Thursday, November 4, 2010
Thinking about Technology and Parent/Teacher Conferences
I have been thinking a lot this week about my future as an educator and what the parent/teacher conference will look like for me and the parents and children I serve. I heard a discussion on NPR the other day and one educator mentioned that they do student led conferences, where students present their best work to their parents after reflecting on their strengths and weaknesses. Obviously with younger students, this would not work without much help from the teacher, but for older students I can see this being extremely beneficial. It's similar to what we are doing in the Computers in Education course where we learn via various technology projects and develop a portfolio of our work. I envision a combination of elements where the student led conference showcases the work of the student, addresses areas of concern, and allows the student to present in a way that suits them. Students can use as much or as little technology as possible, doing e-portfolios or paper portfolios and present their information live, via video, via audio, or via text. I haven't done any online research on this yet since I am busy with other homework, but it's fun to consider breaking away from the traditional format where parents and teachers talk about a child when they aren't present. I think having the student there can solidify the notion that parents and teachers are working together in support of a child's education. Requiring reflection on the part of the student empowers and creates an environment where learners are active participants in their own learning. I look forward to learning more and incorporating low-tech and high-tech components into my idea of student led conferences.
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Dana, I love your idea of incorporating technology into student led teacher conferences. At our last conference, our daughter (3rd grade) attended (the first time this has happened. Her teacher had her start the conference by sharing with us what she had been doing, what she thought were her strengths, and growth areas. I loved that she was involved, but I think that if she could have shown us her work -- and used technology to help her, it might have made it much more meaningful to her (and also had her be more accurate and reflective). I think about Weebly and how easy that is to use -- and how much fun kids could have with developing their own portfolio using this. You've inspired me here to want to try this out with her. I'm going to see what she thinks and how she does with Weebly. HOw do you think your kids would react to this?
ReplyDeleteI think my kids would love this! I thought Weebly was the easiest thing to use, too, after trying other things first.
ReplyDeleteMy six year old's teacher asked them to write a few sentences about what they thought the teacher was going to tell me. She was right on as far when she mentioned her strength in math, but a bit off when she mentioned her weakness. My daughter isn't as crazy about reading and writing as I am, so I would have liked to see her be able to talk about her learning in a different way, perhaps in addition to the writing piece.
My oldest is 12 and we were disappointed with his performance in one of his classes. I guarantee that if he had to "present" to us, his grade would have been better. Unfortunately, we were taken off guard with his performance in this class and suspended his basketball practice for a week to show him that we weren't fooling around. I guess my point is that I feel strongly that my kids should be involved in "reporting" on their learning and the reporting will look different based on the age of the child and how he/she communicates best. I agree that using technology as a way to show work can keep the kids more focused and provide a way to reflect on what and how they are learning.