Student Conferencing
Student conferring is a structured interaction between teachers and students, which is intended to develop academic skills and self-reflection. This is significant as it promotes the personal feedback, the involvement of students, and their learning responsibility.
The main aim of student conferencing is to render student conferencing to the student more individualized and provide them with useful feedback on their work in order to help them figure out their strong and weak points. For instance, in a writing conference, a teacher can have a dialogue about specific elements of a student's essay, leading them to the right path of refining their arguments and achieve better clarity.
Prior to student conferences, teachers may accomplish effective preparation via reviewing student work ahead of time and detecting the major points to be discussed. They ought to design a structured timetable which stipulates the specific objectives for the meeting, like discussing writing mechanics or comprehension skills, and make up open-ended questions to inspire the student to think about their learning.
One of the methods to create the air of active participation of students in conferencing is to employ various techniques such as clearly outlining the self-assessment criteria, using rubrics for projected reflection, and providing a welcoming atmosphere for questioning. For example, a teacher may invite a student to assess their own project using a checklist, which will later help them to express their thoughts out loud.
In fact, student conferencing has been one of the most effective ways to raise learning outcomes. This is because it gives feedback based on the specific needs of the students that would help them figure out what their next learning targets are. When students are involved in discussions that really matter about their work, they are more feasible to formulate realistic goals and obtain the abilities needed for independent learning, which will result in better academic results in the end.