Getting Quiet Students Ready to Lead Their Own Conference
In a student-led conference, the student explains their own progress to their family while the teacher mostly listens. For outgoing students, it is a chance to shine. For quiet students, it can feel like being put on a stage.
The answer is not to let quiet students skip it. It is to prepare them well enough that the conference feels like a conversation they already know how to have.
Why it is worth the effort
Jane Bailey and Thomas Guskey's book on implementing student-led conferences frames them around relevance, responsibility and better communication with families, and it gives real attention to preparing students through portfolios, reflection time and role-play. That preparation is exactly what quiet students need most.
Five ways to prepare a quiet student
- Script the opening. The first thirty seconds are the hardest. Give every student the same first two sentences to say, word for word.
- Let the work do the talking. Two or three pieces of work, each with a sticky note saying what it shows. The student points and explains; the paper carries the weight.
- Rehearse with a partner. Twice. Once with a classmate, once with you or another adult playing the family.
- Plan the hard question. Every student should prepare an answer to "What's been hardest for you?" It is the question families ask most.
- Allow a card. A small note card with prompts is not cheating. It is how adults give talks too.
During the conference
Sit a little back from the table. If a quiet student freezes, ask a question that points at the work: "Tell your mom what you changed on this one." Resist the urge to take over. A slow, honest conference is better than a smooth one the teacher ran.
After
Ask each student one question the next day: what went better than you expected? Quiet students often surprise themselves, and noticing that is part of the point.
If you are building the materials, this student-led conference template for middle and high school includes a speaking script and a portfolio planner you can adapt.
Sources
- Bailey, J. M., & Guskey, T. R. (2001). Implementing Student-Led Conferences. Corwin Press (ERIC ED447092): https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED447092
Clay Shumate is a certified secondary Social Studies teacher in the public schools of West Alabama, with seven years of classroom experience, a B.A. in History, and an M.Ed. in Secondary Education. He writes about project-based learning, student responsibility, respect, and practical ways to hold young people to a higher standard while giving them room to learn from mistakes.