A student-led conference can be a great way to empower students to take ownership over the learning process and for learners to communicate their learning journey with their families.
It's a way of reimagining the traditional family-teacher conference in a way that honors the learner and puts them at the forefront. Learners lead the conference by sharing their learning goals, areas for growth and artifacts that show their learning.
Tips for facilitating student-led conferences:
Have learners co-construct the steps (or a checklist) for a student-led conference as well as success criteria.
Take time to model success criteria and what not to do.
Students should have a portfolio of work samples (digital or physical) to share that show evidence of their strengths and areas for growth.
Preparation is key! Students should be well-prepared and practice what to discuss.
Just like a regular family-teacher interview, there is never enough time to discuss everything! As a class or individually with students, narrow down what should be discussed (i.e. Language Arts, Math, Learning Behaviors, Student's Choice, etc)