Working through student led conferences and preparing students to have informed discussions with their parents about their learning has really opened my eyes into how much I guide them through the discussion process. Whilst some of my students were able to independently discuss with me where they felt their next steps were others were waiting for me to provide them with these.
At the moment we are implementing a new type of goal setting programme for the students where instead of targets constructed by the teachers for the teachers, students have voice into what they think their next steps should be and record these in the back of their books. We are doing this in writing at the moment and this should help the students to feel that they are identifying their own next steps and have control over their learning. The students complete a national standard evaluation at the end of each piece of writing and identify what areas they have achieved and which areas they are still working towards.
I am hoping that through making the goal setting and evaluating whether or not the goals have been achieved a routine process all children will begin to feel comfortable leading conferences and discussions about where they are successful or not. I will be making this part of our weekly writing routine from the beginning of next week (Monday 23rd of June) onwards.
