Student-Led Conferences and Digital Portfolios

            Student-led conferences are on the rise right now. When a student is leading their parent teacher conference, they are in charge of telling the parent about their work and growth in the classroom. What an amazing opportunity for the parents to see their students talk about their learning! The students are in charge of their conference, not the teachers! Some teachers use digital portfolios to aid in this process for the students and parents. The students add to their portfolio while they complete tasks in class. Once it is time for the meeting, the students will pull this portfolio out and allow their parent to view everything they have completed. The parent is able to get an accurate picture of the student’s growth from their own work!

            Student-led conferences promote creativity by allowing the students to come up with what goes into their digital portfolios. They are able to determine what goes into the portfolio and how the conference will be conducted. The student has full control of what happens and how it happens allowing them to be creative with the process. The parents are also able to view the student’s creativity through the portfolio and the span of the interview. The parents leave the conference feeling amazed at their child and their student and the creativity they showed!

            Collaboration is evident in student-led conferences. The students and their teacher must collaborate and communicate while getting ready for the conference. The teacher proofs all that the student has put together and they must communicate with them to guide their plans. The students are in full control of the conference, but the teacher assists with the planning of it. They collaborate with one another to ensure that the conference is planned. The students are also given time to collaborate with one another. They can bounce ideas off of one another and gain more information for planning their own portfolio and conference. This generally will work more effectively in older students.

            The students must critically think while completing the tasks for the portfolio. They are pushed to have the end in mind when completing them and this requires them to dig deep and think critically while completing them. They must think outside of the portfolio and plan while completing the assignments.

            Student-Led conferences are the best way for a parent to get an accurate picture of the student’s growth and the student’s growing independence. The students use the digital portfolios to wow their parents and teachers!