll share with parents.  One of the things I share in these folders is my students' MAP scores and goals.  The week leading up to conferences, I briefly sit down with each of my students and conference with them about their MAP scores and things they would like to improve on in reading and math.  I record their goals on a goal setting sheet and we graph their current scores on a bar graph.

MAP Goal Setting Worksheet

I also have students fill out a self-reflection about their work habits, social learning, and listening skills.  I record my own thoughts as well and place this sheet in the front of the kiddos' folders to share first thing.

Self-Reflection

With the reflection, I ask the kids to choose something they're proud of and something they're working on to share with their parents at the beginning of their conference.  Our conferences are student-attended, which I LOVE.  I think it is SO important to have the kids involved in these important conversations.  Anyways, we talk briefly about behavior and work habits (homework completion, etc.), before diving into academics.

I next share MAP scores with parents, explaining the score, the percentile, and the growth goals.  I have students explain some of their strengths and goals from our goal setting sheet.  To give a little more information about reading levels, I also share the students' current instructional Fountas & Pinnell level.  One of my teammates had the brilliantly simple suggestion of sharing a Fountas & Pinnell grade level range breakdown with parents to give them a context for all of this information.  I circled the student's current level, starred the end of the year grade level goal, and gave the sheet to parents to take home.  I will include an instructional level on report cards, so this way parents will be able to keep track.

Reading Instructional Levels Guide

Next, I share some kind of math artifact, usually our most recent test or quiz and a current math grade.  I also share any reading common assessments or other reading and math artifacts.  Finally, my favorite thing to share is a writing sample from the very beginning of the school year as well as a published writing piece so parents can see their child's writing growth already this year.  It's always amazing to see the huge difference several weeks can make!

To recap, here's a list of what's in their folders:

• Self-reflection on work habits and behavior
• MAP scores and goal setting sheet
• Fountas & Pinnell instructional level and breakdown sheet
• Math artifact and current grade
• Other common assessments
• Writing sample from beginning of the year
• Published writing piece (or writing journal if I don't have one yet)

On the day of conferences, I set myself up at my conference table with a few items.  I organize my student folders in order of their conference time in my file crate and keep it on a chair next to me.  On the floor underneath I keep a little box of essentials including kleenex, chapstick, mints, shine control powder (it's a looong day, people), lipgloss, and most importantly a full water bottle.  I don't know about you guys, but I get seriously dehydrated after talking ALL DAY LONG at conferences!!!

I  have never had a time that I really needed to get out of an uncomfortable conference, but my first year my mentor suggested to me that just in case I post a list of conference times outside the door and ask parents to knock lightly at their scheduled time if I am currently inside with the door closed.  I typically find that I usually only need 10 minutes for "easy" students, and that the 15 minutes I schedule is more than enough time.  If I know I'm going to have a conference that requires a little more time, I try to leave an empty slot in my schedule before the next conference, because some conversations really need some extra time!

Honestly, even though the day is hella long, I don't really mind it.  I love sharing students' amazing growth with parents, and with the students too!  It's always pretty wonderful.  And as far as trickier conferences go, I find that having the students there is super important.  I can honestly say I have seen differences in some of my trickiest students after having discussions with the kids and their parents together at conferences.  

What tips do you have for surviving parent conferences?

6+ hours of conferences = SLEEPY TEACHER!

Hi guys!  Man, it just seems like lately I only have time/energy to blog on the weekends!  Today was a LOOOONG day of parent conferences, and I am still recovering!  Just wanted to let you know I'm still alive and haven't died of malnutrition from my new temporary vegan diet. :)  I have a LOT to catch up on here and am hoping to get to it this weekend!

