Student-Led Conferences

Starting in February, student-led conferences will start to take place here at the middle school. The goal is for parents to come in and see their child’s work.  Mr. Oates came up with the idea of student-led conferences. The concept is that the students would talk to their parents, showing them the assignments they are proud of.

A range of emotions are thrown by the students and teachers from disliking the idea to absolutely loving it. A number of the students. The topic is pretty one sided when it comes to students, but the teachers have more mixed reviews. A handful of teachers argue that this is a good opportunity for the students to learn how to present to others on the flipside, some other teachers feel uncomfortable with the idea. 

What is your general opinion on student led conferences? 

“There isn’t really anything wrong with them. Some people don’t like giving presentations. Some advisories aren’t the most productive,” says a 6th grade student. The student covers a big point. Some people are not happy with presenting, especially to their parents. People seem to forget that different people have different home situations. 

That’s not the only part students are dreading. A student shares that “[Student-led conferences] are a good way for the parents to see the students’ work, but also they are a lot of work of stress for the student, because you have to finish them in time and have to present it in front of your parents and advisors.” 

These conferences follow a process of moving documents in and out of folders to create a slideshow. It can benefit the student if all goes well. It could give the extra boost of confidence needed and teach them to be proud of their own work. 

Aside from the fear of parents getting angry, many students don’t understand what they are supposed to do. “It wasn’t very clear on what we are supposed to do,” one student says. Many of the students are not enthusiastic about these conferences. “I feel they were kind of forced on us,” many of the students had said.

If you were able to change a few things, what would you change?

The whole idea of student-led conferences is to help the student. The whole plan is great but now it just needs good execution. A number of students and teachers may like the idea and the benefits that come along with it, but they don’t agree on how it is all playing out. 

Both educators and students have a few ideas in mind. “I think student-led conferences were a good idea but how if you don’t finish it you have to work on it during flex and other times wasn’t very well executed,” points out a 7th grade student. 

One rule that was implemented is that if you haven’t completed enough of your slides then you need to find other times to work on it. Thankfully, the school uses advisory to take time on it, but if kids haven’t made enough progress then it is suggested that they work on it outside of advisory. From a student perspective, it can get irritating since they also have other work like studying, homework, and extracurricular activities on their to-do list but now another thing makes it on there. 

Students also feel like the deadline is too “squishy” as the displays have to be done by a certain date. “I’d fix them by having a better deadline,” says a student, and other students agree with this statement.

How do teachers feel about the student-led conferences?

Multiple teachers were also asked this question. “Right now, I feel uncomfortable about it,” says one teacher, and other teachers have said the same thing. Teachers know that students are stressed. 

The sixth graders have transitioned from elementary to middle school, and so they are still getting used to switching between classes, lockers, and the extra homework. 

The eighth graders have a lot to prepare for going to high school the following year and worrying about what classes they should take. For everyone, students have lots of tests and homework along with after school activities, which they have to do. 

Some teachers were asked the question “When you were a student, what do you think would be your opinion on these conferences?” Those teachers said they would be stressed at this point in time, and there would be some subjects they wouldn’t want to talk about or present on for these subjects were not their strongest. While some teachers agree they would be stressed as the students are now, they believe that they can leave a positive impact on the student. 

Other than keeping track of others' progress, teachers feel the stress in the air with students having technology issues or running around trying to gather documents. Mr. Buck, the vice principal of the school shares, “Right now, I think most are still in the stressful parts of preparation… You know the task in front of you, and the work ahead, but the reward seems far off.”

 Why were these Student-Led Conferences started?

Many students don’t like the idea of student-led conferences, but they don’t know why they were started, which might change their opinion. 

Not all the parents/guardians are able to make it to the traditional parent-teacher conferences, either for work or where they live. With the student-led conferences, there is more flexibility and options for when the parents/guardians come in. Along with this, if students continue to do these SLCs, “students will be more accountable for their learning and reflection,” says Mr. Oates. 

Even though Mr. Buck is new at WMS, he was lucky to witness these conferences happen at a previous middle school and feels “...it really can be a game changer for student voice and success. I also have the privilege of having been through the process many times at the middle school I used to work at, so I've been across the finish line and can say it was worth it.”

Mr. Buck shared his experience of SLCs at his past school which worked well and hopes that Weston will have the same outcome. Coming from a musical theater background, Mr. Buck feels empathy towards the students, and he describes the process somewhat similar to theater. 

Mr. Buck also understands the pressure of the preparation as students get close to the deadline. Even though they are not the same thing, performing and SLCs are similar: they both involve performing in front of people. 

The deal on student-led conferences

Opinions vary from student to student and teacher to teacher; however, a conclusion that can be drawn is that they are meant to help students rather than hurt and stress them. Both Mr. Oates and Mr. Buck both believe that these SLCs will be beneficial to the students. The students are working hard to complete this project. The first conferences are to commence in February and they should end in March.