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Review videos and PowerPoint on Conferencing. https://youtu.be/L_WBSInDc2E https://youtu.be/dmIReiqI1ec https://youtu.be/O2MjTOvs4UgAfter viewing all the videos and the PowerPoint, write a one-three page reflection about what you have seen. Include a list of the five most important things to remember about conducting student conferences, and why you think these are important. Then, describe what routines you would need to teach your students to do in order for you to have a calm, productive individual student conference.
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Conferencing as an
Instructional Tool
Student conferences allow us to get to know a student
more personally, as well as to help that student with
learning needs and preferences.
Why have
Student
Conferences?
Students can also request conferences with you as they
encounter issues in their work.
Your goal should be to conference with each student at
least once a week in some way. Remember, a conference
can be a brief check-in.
Building relationships with students.
Benefits of
Conferencing
Providing timely feedback for students.
Constant monitoring of student progress.
Helping the student to be self-reliant and responsible.
Setting clear goals.
When Should I
Hold Student
Conferences
and How Long
Should They
Be?
Student conferences can be held with one student, or a
group of students, so when you notice something that
you need to talk about, you schedule a conference.
Conferences may be brief, but they should be no longer
than five minutes, if you have students in the classroom
when the conferences occur.
Group
Conferences
Group conferences can be held with two to four students
effectively. You might notice as you circulate during
individual work periods that several students are
encountering the same issue or misconception that you
want to address. Pull them into a group conference, talk
about it, and then send them back to finish their work.
Individual
Conferences
If you need to talk to a student independently (or if that
student is the only one experiencing an issue with their
work), pull the student into a conference with you. If you
think the conference will take longer, arrange to do it
when others are not in the classroom.
StudentRequested
Conferences
From time to time, students may request conferences
with you about questions or the product on which they
are working. Allowing students to request conferences
gives them some self-responsibility for their progress.
Consider having a permanent place in clear sight on
which students can request conferences.
You must teach students good conferencing behaviors
and model them for the students.
Good
Conferencing
Behaviors
Interactions between the teacher and the student
should be respectful.
Creating a chart of sentence starters can help students
to respond in appropriate ways
“I would like to talk about ….”
“I’m sorry, can you repeat what you just said about….”
“I am having trouble with….”
“So, I hear you saying ….”
What Should
You Expect
from Your
Other
Students?
The other students in your classroom should be taught
How to get help when you can’t be interrupted during a
conference – “Ask three before me!”
Expected behavior when your attention is on the
conference – the work continues and students are quiet
What to do when they feel they are done with their
assignments but you are still conferencing – here is
where a choice board comes in handy.
“Checking In” – what has been accomplished since the
last conference?
Issue (focus on only one or two) to be discussed –
clarification “I hear you saying….”
Parts of a
Student
Conference
Goal Setting – what the student will be working on until
the next conference. Have the student write it down in
a permanent place so they can refer to it as they work,
and you keep a copy as well. Consider using a
“Plus/Delta” format.
Following Up – do an intermediate brief check-in
before your next conference to see how the student is
progressing toward meeting the goal. Clarify the
assignment if needed.
+
Plus/Delta
Format for
Goal Setting
Put what the student has done
correctly in this column.
Put what the student will be
working on next in this column.
Example in a Writing
Conference:
Example in a Writing Conference:
You have opened with a great
beginning that will catch the
reader’s attention. You said,
“A loud ‘BANG’ startled me
out of sleep in the middle of
the night.” Makes me want
to read on to see what caused
it!
Now you need to work on
creating vivid description. In this
paragraph you just said, “I looked
out the window and saw a face
looking in”. How did you look?
Did you peek, or throw open the
curtains? How did the face look?
Was the person smiling, or
angry?
Hold conferences on ‘neutral’ ground to avoid a ‘me
against you’ feel to the conference.
Where to Hold
Conferences
Have a designated place to hold conferences, away
from other students, but where you can still see the
whole classroom.
Hold brief one to two-minute conferences at students’
desks to avoid disrupting their work.
Other Types of
Conferences
Behavior Issue Conferences – hold these where other
students can’t hear or when they aren’t in the room. As
needed, call in another teacher or administrator to
prevent “He said, I said” kinds of issues.
Parent Conferences – have the student present for
these conferences, and even better, have the student
conduct the conference!
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