If you are looking for a better way to communicate what you need to students, consider creating student-led conferences. A student-led conference allows the teacher to be less the ‘sage on the stage’ and more the ‘guide on the side.’ With this arrangement, students often open up as they lead their peers through the required assignments and can often discover strengths they didn’t know they had.
Table of Contents
- What is a Student-Led Conference?
- Student-Led Conference Templates
- Example Binders
- Student Led Conference Scripts
- Student-Led Conference Benefits
- How to Prepare for Student-Led Conferences
- What is the Importance of Student-Led Conferences?
- How-to Guide of Student Led Conferencing
- Some others things you will want to do to prepare can include:
- Ideas and Inspiration
- Student Lead Conference Inspiration
- Sources
- FAQs
What is a Student-Led Conference?
A student-led conference in one in which the student leads the discussion about their progress and work, rather than the teacher taking the lead. It is most successful when the teacher takes the role of “coach” or “mentor” without being so authoritative regarding the conferences.
Teacher-Focused vs. Student-Focused
In the past, everything has been teacher-oriented. The teacher started the class, introduced the subject, asked questions, and proceeded through the conference as the guide. Nowadays, however, it is more popular (and effective), to allow capable students to take the lead not only on their classroom discussions on books and other topics, but also during Parent/Teacher conferences.
By giving the student a chance to be center stage, you can inspire students to improve their skills, learn to lead a group who can use them as a mentor, and even inspire other students to aspire to do the same.
One School Who Has it Right
One example of the student-led conference is being done by Wildwood IB World Magnet School in Chicago, Illinois. They do a great job of allowing students to take charge of their Parent/Teacher conference with their parents. Kids get to choose what they are going to show their parents too, so it may inspire them to work harder with their work so that it will be the best quality.
This beats the previous way of doing conferences when teachers pulled some of the “best” samples of student work to show parents for Parent night, which may have not been the best sampling of work to illustrate their learning.
Delaware Ridge Elementary School in Kansas City, KS, illustrates how they even allow Kindergarten children to lead their conference by keeping it simple and allowing them to share things they are proud of with their parent. They often begin with a song or dramatic skit to introduce their body of work.
What is the Goal?
The goal of student-led conferences is to allow the student to shine and help kids and parents to see the reality of their work samples to reveal the strengths and weaknesses of a student and plot a course for improvement.
While a 5-year-old child in Kindergarten doesn’t think as abstractly about their learning as a high school student, it’s still a great way to get them started with metacognition and learn at an early age to take a leadership role in their learning and their future, rather than just a passive one where the teacher starts everything.
Student-Led Conference Templates
There are a number of student led conference templates and ideas that you can check out to see which ones might fit what you want to achieve. Some schools use a specific design or poster setup that focuses on the subject matter that the conference will be about. In the above example, The Teaching Channel shows how kids focus on certain subjects to show their progress in that area then pin their work up on poster boards to display their strengths and weaknesses.
This tells parents not only what kids are good at but also where they need to focus their work more directly to improve.
Teach Simple has a great newsletter template that younger students could use to send out notices to their parents when conference time is near. The forms in these templates are editable, making it easy to customize the message they want to send home to their parents to invite them to the parent/teacher conference.
This one has a Superhero theme that middle school grades love. There is a different one for each month, too, to make it more timely.
Example Binders
One teacher (Mr. Riedl), uses example binders that include a nice template teachers can use to stay on track. It includes the following sections:
Welcome to my Student Led Conference
What I’m Learning in Class
How I’m Performing and Staying Organized
My Test Results and Goals for the Rest of the Year
Conclusion and thanks to parents for their participation
Student Led Conference Scripts
Student-led conference scripts are used for students to follow who need specific direction as to what they should say as they go through the conference. It usually begins by reading the paragraphs that the students have written regarding their progress. This should be in the student’s voice without too much of their teacher’s help so that the student builds confidence in preparing for the conference on their own.
Scripts can be as simple or as complex as necessary for the student to follow as a crutch. But they can get away from the script if they feel confident to do so.
Student-Led Conference Benefits
The benefits of student-led conferences are numerous including the following:
Students gain the confidence to discuss their progress and learn to look forward to their future.
Parents and students become the focus of the meeting, rather than the teacher, removing much of the stigma of parents feeling that they are not involved in their child’s educational process
The child may work harder to make their work presentable since they know their parent will see it, thereby increasing their quality of work
Students will improve their presentation skills by doing it on a regular basis and making it better each time.
The parent/teacher community is improved by bringing members of the community closer to the schools during the conferencing process.
How to Prepare for Student-Led Conferences
To prepare for a student-led conference, here are a few tips based on successful schools that have implemented these things before their parent-teacher conferences.
Tip 1: Inform the students
Inform the students that they will be holding their own conferences this year.
