#21. A Meeting of Minds - Student-Teacher Conferences

There are a number of reasons to implement blended learning.  It helps the students develop executive functioning skills, can provide a more "college-like" experience, allows for flexibility in scheduling and can lead to increases in student satisfaction levels.  When I first sought to pilot a blended learning class, my primary goal was to provide my students with more flexibility in their schedules. Many of my students take a rigorous course load and sacrifice study halls and lunch hours to fit in all of their coursework.  This can create a logistical nightmare when the students are absent. When they return, they are not only stressed about all of the work that they need to make up; but they don't have time built in their day to see their teachers, makeup quizzes and tests, or even take a deep breath!

With this is mind, I designed my flex days to include activities that the students could complete in or out of the classroom.  I utilized videos, online discussions and projects to allow my students more flexibility. Then, if they needed to meet with a teacher, or take a deep breath, they had the time to do so and could complete the assignment later. However, this created an unexpected problem. If the students were working independently during our class flex time, what should I be doing?  I knew what the time should not be used for: office hours, teacher prep time, teacher meetings etc., but I wasn't sure how I could best use the time to serve all of my students.

I initially planned to use this time for small group discussions, remediation and test corrections and, as it turned out, this wasn't the best use of our time.  I had a core group of students who came in every flex period - and they were awesome.  We established a really tight bond. But, I wanted to build stronger relationships with all of my students!   I also wanted to help better prepare my students for the future, which for most of them involves some post-secondary schooling.  I knew what I wanted, but I didn't know how to do it. Then, I had the opportunity to meet with some of the teachers who will be participating in the pilot this year and inspiration hit. The English teachers shared how they will be using this time for small group discussion and individual conferences.  Individual conferences?? Of course! I could use this time by meeting with every student, individually, at least once per semester. 

As I was reading the book, Powerful Teaching, I was struck by how the authors bring students into the process of learning.  I have found that most of my students don't really know how to study. They might try a few different strategies - they love to re-read their notes, or drill themselves on Quizlet - but they don't really know what works or why it works.

Powerful Teaching shares four strategies to use with students,
1. Retrieval Practice - Requiring the students to demonstrate what they know through retrieval activities that are "point-less" but "meaning-full". This website is an amazing resource.
2. Spaced practice - Spreading learning opportunities over time.
3. Interleaving - Mixing up the order of content to require students to differentiate between similar concepts.
4. Metacognition- Providing students with the opportunity to identify what they know and what they don't.

H. Chambers, P. Argwal, P. Bain,
C. Schwarzrock

All of the pieces fell into place when I went to a presentation by the authors of the book Powerful Teaching. In the presentation, they suggested using the following 3 questions to guide students in processing their own learning:
1. How do you study?
2. Why do you study this way?
3. Does it work?
These three questions became the bedrock of my student-teacher conferences. I wanted to use my flex time to encourage the students to think about how they learn and to learn strategies that will help them learn more effectively for the rest of their lives!

The Set-Up
The students will meet with me a minimum of one time per semester during a flex period.  They will be asked to complete a pre-conference form and to turn it in the day before their conference.  The Pre-Conference sheet is divided into 3 sections:
1. Grade Analysis and Reflection - Including the current grade in the class, any missing work and student goals for the class.
2. Metacognition - How do you study? Why do you study this way? Does it work?
3. Reflection - Is there anything going on that I should be aware of?  What is something that you are proud of?

I am really excited to meet with my students and hear their answers to these questions. My hope is that they will experience a stronger sense of ownership for their learning once they become a part of the process.  Is this the only way to use flex time? Absolutely not! As we begin to roll this model out to other courses, I have been amazed and inspired by the creativity of my colleagues.  They are using this time for group discussions and debates, writer workshops, differentiating instruction, group projects, etc. This is just one way that this time can be used. I am very thankful that the administration at my school and district allowed us the flexibility to be creative in how we meet the needs of our students.

Lastly, I am looking for a little help!  What do you think that I should name the conferences?  I have vacillated between the boring but succinct "Student-Teacher Conference" to a "Meeting of the Minds" but neither title has grabbed me yet. What would you call them? Please let me know in the comments section.

Thank you for taking the time to read my post. Please let me know if you have any questions or comments. 
Cori