Rancho Minerva is on a mission. A mission to provide the BEST experience for our students on a daily basis. In order to make this come to light, we are reimagining the way we do things around here. Starting in early October, a team of educators met over the course of a month to redesign our parent conference experience. Inspired by glimpses of success from the previous year’s student-led conferences, the team created a unique plan to include both students and parents.
The Redesign: We grew tired of seeing the traditional system of parent-teacher conferences become an incubator of negative feelings, finger pointing and a place where our students confidence was damaged. We desired a meeting focused on goals, strengths, and positive, forward-focused conversations.
The Product: Teaming up with Thrively, a recent start-up dedicated to helping students discover their strengths and passions, the team at Rancho Minerva designed a self-driven playlist that led students through strengths assessments, goal setting, reflection and career exploration. The end result was a plan titled, “My Future, My Way”. Every student at Rancho Minerva developed a plan, then either presented it at parent conferences, or - if not able to come - were charged with presenting at home to their parents.
The Result: It was truly inspiring to hear our students discuss their futures, reflections and plans on how they would redirect their focus to be successful. Parent pride overflowed at each table, as they had the opportunity to share their hopes and dreams for their child; building them up instead of tearing them down. Teachers were able to ask leading questions as a means of reflecting, and giving feedback to each student. The evening ended with students leaving not beat up, but encouraged to follow their future, their way.
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