Seriously Awesome Student Led Conferences & Digital Portfolios

Student-led conferences are a great way for students to showcase their work, take responsibility for their own learning, and lead their own learning. Autonomy is key. This is very different than a teacher-led conference. In this situation, the teacher is only the facilitator and the students are the leaders. It is student-centered and student lead. Students are able to lead discussions, be in their own process, pick out and prepare the materials to be shown, and are able to reflect on their own work. The teacher is there to facilitate, mediate, provided support if it is needed, provide expectations for the meeting, and may even provide a script for the student if needed. Parents are able to listen, engage, encourage, and ask their child questions.
In order to prepare for this, teachers need to keep students' work samples, give the student autonomy to choose what they want to include, structure the work for the student, and LET GO!
What is I have an ELL family?? Well, I'm glad you asked! If the teacher can have a translator present, that would be great! There are also translating apps, such as Google Translate that could be used. The teacher should also try to incorporate the diversity in your classroom and encourage the use of native language!

Digital Portfolios are a collection of student performance and assessments over time in the digital form. This should be standards-based and show significant student engagement. Work that is showcased is chosen by the student and should include the students' reflections and comprehension.

Apps to use:

• Artsonia Kids Art Museum - empowers students to exhibit their work
• WeLearnedIt - allows students to showcase, reflect, and comment on student work
• Sesame - Custumizable rubric creation

Benefits of Digital Portfolios:

• Great way to express and show student growth over time and provides a record of their educational career.
• Gives teachers the opportunity to see students' learning and areas of improvement.
• Gives students an audience!