Conference Conbrio

I recently saw this article on the New York Times website. I thought that it was incredibly interesting. After enduring a painful round of parent teacher conferences this year (which many have informed me were nothing compared to the disasters in other schools) I began to think about the parent teacher conference model. This trend of not only bringing students to the meeting, but actually having them conduct it really peaked my interest. 

I was surprised that many of the students feel comfortable with this, but apparently they do. Having them present or even running the meeting cuts out a lot of miscommunication and answers a lot of questions. If a parent explains to me (as many did) that their child who is doing well in the class is, in fact, bored by the ease of the material and the pace of the class, we can ask this child if that is the case or whether they are working to earn the A. If parents are hearing different stories about work and assignments from the teacher and the student, with everyone present the real story will probably come to light. These are some basic examples of how having the student there helps. 

I don't know how comfortable I would be with the really open conferences where siblings and grandparents are welcome. I can see that becoming a big distraction, and I don't really see the advantages of having these extended family and friends present at all.

One of the authors on this blog told me that in a school where he had worked they not only had parent teacher conferences, but they also had a day of student teacher conferences. I thought this was an extremely wonderful idea. It allows all students, both those performing well and those who are not, a chance to personally discuss the class and their performance. It also is formal which, hopefully, helps the students realize that it is a legitimate attempt to make their personal learning experience better. There is also something nice about the teacher having a one-on-one with all of their students once or twice a year. (I'll allow the author to elaborate in the comments).

Either way, I think it's time to spice up those conferences.