Student Led Conferences and Digital Portfolios

Student led conferences are a way for students to take responsibility for their learning and showcase their work. The students are getting to lead the conference and share their academic progress with their people. Student led conferences are different from teacher lead conferences because the teacher is the facilitator and the student leads the parents through the analysis of their work. The teacher needs to aid the student through choosing the information to share during the conference. The students get a chance to reflect on their work and process through how they did on the assessments. Before going into a student led conference it is important for everyone to understand the expectations. The teacher needs to make sure the student is prepared by giving them prompts and sentence starters so they will be able to lead the conference and be confident while doing it. 

As a mediator it is not our job to jump in and take over if the student forgets something. The teacher is there to support and guide the student and give them clear expectations to both the students and parents. Give the students prompts and guidelines to help the student move through the conference. 

The parents need to listen and engage with the student. It is important for the parents to be asking questions and encouraging the students through the process. If English is not a parents primary language use google translate or have the student become the translator to connect the parent to the conference. 

Digital portfolios are a collection of assessments over time on a digital platforms. They should be related to the standards and show engagement. When putting things on a platform for others to be able to see it creates a sense of accountability. The students will be aware that friends and families are going to be looking at their work so they will want to do their best. Another benefit of digital portfolios is that they can be used throughout the students’ academic career and they will be able to reflect on their growth. Students can use their digital portfolio in their conference and can show their parents how much they have grown from one conference to the next. One app to try using in your classroom to help your students start building their digital portfolio is seesaw. This app is a great way for students of all ages to begin sharing their learning.