Student-led conferences are becoming more prevalent in
elementary schools across the nation. A
student-led conference is basically a student-centered meeting that takes place
with teachers and parents while using a digital portfolio. During these
conferences, students showcase different samples of their work that they have
completed throughout the school year. These samples may be things that they are
exceeding in, struggling with, or just extremely proud of. Throughout the
process, the students are constantly taking the time to evaluate and reflect on
their work. This aids in the learning of essential life skills such as
self-reflection, leadership, communication, and responsibility for your own
learning and work. Student-led conferences and digital portfolios and start out
with one thing: goals. It is important that these goals are created and set by
the students, not the teachers or parents. These goals can be academic,
behavioral, or social. After the goals have been set, students complete and
assess their work, then they reflect. The students are then able to explain
this process to their parents and teachers. There are several advantages to
student-led conferences and digital portfolios such as the students being able
to see their progress first-hand, it is a form of authentic assessment, and it
encourages parental involvement in the child’s education. However, we must
think about downfalls such as parents not being involved, explicit instruction
on the process, and the amount of time it takes to put this into effect. Aside
from that, student-led conferences and digital portfolios are a great tool and
have a positive impact on the entire learning community!
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