Language Connection Professional

Reassessing Teacher-Parent Conferences     It all started when I started experiencing those Teacher-Parent conferences as a parent, about a decade ago. I just couldn't believe that feedback from professional teachers could be so shallow, with flimsy, oversimplified comments like 'she's smart, she can do much better if she tries harder' So I started a number of workshops with my colleagues, analysing ways of making those meetings more efficient and meaningful. In the last couple of years we've been looking at student-led conferences. I've been reading a lot about what's been happening around the world and how SLTPCs work in various schools in the US, UK and Finland. I thought of sharing my reflections on 2 of the resources I have used in my little research. here goes: Journal  :   Students Take Center Stage. By: Tucker, Kaylen, Principal, 02716062, Jan/Feb 2016, Vol. 95, Issue 3  Introduction : Sonora Elementary School (California

Thoughts on the idea of being a Reflective Teacher  ‘Reflection’ is certainly not an unfamiliar concept in my profssional life. With the support of excellent and motivated teachers in our language school, I feel that, as a director of studies, I have managed to implant the seed of reflection both in and out of the classroom.               As teachers we help our learners become responsible of their own learning. We try to do this on various levels (setting learning goals with our students, working on tasks which are based on critical thinking and not merely on presenting new language, getting regular feedback on both the material and the approach used in class, showing them simple reflection strategies) Needless to say, we do not always succeed.         As professional teachers we have created a ‘sharing’ culture which allows us to be more reflective even as we plan our lessons. We upload and share all our LPs and resources ,and we have set up an informal ‘peer obser