Student Led Conferences

“I make parents see their children for who they are and who they can be,”  Taylor Mali truly said best.  In all my years of teaching this is what I aim to do: to show the parents the amazing children they have, enlighten them to their dreams and how, together, we can possibly make them a reality. 

This year our school district said that we were to hold conferences a little different than normal. We were to have student led conferences. The students would be in charge and take complete ownership of the event. They would compile a portfolio throughout the first 18 weeks of the year to share with their parents, not only their successes but their goals and areas they felt they needed the most help. My first thought I had when the announcement was made, was how will parents react to the new way of holding conferences.  Would they enjoy hearing the information from their children or would they miss my perspective of their children? 

As the year progressed, the students and I worked together to build their portfolios. They were in charge of choosing what they felt was their best work as well as writing an explanation as to why they chose that particular piece.  We did this with their CGI math problems, writing, and reading samples that they felt showed off their understanding of the Common Core State Standards.  Together we painstakingly prepared for our conferences in February. 

The conferences went off without a hitch. The students escorted their parents in and showed them where to sign in. After the students reintroduced their parents to me, they made their way to their chromebooks to show them their portfolios.  It was beautiful to see the students sharing what they had worked so hard on with who should be their biggest supporters.  I became misty-eyed at times witnessing the conversations and hearing things like, “I didn't know that was what you wanted to be,” or “what great work son, I am so proud of you.”  The flow of the week was going great.  Now as teachers we have met and worked with our fair share of parents and know that no parent is made the same as another.  The majority of my students have all the love and support from their parents that any child should.  However; I have a small handful of students in my room, whose parents aren't the most supportive, who have heard once or twice that they can't do things, or that they are unable to achieve this or that.  One student stuck out in particular for me, I was anxious to observe as the conference progressed.  What I saw, what I witnessed forever made me a fan of student led conferences.  In the last two years that I have had this student I had never seen his parent smile or congratulate him, but by the end of the conference the parent was doing both.  She was blown away at the success of her son and his openness about the areas he struggles.  This parent listened deeply to what her son was telling her, not what I was showing her, but he was revealing about himself.  In that moment, it occurred to me that while I've always longed to “show parents who their children truly are” he had done that for himself. 

As they thanked me for my time, I heard her say “I am proud of you son,” as they left.  The time we spent and work put into these conferences, the practicing we did in both English and Spanish to ensure that each student could communicate to their parents, the hours of organizing, goal planning and hard work was paid back in full in that particular moment.  As educators, it is our job to equip our students to speak out about who they are, who they dream to be and how they will accomplish those things.  I for one, can not wait for the next set of conferences.

Times Have Changed

I began teaching 12 years ago in the Elementary level.  Each week we had “team meetings” with our grade level peers and our administrators.  In these meetings we would turn in lesson plans, discuss our assigned reading, report our weekly assessment results and take care of any housekeeping materials. 

A meeting with a grade level team today looks different. Each week the “Professional Learning Community” meets to cover an agenda created by the team.  Grade levels chose professional reading material based on the needs of individuals or the team. Assessment results are reported, analyzed and the information is used for future planning among the team. Growth is noted and successes are celebrated in each meeting.  Housekeeping materials are handled through emails or memos, not during time set aside for a Professional Learning Communities.    

As an assistant principal, I have had the opportunity to be a part of several PLCs. Recently I was a member of a second grade PLC as they were analyzing data after an intervention cycle. For intervention, the students were divided up based on a math pre-assessment and what strategies might help each individual move forward.  As the teachers reported the post assessment, I noticed they were proud of all the students whether they made small growth or substantial growth. They celebrated students in the entire grade level, not just their individual classes. They also discussed what would be next steps for students that were still struggling with the standard and those that had achieved the standard.  It made me reflect on the past.  When I began teaching, my students were my students and the teacher across the hall was the teacher for just her students.  We did what was best for our class and didn't consult with each other about what specific strategies we were using to help the struggling learner or the gifted student.

I love seeing and being a part of this PLC change.  Teachers are not only taking ownership of their students but also the students in the entire grade level.  Teachers are helping each other with ideas to push students forward. In return, the teachers are meeting or succeeding goals they have set for their grade level. 

Tricks Aren't for Kids: Mathematical Thinking IS!

We are simply not giving students enough credit for the knowledge they bring to the classroom. If you have ever seen a toddler share pieces of food or pieces from a game or toy, they are dividing! Granted, they usually benefit from leftovers and decide that the remainder should be theirs. My three year old daughter knows when something has been subtracted, taken away, or is less than what she wants. When she wants five miniature pancakes and I accidentally give her four, she immediately informs me that she is one short.

My first few years of teaching, I taught math the traditional way: show kids the algorithm for how to solve the problem and let them practice, practice, practice. While this was effective for some students, it wasn't enough for every student. If a kid didn't understand, I would slow down, show them again, and give them more practice. Some students never got it and were deemed “bad at math.” Once I started learning to pose word problems and use students’ strategies to teach and pull out the math concepts I needed to teach, I saw successes in math that had never been attained through traditional teaching methods. Now, if a kid gets an incorrect answer, I can analyze their thought process through their strategy and find exactly where their misconceptions and mistakes are. It shows me that they do have some understanding of the problem, and I can guide them through the part that is a challenge for them. It becomes more than just a correct answer. For example: My fifth grade students were multiplying 6 ½  x 8 ¼.  One girl’s work is in the following photo.