Things I must blog about:

• Big changes to my guided reading this year
• Anchor charts (aka Miss Teacher loves any excuse to whip out the Mr. Sketch smelly markers)
• Fall Color 5K Race Recap & upcoming races
• My first vegan week!  (Well, ALMOST vegan...I did have a few, "ahh I forgot to read the ingredient label and just ate a little milk chocolate!" moments...oh well!)
• Parent conferences

I promise even though I haven't been commenting on blogs much these days, I still read all of your lovely blogs in my google reader!  One of these days I'm going to have my act back together and find some sort of teaching/life balance again...won't that be nice? :)

Until then, it's off to eat another vegan pumpkin bar  get some much needed sleep!!!!

Dear Mr. Principal,

Mr. Principal.  Please, for the love of god, give us a break.

No, I'm serious.  Here's the thing.  We're all doing the best we can.  And while I know that you do know this in theory, it certainly doesn't feel like it these days.  Your list of demands and "requests" (aka demands coated in a frosting of "please," "thank you," "would you mind...," and "why don't you try...") needs to stop growing, or we are going to lost it.

Yes, I am preparing for the ISAT tests.  I am sucking the life out of my students and myself with every test prep packet, but I am following your directions.  I'm doing what you ask.  And while it's true that there will be no surprises on test day for my kids, there will also likely be no energy left.  And it still won't go back in time and force my kids' parents to read to them when they were little.  It still won't help my undiagnosed ADD kids with uncooperative parents keep their brains on topic through a 2 hour test.  It still won't help my emotionally distressed students with difficult home lives focus on something so meaningless.  But I promise, I'm doing my best.

Yes, I will have my kids ready for conferences.  It didn't help that you and others in the building decided that conferences day would be a great day to hold a school-wide reading event that involved every teacher preparing published pieces of their students' writing.  It wasn't fun staying late at school to laminate book covers and bind books.  And while the finished products are amazing, it was a lot of stress during a trying time.  Don't worry, I will still make time to rehearse with the students so they are ready to "lead" conferences as you've requested.  Don't worry, I will gather my "data" and be prepared to share it.  Don't worry.  It will all get done.  But know that I will need to take class time to get the students ready for conferences.  And that means less time for test prep.  And literacy.  And writing.  And everything else you'd like me to squeeze in the day.

Yes, I will have my report cards ready to go in a few weeks.  I know it's not you that chooses to make report cards due right before testing and right after conferences.  I understand that sometimes you are as powerless as I am.  But please listen when I say that I already know comments have to be specific and detailed; there is no need to remind us of that these coming weeks.

Yes, I am filling out RTI.  And even though I am wondering why the special services teachers are not helping me more with this, or why I am always the one setting up the meetings on these kids and not the specialists that see them daily for the interventions these meetings evaluate, but I smile and bite my lip and do it anyways because I care about the kids too much to wait for someone else to pick up the ball.  Oh and also, THANK YOU for asking me if I'm planning on meeting to finish the RTI form for my student who MOVED to a different school in district.  Sure.  Why not.  I'll take time to continue meeting about him even though he is no longer my student.  Add it to the list.

Oh, and Mr. Principal, THANK YOU for adding to all of the stress that you've already created by deciding to email the non-tenured teachers today to just let us know that you will be popping in for an unannounced observation in the next few weeks.  Of course, I would be happy to submit detailed lesson plans in every subject to you so you are able to choose a time to observe...Of course, I will be flexible and make sure every subject is stellar so that, since you have decided not to tell us the subject you are observing in advance, I feel confident in every area "just in case."  And after the observation, I will be happy to smile and nod as we discuss the 100 other "suggestions" of things I could be making time for in my day.  When in reality, we barely have time to teach period with all of the other hoops we are all jumping through.

Mr. Principal, I know you support me.  I know you care about me.  But please, please, please give us all a break.  Acknowledge that we are doing our best.  And please don't ask us for anything else right now.  Have mercy.

