There’s a noticeable difference in this year’s student-led conferences from last year’s: students arrived armed with their iPads and many shared their screens through the classroom Smartboards instead of sorting through a sheaf of papers at a desk.
Our fifth and sixth grade middle school student-led conferences are held every year in the Spring, and they are a time for students to present evidence of their own learning. The preparation process involves curating and analyzing their own work and work habits and happens throughout the school year, culminating in the conferences. Given the charge to come up with a presentation this year, several students made videos and Keynote presentations on their iPads; as well, the actual work they presented included both individual and group projects made using a variety of apps including iMovie and Explain Everything. Several students had paper work as well, as our goal with the iPad initiative isn’t to eradicate paper, but rather for the iPad to serve as an additional learning tool along with traditional materials like paper.
We are proud of and pleased with our young learners who, through processes like student-led conferences, are becoming their own learning specialists.