Tip 2: Once the gasps have stopped
Explain that you will help them get ready, give them a pre-scripted template as a guide to go by, and give them time to polish their work before the conference night.
Tip 3: Help the student
To gather up at least 10 pieces of work and separate them according to the type of subject area they fall under. They will have time to fine-tune their work before their parent arrives.
Tip 4: Include standardized tests
In the materials, they will show their parents so that they can see how students are performing when compared with their peer group. Include narrative (essay) samples to show off their writing.
Tip 5: Have a template to go by to use as a guide
On the conference night and at least two paragraphs of written work by the student that they can read aloud to their parent.
What is the Importance of Student-Led Conferences?
Student-led conferences are important for a variety of reasons. First, they let students feel they are in charge of their learning. They feel more like an active participant and less like a passive bystander. Second, kids who hold their own conferences gain confidence in their abilities to do presentations and to create outcomes for the learning that they want. Thirdly, it communicates to teachers that students are the center of the educational process rather than the teacher. This shows the parents how important kids are in the learning community.
There are many other advantages to doing student-led conferences. Using the resources we have provided, see if your school can try this in time for your next parent meetings. It might make all the difference!
How-to Guide of Student Led Conferencing
If your school is thinking about implementing student lead conference ideas, you may want to start by assessing what you have to work with. Look at the work your students have done up to this point. Be critical in terms of considering whether it is the best sampling of the student’s work or if something could be added to better show their strengths and weaknesses.
Remember that not everything has to show 100% mastery. This is about showing the parents a reality shot of what the kids do well and what they don’t do as well, so that they can help them to grow and learn more.
Some others things you will want to do to prepare can include:
Student Led Conference Templates
Using student led conferences templates, as you saw in some of the videos we shared from schools already doing this, illustrate how templates can help a student have more confidence on Parent/Teacher night by giving them an outline to go by. There are many different types available online. We have included links to some of them below.
Student Led Conferences Scripts
Scripts allow kids to simply read out what they need to do to welcome their parents to the conference and keep them on track. These do not have to be adhered to 100% and it needs to be natural, but it helps especially younger kids to stay on task when explaining things to their parents.
Participants and Their Roles
Each participant needs to know what their role is. Teachers need to be a “guide on the side,” saying as little as possible while allowing the student to show parents their work and comment on it. This makes parents feel more at ease because they are speaking mostly to their child rather than the teacher about their progress. Parents are there to learn all they can about their child’s progress in education and should let their child talk while bragging where appropriate and discussing what could be improved upon. Kids are there to be the presenter and leader. This is a new role for them and may require some prep before the official Parent night by the teacher and the student.
Ideas and Inspiration
In closing, here are some good ideas to think on as you prepare for your first student-led conference. Think about how you might implement each one as you brainstorm ways to make this approach more successful.
Spend more time in preparation
If you know what you consider priorities, you can educate students about this. But let them tell it in their own way.
Encourage evaluation
Think about how it went after the conferences and consider how you might do it better next time.
Discuss expectations before the meeting
What do you hope to achieve at the conference? Make sure and discuss student goals.
Student Lead Conference Inspiration
Conference Checklist
This simple worksheet of reminders shows students and teachers what should be included in preparing for the meetings.
Multiple Conference Resources
This collection of resources helps bring everything together.
Conference Poster Idea
This is a simple but effective idea for a hall advertisement
Simple checklist of reminders
Here is another list of reminders to include in the conference.
Work stations
This is a novel idea to allow different work stations in the room to focus on various subjects.
Conference Prep Sheet
Teach Simple has many resources to help teachers year-round, including this simple but resourceful conference prep sheet. It can be adjusted to allow for student-led conferences.
Parents and the Adolescent Brain
Here’s a great piece of reading to hand out to parents on the conference night that explains how a young person’s brain works. This information can be valuable to parents when they are working with their child on difficult topics.
The Student Data Folder
This is another great find on Teach Simple that is editable and printable. It allows you to keep student data in an organized fashion to help with evaluation of learning.
Conferencing Materials
Global Family Research Project and the Harvard School of Education collaborated to offer this page on community outreach and conferencing tips for administrators and teachers.
Book Lists
Why not leave a book list of recommended readings for students and parents to consider? This helpful Scholastic resource can help you do that.
We hope these tips and suggestions, resources, and ideas will inspire you to start your own student led conferences. All it takes is that first small step. You’re almost there!
Sources
Wildwood IB World Magnet School
A Step-by-Step Plan for Elementary Level Student-Led Conferences
Student-Led Conferences in 5th Grade – Mr. Riedl
FAQs
Just do it. Prepare the student to take the lead, help them believe in themselves, and teach them to try something difficult.
Gather student data from tests and evaluations, create a student folder of work, and have students prepare a script to help them stay on task.
Increase their confidence by doing mock sessions in the class setting before having them do the real thing. Have them sit with peers in small groups and analyze how to improve.