Sincerely,
Miss Teacher

Updates from Teacherville

• Made it through conferences (5 families didn't show up...i will never understand how a parent cannot be bothered to come to school and discuss his or her child's progress.  seriously.)
• Enjoyed a quiet Friday morning at school getting plans done and copies made
• Saw Waiting for Superman--don't worry, this deserves its own blogpost...we'll save that for another time...
• Looking forward to a relaxing weekend with NO GRADING!!!!!!!
• Excited to spending the day babysitting and watching the blackhawks :)

Happy Weekend!

'twas the night before conferences

Tomorrow is PARENT CONFERENCES.  Yikes!!!  Ours are early in the year because we view them as a mid-term conference.  I like that idea, because it doesn't really make sense to wait until the end of the grading period to discuss the students' progress.  I am very much looking forward to having some conversations with a few parents, I have to say...  Also, I am excited to share some studnets' positive achievements with parents.  Honestly, as scary as conferences can be, I enjoy them for the most part.  There is nothing quite like sitting down with a student and his or her parents and telling them how much you are enjoying having him or her in class.

A little nervous about my crazy scary parent....keep your fingers crossed that I don't flip out if/when she gives me a hard time! :)

Does this make me look 12?

Oh dear.  My one and only goal for the night was to go to bed by 10.  It's 10:24.  EPIC FAIL.  I started off on the right track, I swear...I tore myself away from House Hunters on HGTV by 9:45 and headed upstairs to start getting ready for bed.  Brushed my teeth, washed my face, etc. etc. etc...then, I went into my closet to change into jammies.  That's when everything went downhill...

It started off innocently enough..."I should pick out something to wear tomorrow...Hmmm...*browses clothes that are plentiful yet never seem to match/fit the occassion/fit the weather/are what I want to wear...* What to wear..."  I proceeded to pull items off hangers and hold them up against each other for a good 15 minutes.  See, normally picking out clothes isn't that big of a deal.  Sure, when I have extra time that I should be using for sleep (like tonight...), I tend to over analyze and enjoy rooting around in my closet in an attempt to put together a marginally nice outfit.  But most days I can pick something out pretty quickly.  Who am I trying to impress anyways, the kids?

Well, this week is a different story.  It is PARENT CONFERENCE WEEK (ahhh!!!).  That means I will be on display for 24 sets of parents/family members.  It also means that I better not look 12.  See, all teachers end up under the scrutinity of well-meaning parents on conference days.  But 23 year old teachers have an added challenge: attempt to look old enough to BE a qualified teacher so that when you're talking about their children, the parents don't wonder if YOUR parents know where you are at this time of night.  This is a problem for any 23 year old teacher, but if you're a 23 year old teacher who happens to look about 19 on a GOOD day, and about 16 when wearing a ponytail, things can get a little tricky....this leads to much time spent trying to put together the "right outfit."

It all comes down to, "What kind of teacher do I want to look like?"

• Do I want to be "professional teacher" in dress pants, a formal-looking button down, and heels?  
• Or maybe "trendy workplace teacher" in a pencil skirt, dress top, and chunky trendy necklace?
• What about "cutesy teacher" in a polka dot top and plain skirt?
• Then there's "functional teacher" in pants, flats, and a sweater, because the reality of conferences is that I will be nonstop talking with parents until 8pm and better be comfortable?
• Or I could be "stereotype teacher" in a cardigan, denim skirt, and some sort of cutesy accessory? (no, I have no apple pins, but the cardigans are a basic staple in my wardrobe...am i already THAT TEACHER??)

The list goes on... Well, as conferences aren't until Thursday, I have some more time to give this dilemma some thought.  I only started thinking about it tonight because I do have one conference tomorrow morning for a parent who couldn't attend Thursday's marathon conferencearama.  In any case, I have 5 outfits pulled from my closet to mix and match as needed this week.  I will keep you posted on which teacher I "show up as" Thursday.

And in the spirit of not looking 12 for my first conference tomorrow morning, I better head to bed so I have time to shower and straighten my hair tomorrow...Nothing says professional like a dirty ponytail with scraggly bangs bobby-pinned all over... :)

A few of the options...

