Student-led Conferences by Mike Siekkinen

This year, my team tried a new approach to doing parent-teacher conferences. We let the student lead the conferences.

As teachers know, a typical parent-teacher conference is called by a parent or by the teachers to discuss student behavior/achievement/effort/etc. The purpose of the conference is still the same, but with student led conferences, the method changes.

Once a conference is scheduled, we provided students with a script (outline) of questions they were required to prepare for prior to the conference. Students would introduce themselves and then discuss their grades, behaviors, strengths and weaknesses. Parents would hear this from their child verses from a teacher. This also allowed students to “own” their behaviors.

We would sit back and respond when questioned or add to student’s discussion. We found that students were generally very honest in answering the questions. We also found that, especially when student performance was the issue, hearing directly from their child had much more of an impact on parents and was much less confrontational between parents and teachers. With this we also came up with a plan on how to proceed from there to help the student.

We came up with an initial script and then fine-tuned it as the year went on. This could easily be adapted to younger children up through high school. I am an eighth grade teacher and this method served us well this year. Give it a try for next school year. I think you will see the positive changes that occur.

Dr. Mike Siekkinen, a retired U.S. Navy submariner, became a teacher as a second career. He teaches history at St Marys Middle School as well as Adult and Career Education at Valdosta State in Georgia.

Fall Wall by Alicia Stansell

Loving what you do is sometimes easier said than done. As a teacher my heart rejoices when a student reaches understanding of a difficult concept or when a student gets excited about coming to class. During late Fall though it is all too common place to fall on the other side of love, the painful side where circumstances try to convince you that you do not love your job. You put your heart, soul, emotions, and sometimes well being into the job, and wonder if you are making a difference. Seeing growth in student’s takes time, and burn out is high in the teaching profession. It is important to focus on the little milestones. The day to day has many joys and much heartache, so it is all about staying focused on the good you are making in the classroom. Actively seek out the things that made you choose teaching and try to block out the rest. 



Teaching in late Fall is much like swimming to a distant shore. The paperwork, the e-mails, and low grades can create an ocean so deep and vast that you feel alone without hope of survival. You feel your muscles fatigue and contemplate giving up. The more you swim and use those muscles, the greater the pain sometimes feels. Sometimes you just have to lay back, relax, and take a deep breath while watching the clear blue sky. Doing so allows you to float while you recharge those aching muscles so you can find your inner calm. Once your strength is back you can regain your treading towards the shore that will eventually come. Find the good in the day-to-day, search for the clam, and do not be afraid to let yourself relax so you can come back stronger the next day or the next week. 

Give yourself a break so you can keep loving what you do, even when times are hard.

Alicia is in her 8th year of teaching STEM contents with public schools. She believes in the power of education to improve peoples lives. 

What to Do on the First Day by Scott Harris

"Why are we here?" I ask my new students. "Why did you come to school today?"

Typically, they are stunned by the question. Their faces seem to be asking, "Where are the rules? The syllabi? Why are you asking us to talk on the first day?"

By now, some student will say, "Because there's a law!" After the laughs quiet down, I ask, "So the law is why you came here today? If there were no law, you wouldn't be here?" (Ninety percent of such clever students don't respond. They realize that they are here for more than the law.) We rapid-fire a list of their reasons: to see their friends, they're bored from the summer, to learn, etc.

Quickly, the better students start connecting education with the quality of their future. While this is hopeful, it is also shallow. They say, "We're here to learn so we can get good grades."

I ask, "Why do you need good grades?"

They respond, "So we can get into a good college?"

"So you got up today to get good grades, so you can get into a good college?"

"And what then, after college?" In a satirical tone, I pretend I am one of them. "I don't know, sir, good grades, good college, good life. No one told me I had to think past that."

I ask, "What is the good life after college?"

One student inevitably suggests making lots of money, but others quickly pick this apart. Eventually one will offer, "To be happy."

"What does it mean to be happy?"

"Are you going to give us any answers," exclaims a frustrated student, "or just keep asking us questions?"

"I ask questions," I say. "I'm still figuring out some of these myself. But it seems to me that while happiness may be subjective, there are certain characteristics of human nature -- love, respect, security, and yes, even a certain amount of money -- that are necessary to be happy."

We start discussing what a liberal art education is and how it contributes not only to good grades and college, but the good life. ("Why take Chemistry?" I ask. You can imagine the line of questioning.)

By now, the bell catches us and there are lots of groans in disappointment. "That went so fast." "This was just getting interesting!" "I want to talk about this more!" 

I tell them, "I guess you'll have to come back tomorrow."

Walking out, I hear them say to each other, "This class is different" and "How come we don't talk about this in our other classes?"

What a shame that students can go until their junior year without really having talked much about why we're here.

Talking about why we're here has made the first day of school my favorite day.

During his 25 year career in education, Scott Harris has taught U.S. & World History, Philosophy, I.B.’s Theory of Knowledge, and coached swimming & water polo. He currently teaches AP Psychology & Macroeconomics at Ronald Regan H.S. in San Antonio, TX.