Last week we had our Student Led Conferences (SLCs). As Student Support Services (SSS), non-classroom teachers, we don’t have one place that we see students and one set of students. As a literacy specialist, I don’t even have one or two grade levels that I focus on.
That means a couple of things. I don’t meet with a bunch of kids and find out what they want to talk with their parents about. I also don’t have compile all the things that my students do and organize centres, classrooms, games, portfolios, etc. Most of the work is running around on the day of SLCs watching interactions and seeing how students share their knowledge, skills and engagements.
Some of it was pointless. I wasn’t in the right place at the right time. The kids chose to share different things than what I might have been interested in seeing. There were also some very interesting “formative data” moments. I watched an older brother of a grade 1 student take over a SLC and pretty much make fun of his brother’s writing and reading. This is a student that has struggled with reading fluency and using decoding skills. Of course he’s not confident in his abilities. I will use this information inchecking his level and supporting him.
I did struggle with feeling useless. Also, I think parents probably don’t exactly know what we’re doing there. How can I make this better for next time?
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