Individual Student Conferences - How and Why I Use Them

Periodically throughout the semester, I try to meet with students individually. I typically pull up their progress report, and we discuss their current progress in the course. These conferences give me an opportunity to remind students if they have make up work and discuss assignments/tests that may need to be redone or retaken. I can also address behavior issues in a private manner. The conferences give students the opportunity to tell me what their needs are, like if they need additional supports for an assignment. It also gives them privacy to discuss anything that may be hindering their learning in class. In my Advanced Placement (AP) class, this structure also allows me to build confidence in students leading up to the AP Exam. We look at their unit test data over the semester and determine which units should be their focus of review as well as which units they can help others review.

This past week, I started individual conferences in two of my classes, AP Psychology and US history. My classroom set up allows me to conduct the conferences in the hall because I can see through the windows to monitor the whole group. This ensures privacy, but if your situation does not allow this, you can hold conferences anywhere in your classroom. Before I had this classroom, I held conferences at my desk and asked students to come around behind the desk so we were on equal footing.

Although I have not talked to every student yet, I learned several things that have informed my planning for this week. One student said their recent string of absences and subsequent sliding of grades was because of their job. Without our free lunch period, they had not been able to work the required hours for their job and continue their academic success. However, they had recently quit the job because their academics were more important. Another student was excited to tell me they had gotten their first job at a local restaurant. They said it was much harder than they had anticipated to work and balance school, and the resulting fatigue had prevented them from making up a test. We were able to develop a plan to ensure their long-term success. One student requested a new seat; they reported being distracted by a couple students near them. That might have been a difficult admission in the presence of those classmates. I can use this information to restructure some things in my classes to help more students find success.

Some students are more receptive to these conferences than others, and admittedly, I haven’t done them enough this year to make all my students comfortable discussing their strengths and needs. I am hoping that next school year is not as chaotic and that I can hold these conferences at least bimonthly. Please share how you use conferencing in your classes, and feel free to share questions you have as well. I know there are ways I can make my conferences more effective and efficient.