Monday, June 22, 2009

Student Led Conferences - Student Thoughts

Today I visited the classrooms who are undertaking the first trial of student led conferences tomorrow afternoon. I took my good old faithful video with me to capture the student voice. What a delightful next half hour I had.
I was suitably impressed by the talk - the ownership these students demonstrated over their conference was impressive. They articulated the positive of having more time and a chance to really show their Mums and Dad's not just how they are going in their learning but also what they are learning in class. They said in the past we share our grades and then the teacher takes over. When asked if they felt it was a good or a bad thing that the teacher wasn't fully involved in the confderence - they smiled and said it's good. When probed a little further they explained "We have had to take responsibility for our selves and our learning. Knowing where we are in our learning and what our next learning steps are is something we need to own. It's up to us to persevere to get better." There were certainly a few nerves about, however students were excited about the conferences and sharing their learning with their parents.
Will keep you posted on the outcome.

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