From the Students' View

Parent/Teacher Conferences are around the corner!  As the first quarter wraps up, teachers are preparing an outline for the remainder of school.  The students are reflecting on what they've done so far in their classes and setting personal goals to extend their learning.

As humans, we naturally reflect on our environment and personal situations.  This is a meaningful piece of the learning process.  When teachers ask students to reflect on their personal learning, students recognize their own strengths and weaknesses, which leads to goal setting and also the ability to individually determine peer tutors.

All across the district, students are reflecting just like this as they prepare for student-led conferences.  Student-led conferences allow students to determine specific individual strengths and recognize areas in which they need to focus.  This allows students the opportunity to gauge their own learning process and also accept, or "own" the learning.

As our students grow up in the 21st Century, their needs and skills will certainly change from what we once needed to succeed in this world.  Demonstrating the ability to identify personal strengths and weaknesses, formulating plans and goals to make changes, and giving presentations are all 21st Century Skills.  Joplin students participating in Student-Led Conferences are well on their way to this approach in learning.