Thursday, April 23, 2015

Teach it!: Confer

Since downloading Confer on my (well, the family's) iPad, I have touted the app to many people.  I've run through the program with a principal, team members, and friends.   It has been difficult to get people together to discuss it, but I have found time to walk several people through the app. It is a very intuitive app, and as such it is very easy to teach.  I found myself quickly explaining many of the features, and I found that my audience was always intrigued.  I think that the biggest hurdle with this app is the price.  For an iPad app, it is very expensive ($25.00 USD).  I don't regret paying that much, but I'm sure the price has dissuaded its fair share of potential users.  Members of leadership discussed buying the app for teachers of English, but as an iPad only app, it would mean the teachers would also need iPads.  I do think it would be a great purchase for a school, but probably on a want basis.  Many teachers are still more comfortable with a pencil and paper to take their notes.

Thing 11: Choose your Own - Confer

Confer is a pricey app.  However, at the start of this school year I decided that my goal was to make conferences a more consistent part of my students' classroom experiences.  I've tried various electronic and paper methods, but nothing really worked.  However, a colleague mentioned Confer for iPad, and I thought I would give it a try.  The demo is not great, but it did give a window into the functionality of the program.  I decided to bite the $25.00 bullet (steep for an app), and I haven't looked back.  It is an excellent tool for monitoring student progress.  Now, I often have my iPad with me so I can jot down any notes I think of.  My conferences with students have become more directed and specific, and I have been able to understand the clusters of needs in my classroom in more depth.  I already have further ideas for how I will use it next year.  It is a great tool.

How to use Confer:
- open up the app
- click on the + sign to create a new classroom
- once a name is chosen, you can add your students.  I put in both first and last names.  You can later organize students by either and more.
- Once your class has been created, click on it to see your list of students.  From here, you can select an individual student or a group.  You can also organize the list in a variety of ways.
- If you view an individual student, you will initially see only a comment box with a flag to the left and a pencil to the right.   The pencil lets you change their name, the flag "flags" them for your attention.
- above the pencil is a plus sign.  Click it and you will be able to create a conferencing note for that student.  It is automatically dated.  Here you can:
     -Take/include a photo
     -leave a comment
     -create a tag (I use this to mark what task they are on - ex. Novel Study)
     -highlight their current Strengths, Teaching Points, and Next Steps.  These titles can all be customized to suit your own terminology, or you can delete them and create new ones.  These are essentially tags for specific things the student can do well or is working to do well (Strength - Capitalization).
- You can print/email all notes, which is great when you want to attach a note to student work.
- That's pretty much it.  It is a very easy to use program.