Student-Led Conferences

What is a Student-Led Conference? A portfolio of work to document what you have accomplished in your 9 th grade classes.

Your Role? You will  Collect representative samples  Select those you wish to present  Reflect on each sample 12 pieces of work which you feel best shows your accomplishments and challenges in your core classes (3 samples per class.)

What’s In The Portfolio?  Title Page  Table of Contents  Personal Dear Parent Letter  SLC Samples Checklist  Periods Reflection essay/cover letter Three samples  Citizenship graph  Student created goal sheet  Parent Reminder Card  Parent survey feedback form  Parent homework (letter to student)  Stamped addressed envelope

The Personal Dear Parent Letter Salutation (Dear Mom, Dad, Aunt Suzy…) Purpose of this conference  Thank you for coming to this conference  I will explain how I am progressing as a learner  I am going to show you several examples of my work  Please listen carefully and ask questions about my work Expectations  “During this conference, mom and dad, I expect you….”  “I hope that you will find that I….” Closing  “I look forward to hearing your feedback after this…”

The Work You Select 12 work samples: 3 from each class Class work samples must reflect the following  A Strength  A Challenge  Your Choice

Reflection Essays Four student reflection essays - one for each class Each essay needs to be in the 5 paragraph format. Each piece of work gets its own paragraph 1. Introduction 2. A Strength 3. A Challenge 4. Your Choice 5. Conclusion

Citizenship Graph CONSISTENTLY (95-100%) MOST OF THE TIME (75%) SOMETIMES (50%) OCCASIONALLY (25%) RESPECTFUL PREPAREDNESS PROMPTNESS INTEGRITY PERSONAL CHOICE Name____________________________________________________

Day of the Conference Be here on time Conduct your parents to your conference room Present your portfolio Accompany your parents to the library for refreshments Have them fill-out the Parent Survey Encourage them to complete the parent homework and mail it back You are done!

MY GOAL FOR SUCCESS Goal 1: ________________________________ ____________________________ To achieve this goal, I will: A_______________ B_______________ The people who can help me attain this goal are: ______________________________ Distractions that may get in the way of me attaining this goal are: ______________________________ Student Initial___ Parent Initial ____ Student Goal Sheet

Parent Survey Thank you for coming! We hope you enjoyed your visit. Before you leave, please take a moment to answer the following questions so that I know how you feel, and what changes we can make for next conference. Thank you for your input and support of this class activity. Use the following scale to answer the questions. Circle your choice. 1 No 2 Don’t know 3 Yes 1. I felt it was good for my student to reflect on his/her learning I liked having the student lead the conference and having him/her show me what he/she has learned and has been doing throughout the semester I found my student’s portfolio very insightful If I had a choice I would request A student-led conference A traditional parent-teacher conference 5. The best part of the conference was _________________________________________________________________________ 6. My least favorite part of the conference was _________________________________________________________________________ 7. One thing I would like to see changed for next time is _________________________________________________________________________ Please remember to complete your homework (parent response letter) and mail it back to school.

Parent Homework Dear Parent/Guardian, THANK YOU for participating in your child’s conference … now you have some homework. Please write your child a positive personal note about the conference. Below are some areas you might consider including as you write. This should be a positive letter focusing on your child’s overall performance. What I noticed about your work was… I was proud of you for… Keep up the good work on… I know you have difficulty sometimes, but… I’m glad you are making an extra effort in… How can I help you? We hope this experience was as rewarding to you and your child as the process was to us. Thanks again for taking the extra effort! Sincerely, Teacher Name(s)

Address the envelope as shown below Then place in back of your portfolio Freshman Seminar ADD THESE! You will need to add stamp! Your High School Street Address City, State, Zip To: Your full name (clearly printed) c/o Your Teacher’s Name c/o Your High School Street Address City, State, Zip

Student Debriefing Prompt: “Now that you’ve completed the conference, what have you gained from this experience?”