Instead of teaching a trick that many learn, FOIL (First, Outer, Inner, Last), to teach the steps in solving this problem, she derived it on her own! Since we have done so much work on the meaning of multiplication, she knew she needed 6 ½ groups of 8 ¼ and when she split up the whole numbers and fractions she still had to account for the 6 groups of 8 and 6 groups of ¼ as well as the ½ of a group of 8 and the ½ of a group of ¼. Another important note is that she has purposefully never been told to multiply denominators as in ½ x ¼, and because of this she has reasoned on her own that when you take a half of a fourth, it would then be an eighth. And then, when she needed to add the ⅛ to ½ she figured out on her own that ½ would be equal to 4/8 and that she would then have ⅝.  While having a conversation with her about her strategy and looking at her work, she showed me far more mathematical understanding than I would see if she were simply using a trick.

Now, not all students are at her level of thinking, but I can use her work to teach others! There is so much power and ownership taken when students’ strategies are used to guide math lessons and instruction. Kids have the innate ability to think through math problems, so the idea that we have to show them how to “do math” is false. By using their strategies to explain the reasoning of a problem and as a starting point for understanding math, kids see it as “doable” and understand that if their classmate can do it, so can he/she. They no longer see the teacher as the source of the right answer or the right way, but instead become independent, confident problem solvers. The role of the teacher should be a facilitator of learning, or someone who guides students and challenges students’ levels of thinking. We can model how to correctly write students’ thinking into accurate equations/number sentences.

The teacher must carefully plan the context, problem type, and numbers used in problems posed to meet grade-level standards. For example, in the student’s work above, I carefully chose whole numbers and fractions in an area problem context that would bring out multiple fifth grade standards:

Common Core State Standards

5.NF. 1-add and subtract fractions with unlike denominators

5.NF.2-solve word problems involving addition and subtraction of fractions referring to the same whole, including cases of unlike denominators

5.NF.4a- find the area of a rectangle with fractional side lengths...and show that the area is the same as..multiplying the side lengths.
5.NF.6- solve real-world problems involving multiplication of fractions and mixed numbers by using visual fraction models or equations to represent the problem.

Once a problem is created, teachers should solve it in multiple ways from the point of view of children to anticipate how students will solve it. (A good resource for creating problems and seeing possible student strategies is Extending Children’s Mathematics: Fractions and Decimals by Susan Empson and Linda Levi and Children’s Mathematics: Cognitively Guided Instruction by Thomas P Carpenter, et. al.)This will help the teacher plan ahead which strategies to share aloud with the class for discussion. By selecting a few strategies, students can compare/contrast and critique the reasoning of others (Common Core Standards for Mathematical Practice # 3), get ideas on how to solve the problem (connects to Math Practice #4), look for and make use of structure (Math Practice # 7), look for and express regularity in repeated reasoning (Math Practice # 8), and the benefits go on.

There is much debate about the new Common Core State Standards and the idea that we are implementing “new math.” Yes, it’s true that math needs to be taught differently, and as I mentioned above, we are not giving kids enough credit for the knowledge and abilities they bring to the classroom. With careful planning on the teacher’s end, they can discover math concepts without being told “how to do/solve” a problem.

Perspective of Parent University

“A parent is their child's first teacher" is a phrase we have all heard, but one I believe wholeheartedly and personally elucidated seven and half years ago when I became a parent myself .
As a parent of three, I understand the weight of my guidance and support in shaping their little minds to reach their potential. It also helps me better relate to the barriers of balancing personal, family and work schedules parents face. Layering onto this load the second guesses and doubts, I find myself in a perpetual state of wondering if I'm doing the best for my children, one through many conversations have come to understand is also a common struggle among all who hold the important title of parent.  Instead of finding defeat in my continual quest to be adequate enough to call myself mommy to the precious little ones under my care, I can use it to drive a better understanding for the students I see each day and their parents that also send their little darlings to school each day. We may differ in the tools we bring to the table, however, one thing we share is the desire to see our children happy and successful.
As Mrs. Fink stated in her post about Parent University, 'The key piece missing was we had not been serving the needs of the whole family. I began to realize how important it was to fill the parent tool belt with the hammers, wrenches, nails, and glue of life. I began to realize their dreams would not be built if not given the proper tools to do so.'

Along with teacher Ashley Kasnicka, I just completed a three session course in technology determined a need through parent surveys. As I anticipated, we had "students" of varying exposure and technological knowledge. Ana Villafranca, a parent and staff member herself, was not only able to translate but connect as a parent. We focused our efforts on allowing parents to see the resources organized on our school website, access the resources offered through the Google Apps we are currently using with students as well as address specific questions and concerns. We tried to create the same risk-free climate and exude transparency of all being continual learners whether a teacher, student or parent. Through our time together we set up emails to increase home-school communication avenues, showed translation tools to empower parents in removing some language barriers, and began to explore the organizational resources of Google Drive. I know these resources have drastically impacted my life, but for different reasons than revealed through our class feedback. Whereas I saw these resources as not tying me to dependence on a single computer, providing flexibility in where I am able to work and an easier way to simultaneously collaborate, parents expressed excitement in the ability to store documents through free programs and alleviating language barriers which only highlighted how single tools benefit in different ways. The barrier of knowing our children were well taken care of was removed so we could focus our time in deepening knowledge of these resources.

One parent thanked us for helping her with email because "now I don't have to depend on my husband for this" and another thanked us multiple times for helping him feel better about technology so he can keep up with with his boys.

Relationships were built, trust was solidified, and increasing knowledge in technology became an added bonus. I look forward to additional success stories stemming from Parent University at Jones Elementary as I know this new venture will only continue to yield positive results.