Student Leaders pt.3 - SAT Accomplishments

Our inaugural Student Advisory Teams have concluded their assignments. Prior to the formation of these teams, my only hopes were that we would 1) begin to develop students to take-on leadership roles within our school, and 2) begin to give students a voice in regards to the decisions that we make that impact our school. Unfortunately, I did not have a clear, detailed plan as to how we would accomplish either of those two things. Nonetheless, throughout the past two months, it has been an absolute pleasure to watch these teams of students brainstorm ideas and plan actions that could improve our school.

The Student Advisory Team comprised of kindergarten, first, and second grade students decided early-on that they wanted to find a way to minimize the distractions that occur in the classroom while students are on the playground at recess. What follows is the skit/video - A Recess Rules Reminder - that the K-2 Student Advisory Team created to share with each of the classrooms in our school.

Our third through fifth grade Student Advisory Team had a larger laundry list of upgrades that they wanted to see take place. Amongst the things that we were able to accomplish:

• Announcing student birthdays, weekly, over the intercom
• Allowing fifth grade students to get the first opportunity for seconds at lunch
• No longer prohibiting students from talking with their peers at lunch (we even incorporated music playing in the background for our students during lunch)
• Having more assemblies, which they planned and then led an assembly regarding caring for all of our K-5 students
• (They wanted to raise money for new recess equipment, but I informed them that our Elementary Support Organization was writing a grant as well as planning to use some of the money raised from our walk-a-thon for that purpose)

My hope is that these students will continue to take-on leadership roles within our school despite no longer being a part of our Student Advisory Teams.

I am excited about the two new Student Advisory Teams that will form within the next week.

Like last time, the plan will be to start by asking the new members of our student advisory teams to begin thinking about what they would change about our school if they had a magic wand with such powers. From there we will see what kinds of ideas they formulate that we can explore implementing.

Because after all, this school belongs to our students. It should be our obligation to make every effort to make our school the place that our students envision.

The Caring is Contagious poster that was designed to have every student in the school sign as their pledge to be caring.

Student Involved Conferences - Feedback

As most of you know, this fall, we upgraded the format of our conferences to a student-involved parent-teacher conference. Allowing our students a seat at the table - giving them a voice and then allowing them to hear the expectations, feedback, etc. of his/her teacher and parent(s) is a big shift. This change came with some negative feedback, but overall the response that I received was very positive. Personally, I feel as though our conferences were a huge success.

What follows is the data that was compiled from the feedback that we received after our conferences.

At the time of conferences, our K-5 student population was 198 students
The teachers at Riverside Elementary School conducted 194 conferences this fall

• 98% of our students had a conference

Of the 194 conferences, our students were involved in 183 conferences

• 94% of our conferences involved the student

12 teachers provided me with feedback after our fall student-involved parent-teacher conferences.
Of those teachers that provided feedback...

• 92% felt that having students at the conference was better
• 100% felt that the process for the new conference format was both clear and effective
• 50% felt that 15-minutes was an adequate amount of time for each conference
• 50% felt that more than 15-minutes was needed for each conference

62 parents provided me with feedback after our fall student-involved parent-teacher conferences.
Of those parents that provided feedback...

• 98% had their child attend his/her student-involved parent-teacher conference

• 60% felt that having students at the conference was better
• 25% felt that having students at the conference was no different
• 15% felt that having students at the conference was no worse
• 100% felt that the process for the new conference format was clear
• 89% felt that the process for the new conference format was effective
• 56% felt that 15-minutes was an adequate amount of time for each conference
• 44% felt that more than 15-minutes was needed for each conference

This process was new, and like anything that is new it was not perfect. Some of the things that we plan to take into consideration as we plan conferences for the future (based off of feedback received as well as personal reflection) include:

• Extending the length of the conference
• Holding conferences at an earlier time of night, especially for our younger students
• Increasing vigilance regarding the conference schedule
• Increasing vigilance regarding the length of the conference
• Including a transition time before and after each conference
• Clarifying the strengths, areas to improve upon, goals document that was sent home prior to conferences
• Giving parents more of a voice in regards to scheduling their conferences
• Providing some form of childcare during conference times

Each conference was an opportunity for everyone to practice this new format. Over time, practice leads to improvement. We are confident that this process will continue to improve as teachers, students, and parents continue to gain experience being involved in these conferences. Your patience through the growing pains is appreciated. This is something that we truly believe will benefit our students.