Parent-student conference

Normally, we have a couple of parent-teacher conferences each year, but of course with email, we have so much more contact with the teachers. But Biscuit's school does something interesting with grades 3-5 for the third-quarter conference.

They let the students lead their own conferences.

The kids spent a lot of time putting together a portfolio of things they've done in the third quarter. And although they didn't realize it, it's was actually a review, too.

They wrote up what they wanted to cover, and they were given a list of information they had to provide for the parents. Each student created a folder with his or her name on it with a descriptive anagram on the front. 

Biscuit had a sheet that he read to us saying that he was the teacher, and we needed to respect that. He was in charge. Then at the end, we had to fill out an evaluation and tell some things we learned from our child.

We met in the cafeteria, and we had to sit across from Biscuit as he talked to us. The teachers went up and down the rows checking on the students.

One of Biscuit's friends was sitting right beside us. As soon he and his dad sat down, the dad grabbed the folder, pulled out the checklist and started reading down it, telling the kid when he thought they had completed each step. I realize it was a lot faster than letting the kid take charge, but the whole point was that they were taking responsibility for their own work.

Anyway, here's Biscuit's folder:

Here's the checklist of everything Biscuit had to tell us about. It included directions such as:

Reading: Share your Reading and Writing Goal Sheet with your family. Discuss your current goals and how you chose them. Talk about how you can work toward your goals at home.

Math: Look at the 5 Minute Multiplication Quiz. Look at how many you got correct, which problems were tricky for you, and which were easy. Make a plan to continue to make improvements on math fact fluency.

Then Biscuit got to tell us about a project the class had been working on — the solar system.

As he explained what he had learned, he got really excited. He was waving his hands around, and had a really fun expression on his face like he was sharing something cool and brand-new with someone who had never heard of it.

I did have to laugh, though. I love the way Biscuit's brain works sometimes.

"And guys," he said, "think about this. The sun is the only star in our solar system. The stars that we see at night are in other systems. And they're so far away, all we can see is a little dot of stars."

"That's really cool," I said to him.

"But wait," he said. "Get this. If I were an alien in another solar system, and I was looking toward Earth, I would see the sun as a star. Can you believe that? Our sun would look like a tiny star to an alien. IT'S ABSURD!"

Just as he said "absurd," his teacher walked by and laughed. She stopped and talked for a couple of minutes.

We were really impressed with his conference.