The teacher is able to spend 15 minutes with each student and parent
group; students spend one hour with their parents. For example, four
student-parent groups would be scheduled in the conference at the same
time, rotating through the four activities. Student A would be sharing his
portfolio with his parents; Student B would be solving a problem on the
board in a demonstration to her parents; Student C would be describing
her work in the classroom to her parents; and Student D and his parents
and the teacher would be reflecting and setting goals.
Whatever the format, students prepare for these conferences in many
different ways. In the Charlevoix-Emmet Intermediate School District in
Petosky, Michigan, students use an organizer to reflect on their learning
and prepare for the conference. They group their activities under three
main headings: (1) procedures and things to do before conference, (2) pro-
cedures and things to do at conference, and (3) portfolio checklist. Other
organizer sheets help students specifically summarize the academic objec-
tives they worked on, the things they think they did well, and the things
they want their parents to notice about their work. The organizer also offers
a space for parents to write comments after they have seen the child’s work.
Writing Narratives
In a classroom we visited in Scarsdale, New York, the teacher asks
her students to write a narrative on their report card regarding their
progress. The students describe their learning and how they might
improve it. They also give specific examples of work in which they have
shown the most persistence. Throughout their description, they discuss
how they use the Habits of Mind to discipline their work.
Narratives encourage students to be self-reflective before they see the
commentary the teacher has made. This type of writing also provides
an opportunity for students to measure their self-perception against
the teacher’s perception and, if there is a difference, to talk about any
misperceptions.
Sometimes teachers write a narrative rather than simply report aca-
demic progress with a number or letter grade. Susan Martinez at John
Lyman Elementary School in Middlefield, Connecticut, wrote this
progress report about a 2nd grader in her class:
264 Learning and Leading with Habits of Mind