Student Led Conferences with Digital Portfolios

   During student led conferences, students are able to share their work with guardians and set their own goals. Student led conferences promote leadership, growth, accountability, and confidence. Students take accountability for their portfolios by choosing work that displays their strengths and weaknesses. While student led conferences enable students to feel confident as they lead the presentation, they also encourage parents to participate. The parent is more likely to engage in conversation about their child’s work, as well as point out things they like about the work and things the student can work on. This leads the student to collaborate with their parent(s) about the goals they need to achieve before the next conference.

       So, how does a student led conference look?

First, the student greets their parents. 

Then, the student displays a portfolio of what they 

can do and what they have learned in class so far. 

The student also identifies the strengths and weaknesses they have noticed himself/herself. 

The student, parent, and teacher then work together 

to set goals for the rest of the school year.

The student, parent, and teacher are all involved 

in the conference.

One important thing teachers must not do 

is be hesitant. Students are often very 

tech-savvy, so teachers can allow them to utilize these skills by creating their own digital portfolio, full of work samples and assessments. Students can use programs, such as FreshGrade, G Suite for Education, SeeSaw, Class Dojo, Three Ring, Evernote, and Book Creator to create his/her digital portfolio. All apps are free! However, Book Creator is $4.99 for the app after the first book, and Evernote varies from $3.99- $7.99/month after 60 mb.

   Upon researching student led conferences, I have developed a new understanding of how they can boost the attitudes of students and encourage them to work on realistic goals. Student led conferences are extremely beneficial to ELL students because there is no language barrier between the student and the parent. The student can translate between the teacher and parent if necessary. The student can also share with the parent his/her goals so the student can receive more accurate help at home.

   In a Pre-K or Kindergarten classroom, it may be more beneficial for the teacher to choose the student work. However, for 1^st grade and up, the students can choose their own work and participate in peer reviews or mock conferences with their classmates.