by Diane Bonica
I’ll never conference with parents again because I have found a better way. I will never sit and discuss the progress of a young learner with only adults present. I will never accept adult approval as adequate assessment of a child’s educational progress. I’ll never do these things again because I’ve discovered the developmentally appropriate way to do them better!
Student-led, directed and performed conferences are the only ones I will hold from now on. Parents, students and teachers benefit greatly when the learner is involved in assessment. Preschool and kindergarten children need to be actively involved in constructing and relating the processes they use to learn and grow. Inviting the child to the conference is the key factor for success.
What does a student-led conference look like? In our class it mirrored our day in kindergarten. Each student led his/her parents through the procedures and activities of an “ordinary day” in class.
Scheduling of the conferences looked different also. Up to four family groups were invited each hour. The parents were informed well in advance that this conference would be an active participation even that could last up to one hour. The children were prepped to “teach” their parents all about our kindergarten day. The room was a beehive of on-task parents and children. While one family painted, another played a computer game and another met with me. I heard children saying things like, “Mom, when you sign in, you need to use a capital and lower case letters” or “Dad, estimating means good guessing.” I saw lots of smiles, lots of parents down at child level and lots of pride in the sharing of learning.
Surveys of the parents showed great enthusiasm. Statements like, “I never knew that my child was doing so much in school”, and “Watching my child perform tasks was the best indicator of learning” abounded. The parents were highly in support of this working talking conference. They applauded the new approach as something that worked!
As a teacher, I was thrilled with the conference results. I met with 23 families in a spaced of eight hours and I was not totally exhausted. I had time to interact with each group in activities and in the goal-setting portion of the hour. I watched as children and parents taught each other. I saw parents wipe away tears of pride as their little learner explained a game or a piece of work in his portfolio. I laughed and bristled with joy as I saw learning in one of its finest hours. This conference pointed out each child’s progress. It validated all I try to do in my classroom. It was perfect for students, parents and ME! I will never do it the old way again. NEVER!
