Budget

To successfully implement student-led conferencing into Esterhazy High School, a few resources will be needed. They would all enhance the process to run as smoothly as possible, and show the importance of this change.


 * Time is a precious commodity to all teachers. If the school wants to stress the importance of this shift in teaching, then time must be allowed for the teachers volunteering to pilot this program to meet together as a team. A team of 4-5 teachers will be needed to implement this process, and it is difficult for this number of people to coordinate schedules. It would be great to have release time, on a biweekly, or even monthly cycle, to discuss the preconference process. It is important to have a certain amount of consistency amongst teachers facilitating this process. It would also be helpful to have a weekly time to meet, perhaps during a scheduled RTI time (2:00-2:25). A staff member could be brought in to supervise all mentor groups (perhaps in the gym), or mentor groups could double-up at times to give teachers a time to collaborate.


 *  As with many new ideas and concepts, it helps to see it already in action, and to talk with those who are using it and seeing success. It would be to the team’s advantage to be given this opportunity, especially at the beginning of the year. The Good Spirit School Division office should be contacted to gather names of schools that are implementing student-led conferences, so that meetings can be facilitated with teams from each school. It is important to look at a variety of ways to implement the different steps to this process, and to change them to fit your school. Release time and travel will have to be accommodated.


 * It is important for all teachers working with portfolios to be educated on current assessment practices – namely portfolios. There are several professional development opportunities across our province that have been, and will be focused on this very topic. The school division and school can support the teacher team by providing them opportunities to attend and further their knowledge. One specific opportunity that would benefit the team, is Finding Our Way V: Assessment, Evaluation and Accountability – a conference hosted by the SPDU this coming October.