Tag Archives: student-centred

Retroactive Post: A Brave New World…Parents!

What?
A new experience I had the privilege of experiencing today was the opportunity to observe a parent-teacher-student conference. The way in which these conferences were conducted was that they were primarily student led; with the first 10 minutes devoted to the students, independently from the teacher, showing their parents what they had been doing over the past few weeks. Projects, assignments, and online materials were showcased to the parents in great detail by the students, who seemingly relished the opportunity to “show off” to their parents or guardians. Something that was unique about these conferences was the enthusiasm the students showed coming into the meeting. They were proud of their work and happy to show what they had done and learned. When the students were finished, my SA sat down with the parents and did something I thought was a wonderful way of structuring a conference: ask questions. How are you feeling about the workload? How are you feeling about so-and-so’s progress? What are you looking for this year with their goals? And from these questions, my SA was able to not only answer the parent’s questions themselves but also get them to reflect on their own child’s progress, as well as inserting suggestions for improvement. He also directed many of the questions posed by parent back to the student, having them answer in their own capacity to their parent’s inquiry into their learning.

So What?
This style of conference was excellent to witness as it allowed it essentially to be a conversation between child and parent. This kind of a casual run through off the work and then question asking to the parent, made it feel very relaxed, comfortable, and yet covered the areas of concern the teacher had. This may not always work for all parents, but the atmosphere created it made the conference extremely positive. The students felt, in a possibly very stressful situation, quite relaxed and even happy to be there. Creating such a safe environment and comfortable discourse made this event, which again can be stressful for all parties, one of progress and focused on the student.

Now What?
Something I am going to take forward with me is two-fold. First I would like to implement the style of “asking questions” more in my personal practice. It is something I feel benefits everyone when implemented, as it allows everyone to reflect and actually think about the situation at hand. With parents, students, and colleagues, I feel like questioning is a tool I can better use to gauge the temperature in my classroom. Secondly, making the conference student led was something I will take with me it my future classrooms. It allows the students to present what they’ve learned. They may have done it in class, but now it allows them the opportunity to break down the wall between school and home and actually demonstrate their learning to their parents. This is something that is lacking more often then not and makes the content of the classroom feel more “real-world” applicable to both the students and the parents.

Retroactive Post: Another Fine Day

What?
I learned something today. Well all be told, I learned many things but I was directly taught something this morning by one of my students. Last week, when the students were doing review for their upcoming social studies portfolios, I had the question posed to me, “Mr. Hiebert, when did the Spanish Flue Epidemic end?”. Truth be told, I had no idea. I knew it was sometime around the end of the 1920s but I wasn’t sure. I inquired of why the were wondering about the end of Spanish Flu and was informed they must prepare for epidemic like that one in their upcoming social studies project where they create their own country. I asked if they needed that information right now and they replied that it wasn’t crucial and were just simply curious.! I took a step away planning on simply looking up the information when I had one of those “ah-ha” moments. Curiosity! The first sign of a good teachable moment! I returned to the group and confessed that I unfortunately did not know when Spanish Flu ended but never fear, I had a plan. They were going to tell me. I would be back in a week and on that day they would have researched the information they would need and teach me! They jumped at the opportunity and seemed very enthusiastic to teach their teacher.
Today, as the students filtered into their seats, this particular group rushed up to me and rambled off not only the date of the end of Spanish Flu, but several other facts that I was unaware of. They were excited, engaged, and now had the information. I asked if this would help them on their project and they said they had some more information about how to protect their country against epidemics like Spanish Flu, information they wouldn’t have if I had simply told them the answer. Taking advantage of this teachable moment certainly paid off.

So What?
Upon reflection, finding enthusiasm can sometimes be difficult in the classroom. The fact that these students were excited to be my little research project was probably more due to the good nature of these particular students, however I do believe that providing the students with opportunity to take their learning (or in this case learning of others) into their own hands gives them a new sense of autonomy. Autonomy = Passion. And Passion = Knowledge Acquisition.

Now What?
These are concepts I am putting labels on now that I am in a post secondary class learning about them, but are pretty obvious when thought about. However, obvious as they may be, they are often passed over for the sake of ease. It is easier to just tell them the information but it will not have the impact of having them research it and then, most importantly, teach it to me. I am reminded of that quote ““We Learn . . .10% of what we read, 20% of what we hear, 30% of what we see, 50% of what we see and hear, 70% of what we discuss, 80% of what we experience, and 95% of what we teach others.” I want to take that philosophy forward with me and keep my eyes open for situations such as this to continue putting the student in the driver’s seat of their own education.