July 13, 2011
March 5, 2014
Vol 13 No 28
Student-Led Parent-Teacher Conferences
Recipes
11
Energize Your Mornings
Around Town
4
Mud Run
Trauterman teaching her class
Photo courtesy of St. Charles School District
Two teachers in the City of St. Charles School District change the status quo of parent-teacher conferences by giving kids a voice in the discussion. For the most part, parents and teachers want the same thing; their child or student to be as successful as possible. Some of the time, this is the only issue where the two factions see eye to eye. While the goal of success is clear to both parties, the road to this goal is slightly muddier. Often, teachers believe more can be done at the home to reinforce the educational goals of the child while parents feel that the school is lacking the resources or solutions to enhance the child’s progression. Typically, this discussion takes place in the parent-teacher conference; at best, an educational debate amongst two invested parties, and at worst, an educational arm wrestling match in which both parties forearms snap. What’s missing in this situation is the child itself. Often, these discussions take place without the child in the equation. Last year, Shelly Trauterman and Rachael Haug of the City of St. Charles School District realized this problem and sought out a solution for it. At the time, both Trauterman and Haug were 1st grade teachers at Lincoln Elementary. Having gone through several sessions of parent-teacher conferences before, they felt there was a disconnect between the expectations they told parents and what students believed was expected of
them. Their solution was student-led conferences. Instead of the student taking a back seat in the process, they would become the focal point; presenting to both teacher and parent on their educational and behavioral goals. “Having the students present while we shared their learning targets and goals as well as behavioral targets and goals was a way to make sure students were held accountable for what they did each day,” Trauterman said. “After all, it’s really about having the students be held accountable for their own learning. If they don’t know what’s truly expected of them, how are we supposed to make sure they master their goals?” The preparation for the student-led conferences starts out about three weeks prior to the conference itself. Both Trauterman and Haug meet with each student individually to have an open discussion on what the child’s goals should be for the upcoming term and how successful they were in reaching the goals they set out in the previous term. The goals can be as innocuous as remembering to push in their chair or as focused as raising their reading comprehension by two levels. One of the noted benefits of student participation in conferences is that it in-
creases the participation of parents. “Student led conferences make easier to guarantee 100 percent participation with parents,” said Haug, who now teaches 4th grade at Lincoln Elementary. “They don’t want to let their child down after they worked so hard on their own conference. Students take ownership of it as if it were a big art project and, because of this, parents show up” See CONFERENCES page 2
Around Town
4
SCCYO Spring Concert
School
7
Timberland Football Player
Pompeii photo courtesy of TriStar Pictures’
Movie
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