As I said above, independence is key with these reflections and goals. I originally created these documents for my third graders to use as independent tools during student led conferences so they knew exactly what their goals were. I wanted to make sure that they felt confident to share their successes with their parents during these conferences with little help from me. Of course, it took practice and hard work before conferences to make sure they were ready.

First, we had a great discussion about reflecting back on things we have learned. We worked together as a group on how to reflect and remember the things that we studied. The easiest one to start with in my group was reading because goals is something we talk about every day during guided reading. I used my same terminology I use during groups to tap into their schema about their reading goals. After reflecting a bit (and brainstorming all over the white board), we thought about the things we still needed help with and create goals based on that (perfect cause and effect lesson built in here as well!) These were goals that my students knew they needed more practice and support in.

After the whole group lesson, my kids brainstormed on paper prior to filling out the reflection sheets. Each reflection sheet goes over Math, Reading, Writing, Behavior and, of course, Organization (my favorite!!) Once their goals were completed on their own paper and they have made their notes on their next steps, I met with students 1:1 to make sure there goal made sense and was clear enough. Especially because these would be key to their student led conferences. After some editing they were ready for the goal sheets.

After they wrote in their best handwriting, they shared/practiced presenting their goals to a partner. This was great practice for when their parents came in and the show was all theirs! They have stuck these in the interactive binders and are ready to present their goals and work for conferences, ahead of schedule! You could easily staple these together to make a book, glue into a notebook, or go completely digital with any PDF annotation app.

To make sure this wasn’t a once conferences come around activity, I have made the reflective sheets into each quarter of the school year. Each goal sheet reflects on the previous season so they are always in a cycle of remembering, reflecting, and goal setting. Grab a copy of this goal setting student book for student success below!

So, I’m curious, do you have student led conferences or only parent/teacher conferences? I’ve always been schools with student led so it’s all I know! I would love to know more about your classroom. If you liked what you read, or want to share with your teaching partner, make sure to pin the image above to save for later! Good luck with your conferences whenever they come around!