Student-Led Conferences Make Great Use of Parent Conference Time

I really appreciate student-led conferences (SLC).

They provide great benefits for the students and families.  Students have a chance to shine in front of both their families and teachers. Despite a lack of comfort and confidence, the students clearly articulate their thoughts. The students also get to hear positive comments from the teacher to their parents/guardians. In addition, the families see their children interact with their teachers which gives them a better sense of the relationship in the classroom.

We all reap the benefits of clear communication.  Having all three concerned parties sitting down at one table to discuss the student sets an important, positive tone for the remainder of the year.

Teachers also see their students interact with their families.  The dynamics between them is often evident, and there is often such great warmth between students and families.

Another great benefit for teachers lies in the difference between traditional conferences and SLC.  Time restrictions for conferences limited us to 10 minutes of a traditional parent conference with the team. The time was hectic, always falling behind schedule.  Some teachers only had a brief time to speak.  And there were always more requests for conferences than time slots available necessitating additional time to be found elsewhere.

With SLC, time is much more flexible for meeting with families, as parents and guardians aren’t locked into a tiny window of time.  Each teacher has the opportunity to spend much more time with the families. And the stress generated by the fast-food style conferences does not exist.  SLC are far more relaxed.

If you’re not familiar with student-led conferences, I suggest you find out more about them due to the powerful experience they create.

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If you have questions about student-led conferences, have experience with student-led conferences or, if this post has generated some thoughts of your own, please share in the comments. I would appreciate hearing from you.

The Tip of the Iceberg with Google Sheets

The more I learn about Google Sheets, the more amazed I am at their power as a tool.

The other day, I was helping a colleague with a Google Form, and she expressed frustration with organizing the data afterward. I knew there was a formula or function to accomplish what she was looking for but didn’t know it offhand.  I’ve since figured out what she needs to do, and we will finish setting up her Sheet to work with her form.

This exchange, along with currently using Michael Matera’s Gamification Database, reminded me of how powerful Sheets are. I’ve used them to collect data from a form and used them to organize a unit of study, but I know I’ve barely scratched the surface.

I’ve played a little with several of Alice Keeler’s templates to get even a greater sense of their power.

If you’re not utilizing Sheets to make your work more efficient, you’re probably missing out.  I know I feel as if I am.

I need to find more out about using Sheets.

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If you regularly use Sheets as teacher or, if this post has generated some thoughts of your own, please share in the comments. I would appreciate hearing from you.

Students Creating Podcasts

Giving students opportunities to share with authentic audiences can increase engagement and tap into student motivation.

One way I have tried to do this is by helping students develop podcasts.  This can be a relatively simple way for students to publish their work.

The most consistent avenue for a student podcast has been one for our teaching team.  Student “reporters” relay what has been going on in the classes during the week.  The process is as follows:  students write a script, students record, students share an audio file with me, and I process the file into the podcast.

I currently publish the podcast using Anchor, a free platform to publish podcasts.  In addition to being posted on its site, the podcast is embedded on team pages, so that parents and students have access.

Anchor is simple, utilizing drag and drop features to produce the podcast. Background music can be added to enhance the podcast.

Students record using their phones or Chromebooks.

In an even more basic form, I have had students record the audio and then published the raw audio without processing it in Anchor. This has been done both for the team podcast as well as class podcasts. Students have created class podcasts on different topics they have investigated.  In addition, we have recorded Socratic seminars and posted them as podcasts. (See Unscripted, Students Jump Into Podcasting)

Vocaroo is a straightforward, online audio recorder students have used. More recently, if students are not using their phones, they are using the Chromebook app Beautiful Audio Editor.  This is a browser-based audio recorder that allows students to easily delete sections and lay multiple tracks.

The process is easy, allows students to publish their work, and provides an authentic audience

SideQuests: Introducing Geography of the Week

As part of gamifying my classroom, I decided to include sidequests.

My understanding of sidequests is that they are an optional part of the game that are not directly connected or necessary for the main part of the game.  These give students opportunities to advance in the game while advancing their learning.

I’m not sure I know exactly how sidequests will take shape in my classroom.  I did determine, however, that I wanted some to be standing sidequests.  They would not be extensions of a particular lesson. Instead, they would be able to remain throughout the year.

The first sidequest I have put into my course is a Geography of the Week challenge.  Students do it as homework, but it is optional.  They earn experience points for our game which will help them advance in the game and on the leaderboard.  This sidequest, however, also expands their general knowledge of the world.  They get multiple chances over the week to answer the challenge question correctly.

If they don’t get it correct, their understanding of the standards won’t suffer.  They enhance their knowledge and make gains within the game. It's a simple, engaging way to keep the students immersed in the game outside of class while tugging a bit at their curiosity.

Soon, I plan to incorporate another standing sidequest, along with another that is directly related to the content that students are working within the class.  I also hope to develop some hidden sidequests that students will uncover, giving the game a dose of chance and excitement.

As we build the game throughout the year, I envision that both the students and I will get more and more excited to discover sidequests.

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If you have good stategies for sidequests in a gamified classroom or, if this post has generated some thoughts of your own, please share in the comments. I would appreciate hearing from you.

Encouraging Students to Know One Another

Throughout the school year, much time is invested to develop relationships with students. Clearly, the better you know them, the more comfortable students feel in class and the better you’re able to meet their needs.

The very start of the year includes more specific activities to accelerate the process of developing those relationships. At my school, there is a period at the start of the day that’s called Connections, giving the students a place where they can develop relationships with peers and a teacher so that they feel more connected to the school. It is our school's take on an advisory program.

The foundation of this period is relationships. Over the course of the first month, we have done many sharing and team building activities to get to know one another and build trust.

The other day, however, I noticed that it wasn’t quite working (or maybe I expected too much too soon?): students could not say much about others in the group (not including those who were already friends).

Obviously, sharing about themselves is not enough.

I’m going to try more direct sharing from which they will then have to share about another in some format. I hope this will help accelerate the group’s familiarity with one another.

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If you have good stategies for students to get more comfortable with one another or, if this post has generated some thoughts of your own, please share in the comments. I would appreciate hearing from you.