A Reflection on Student-Led Portfolio Conferences
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by: Meghan O’Donnell

I will admit it – heading into portfolio conferences, I am stressed out. If you asked me to write an The Reviewer article on portfolio conferences the week before conferences, I would tell you you’re nuts! It seems the month of November has come from out of nowhere, and the pile of accumulated work necessary to correct for trimester reports grows exponentially, and students keep asking when they’re going to get their writing pieces back!! That break we had over teacher convention seems ages ago, I have an almost one year old at home, and I can’t seem to find enough hours in the day to complete anything! How will I possibly survive 21 conferences with enthusiasm and energy and speak cohesively with families about their student’s progress? And then I remember - it’s not about me. It’s about the students. They are at the center of their portfolio conferences. They are the ones sharing their work from the trimester, highlighting the areas of success, and, as difficult as it can be sometimes, acknowledging areas that were difficult, or challenging. In anywhere from 1 hour to 2 ½ hours (conferences run concurrently) students and their parent(s) sit uninterrupted and communicate about learning. For some families, it is the only opportunity to sit together without the other members of the family present. And for students, it is a time to get some one-on- one attention from their parents and their teacher. Granted that may not be their first pick of audiences; it can be nerve-wracking. But they are also talking about a subject they know the most about – themselves.

They know best why they have not read enough this trimester or why they save all their weekly goals for Thursday night homework, or how they might get higher scores on their computation tests. In the time provided at the conference, in a safe atmosphere (some families bring snacks, and other conferences are going on at the same time so no one is alone in this) students have covered all the subject areas, have discussed their study/work habits (or lack there of) and have acknowledged the many other important things that occupy their time (band, chorus, sports, lessons, siblings, hobbies, etc). Looking critically but openly at their work, they agree some areas need specific attention. Together with their parents, we create goals for the next trimester. They might decide to pick a different spot to read at home or at school, or to use their organizer to plan out their after school schedule so they can manage homework every night, or that they should practice computation skills twice a week. My job is to assist students and their families in crafting the goals, so they are not so lofty they are unachievable (i.e. “Get along better with your brother”), and not so vague they are not measurable at the next conference (i.e. “Read more”).
There is no denying that student-led portfolio conferences are difficult. They take a tremendous amount of time to prepare for, and they are contingent upon the parent being a willing member of a student’s progress. And they are intimate; when I sit down at the conference with a student and their parent, it is face to face, open communication…we discuss the great stuff, and the difficult stuff. There is very little room for denial. Conversations can be tense, and sometimes there are tears (parents, students or mine!) but they are honest, and the deal is at the end of the conference, we get to start the next trimester fresh, with new directions and new strategies towards success. Students take ownership for their learning, and after the conference, we all feel a tremendous amount of pride and an enormous sense of accomplishment.
For me, I am still tired and the work continues to accumulate, but I am fired up for the next trimester and all it has to bring. Oh,but right, it’s not about me!
       
Meg O’Donnell is an Alpha Team teacher at Shelburne Community School. She is a National Board Certified teacher, instructor at the VT Middle Grades Institute and a long time board member representing the North West Region. She may be reached at: modonnell@cssu.org.