Conferences, Round 2

Today was one of those rare days that, against all odds, turns out happy.  It definitely didn't start that way though!  First, I woke up at 3am from a horrible, cold-sweats nightmare about today's parent conferences (seriously that bad!!), then woke up 50 minutes after my alarm went off.  Normally I would just throw my hair in a ponytail, grab something clean, and make my way out the door, but what with those pesky conferences I figured I should at least try to not show up smelly and looking like a 12 year old.  Thanks to a resourceful method of holding the blow dryer in one hand and eating pancakes with the other (I promise I'm not making this up), I somehow was ready to go CLOSE to my planned leaving time.  Of course I did notice halfway through the hair drying that there was definitely still some conditioner in my hair (note to self: quick showers are only effective when hair is properly rinsed), but what can you do.  THEN, as I'm getting ready to go, I poured my coffee and it tasted TERRIBLE.  Not sure what's wrong with my coffeemaker, but this just will not do.  After all this, I finally made it to school with 20 minutes to spare before my morning conference.  Phew.

Anyways, after all that the morning went well with the kiddos.  We reviewed expectations for the student-led conferences and rearranged the desks into "conference corners."  Yes, after all my moaning and groaning, I decided I might as well embrace the student-led conference format my school uses.  This meant that I had two families at a time in the room for most conferences, and floated between them.  The kids walked their families through their MAP test scores, trimester goals, and work portfolios.  I added my 2 cents and answered questions, but they were mostly running the show.  It wasn't as weird as I expected to have two conferences going on at once, but I don't know how any teacher would do more than 2!  Some had 4 conferences at once!  That just seems excessive...

Anyways.  Conferences went amazingly well (minus the phone call I received at 8am from a parent whose son brought home the reminder notice the previous evening and had somehow not brought home any of the previous reminders I'd sent so she hadn't known to take off work...my, we have SO very much to discuss at his conference...).  By the end of the (long) evening, I was left not so much with a feeling of exhaustion, but with a feeling of pride.  I've spent hours and hours lately agonizing about these stupid ISATs.  All these practice tests and writing prompts have left me feeling LESS prepared somehow, and mostly just feeling disappointed in myself and my students. 

But today, looking at those MAP scores and work samples, and reflecting about their growth so far this year, I realized, maybe for the first time, that they have grown.  tremendously.  It was amazing to see how excited the kids were to share their work with their parents, and really rewarding to be reminded how far they've come.  Yes, there were a few conferences where all the news wasn't so positive, but there were no real surprises for the parents.  As exhausting as conferences are, there is something really special about hours of telling parents all the wonderful things about their child--and really meaning it.  I teach for moments like this. 

oh what a day

My current stresses: ISATs, conferences, kids who don't turn in their work, kids who turn in crap work, kids who lose their work and have to start over...and over...and over, ISATs, having to bring treats for the teacher's lounge tomorrow, ISATs, the pile of papers I need to grade, oh did I mention ISATs...

What made me smile today: free books from the book room (woohoo!), birthday student bringing pizza and cupcakes for the class, the kids semi-comprehending our crazy hard reading this week about politics, and when my water bottle spilled and one of the kids jumped up, ran to get a paper towel, and helped me mop it up as though it were the natural thing to do...

Yikes, this teaching business is sure something...but I have to say, I think I'm gonna stick with it a little while...

parent conferences--check!

This past week was one of the longest, most exhausting ones so far this year. I was at school every day for at least 12 hours preparing preparing for conferences in addition to my regular thousand and a half things to do. But, miraculously, I made it through the week and all my conferences (minus one to be made up Monday and two that will happen over the phone next week). Conferences were not too scary. We had both the parents and the student at the conferences, which I loved. I got to discuss my concerns, but it was more of a conversation between all of us. When I showed examples of the poor quality of work I was receiving from some students, the parent got to talk to the student about it right then. I'm hoping that this will result in some changes in certain students next week. *fingers crossed* Most of the parents were completely supportive and even the ones who I had to discuss some issues with were on the same page as me. How refreshing. One parent commented that she hasn't been getting anything sent home that I'd actually graded, but honestly that is her child's fault because he is so freaking disorganized that nothing seems to make it home. I cannot go home with him and place it neatly on the table for mom to see. I'm doing what I can.

