Student-Led Parent Conferences: How They Work in My Primary Classroom

Our student-led parent conferences always center around each first-grader’s individual blog. Their blogs are an online portfolio that shows their learning in all of our subject areas through the year. Because this work has been posted through the term, the parents have almost all seen the work before, but the comments that their children make during the conference regarding their goals help the parent to know what specific skills we have been working on and what to watch for through the next few months.

It's Never "Just a Comment"

All of my first graders’ eyes are glued to the Smartboard in our classroom whenever we take the time to read our blog comments. Their eyes shine as they read or hear a comment that has been written just for them. The fact that someone they care about or someone we will never meet took the time to type a message to their class or to their personal blog has a big impact on them.

1st Graders Self-Assess: "I Want To Be Excellent."

I’ve nodded sagely as people discussed whether students should help create their own assessment rubric. Of course they should. Why doesn’t everyone do this, I wondered? It just never occurred to me to do it in MY classroom. It wasn’t that I didn’t think my students could do it. I somehow didn’t get my thinking from the “should” to the “I’m doing it.” Until this week.

Cakes, Snakes and Boxes: Passion-based Learning & Early Literacy

I have wondered for a long time how passion and project based learning would change my primary classroom. I have read with fascination the blogs of teachers who made this shift, but I have yet to find an example of a primary teacher sharing this change. Having an entire class of pre-readers and writers in your classroom alters the playing field for exploring your passions. This year, I decided to find out for myself what the difference would be in my grade one learning space.

Virtual Collaboration for Students: What's a Primary Teacher to Do?

When I talk to other teachers about the benefits of student collaboration, often their biggest question is: How do I find other classrooms to collaborate with? If you are already connected with other educators through social media, this part seems easy, but if you are just beginning your connected journey, it’s a very real problem. If you’re still a little short on virtual teacher colleagues, I’d like to suggest three ways you can begin to connect.