Reflection Of A Student Lead Conference

The professional development symposium was very informative and fun. This was my first time attending a professional development event. I found the symposium to be insightful as educators (the audience) collaborated together to share ideas of how to increase parent involvement. Educators in the audience could also offer ideas of things they have tried that have worked well for them. The entire conference was about improving our partnership (as teachers) to parents. It reiterated the importance of parental involvement. The speaker, Dr. Kathy Grant also shared practical ways to involve parents who may not be able to devote time because of work or other demands. I enjoyed the later half of the conference too, in which Dr. Grant shared the idea

This is a new idea that I have never heard of before. It was interesting to hear both educators and a parents’ reaction to this idea. I have a seven-year-old daughter and I could imagine how excited she would be to walk around the room and show me her work. This would help a student to take ownership of their assignments and give students an opportunity to practice leadership skills. A student lead conference could also help a parent feel more at ease during the conference as both (parent and teacher) are working together for the child. It supports a growth mindset and is a way to nurture family

This is a great tool that schools can use to help connect parents to community resources that could benefit their families. As teachers, we must do what we can to make sure that our students’ most basic needs are being taking care of without this it is hard for children to be in the mind frame of wanting to learn.

* The last idea that I want to mention is just any activity that I can do as a teacher that includes the family. It is vital that educators be proactive in trying to design and plan lessons that include the family. I love some of the ideas that Dr. Grant shared such as the family post office and the ideas of parents writing their dreams for their child on a ribbon to make a class chandelier with. There are endless possibilities to use to help strengthen parent and educator partnership. I will take man of these lessons and ideas into my own classroom one day. As a mother myself, I know how important it is to a child to have a strong parent – teacher partnership. As educators we must always strive to connect the child’s world to his or her classroom experiences. As an example, my daughter gets so excited when I am able to come eat lunch with her at school. I have not been able to this year because of my class schedule and observations, but it means to the world to her. I love the idea of having parent “special reader” to come and read to the class. I may now talk to my child’s teacher to see if