Anyways, now that conferences are done, the next big looming event in the future is...REPORT CARDS. They are still over a month away, but I know that they will be here before I know it. So...I guess I need to teach some science and social studies! Slap some points on things, get a grade in the grade book, etc. Yikes.

On that note, it's off to starbucks to grade papers and write lesson plans...

drumroll, please...

...I think I actually enjoyed teaching this week!

Aside from being sick this week, things went very well, and I finally feel like I have figured some things out! I guess I should clarify: I am still making things up as I go along and 90% of the time I am confused, but a lot of things are feeling better. For example, shared reading went really well this week. Maybe it was because I was so interested in the topic, or maybe it's because we have gotten into a good routine, but things just felt better. Easier, more relaxed, and more, well, successful. So yay!

There are still a million things I'm figuring out, and everyday another thing gets added. For example, at my postobservation meeting with the principal, he asked how I'm helping my tier 3 (lowest) kids in preparation for boosting ISAT scores. My response: ummm....
And now that we're switching for math, I have to start getting into a whole new routine with my new math class. But, I feel less lost than I did a few weeks ago. I haven't cried lately, and I've enjoyed some things at school. I feel like I've been building a good rapport with most of my students, and am continuing to work on getting to know each one separately (which is hard--I am constantly thinking about which students I am neglecting or letting fall through the cracks, and I feel terrible about this). Things are getting better. Thank goodness.

In other news, Parent conferences are this week: yikes!! I'm terrified...

On that note, I better get back to my grading. But first, here're a few more words to teach by:

A child is not a vessle to be filled, but a lamp to be lit.
Hebrew proverb

my 1st observation, or, "shooting for the stars in literacy" ;)

Today was my first time being observed by my principal--oh the excitement. I am one of the most anxious people on the planet (ok, exaggerating a little, but only a little) and really tend to freak out before things like this. However, this morning I was able to calm down, remembering that my WORST teaching happens when I am nervous (flashbacks to the lesson I taught when I interviewed here! yikes...). Thankfully, the lesson went really great. The kids were on task (maybe the principal should observe every day?), they participated, and we had a great time. And, MOST exciting for me was that the kids FINALLY got interested in the subject matter!
Our reading theme for the week is space (my favorite!!!!), and Monday when I introduced it, I asked the kids who thought they might want to be an astronaut when they grew up. Guess how many hands shot into the air?

ZERO.

That's right, zero. I had to practically hold back my tears! I would have spent a MONTH on space, reading and writing about it, but thanks to my friendly literacy series, I must test and move on every week. :-/ Anyways, so my big goal was for them to get at least a little interested in space by the end of the week. Today I think I got my proof--some of them seemed to think the whole idea was pretty cool! Not sure if I have any budding Aldrins or Armstrongs, but I still have another 8 months to pound it into their heads. :)

Anyways, back to the observation. I managed to stay calm and was pleased with how it went. Even my challenging little buddy stayed on task and participated (our MORNING was great today, the end of the day unraveled...). When he left after the observation, he even left a note on my desk telling me I did a great job and that I have definitely built a relationship with my kids. Maybe he's not regretting hiring me after all...well, not yet. Maybe after ISATs...

Well, I made it through another week. Now I have to frantically get some more grades in the gradebook and get ready for conferences next week! I am literally petrified of parent conferences. I know that for the most part I don't have scary parents, but still...I hate that, "You're so young!" stare and "But, do you have children yourself? So, you don't understand, do you" comment... oh well.