We have student lead conferences at the middle school level. 6th grade: DD did all the talking in a speech type style and her 1 core teacher said nothing but was present. I found it not helpful at all. We then had and IEP meeting 2 months later and I had to bring up concerns then, but this is where it falls into special snowflake as most kids don't have IEP or 504 meetings. 7th grade: I scheduled conferences when it was convenient for me but when DD was required elsewhere. I let teachers know that DD wouldn't be attending and asked if both core teachers could attend at this time so I could make concerns valid to both teachers in the same 10 minutes. This meeting was better but still felt scripted where the teacher talked about scores. I got 2 minutes at the end to address my concerns which wasn't enough but it was a whole lot better than it was in 6th grade.
We have online grade books and I can talk to my kid at home about how school is going and what they are doing. I don't need to go to school to see a printed copy of the grade book and for DD to tell me what they are doing. In my opinion conferences are supposed to be a time where teachers and parents can talk about what is happening at school and that includes the good/bad/ugly.
Post by sugarbear1 on Feb 12, 2024 17:41:47 GMT -5
This is how we do it in my middle school. There are several reasons, not the least of which is that we believe it is valuable for a student to collect, evaluate, and present their work.
We are a small school, though, and we routinely meet to discuss students. I happen to teach all the kids in my advisory, but there are teachers who do not. I think parents like this set up, but to be honest I haven't asked.
(It is also an equity / timing issue. I have 90 students and there is no way I can have 90 conferences. Many other teachers here only have 15-20 students.)
this is how our middle school spring conference was this past week. the kids spent (weeks apparently) making slides and then they were going to show them to you at school OR home. how useless. the fall one was with one teacher only which also was annoying but i get that they dont have time to meet with everyone
Ours are student led like this, but the main classroom teacher is in the meeting and leaves time for questions so I was able to address the one or two things I wanted to ask. They also weigh in on the students’ goals when the student shares them to say things like, “I was proud of J for recognizing this opportunity to grow because X and now we’re seeing big improvements,” so I’m getting their feedback within the student presentation to an extent.
Since we don't have them, I'm now wondering how conferences in middle and high school work. In elementary teachers generally have 25ish kids so 25ish conferences. Which is still a lot. But in middle and high school teachers probably have 100+ kids. How do they schedule time to meet with each family??
My guess is that may be the reason for the switch to the advisory teacher (who likely sees 25ish kids) overseeing a student led presentation of their work
Each teacher has 15 appointments that are 7 minutes long. Parents select their appointments via a sign up genius.
Teachers who have underclassmen and who teacher advanced classes are usually full. Teachers who just have electives or seniors are usually empty.