Individual Conferences: Session 2

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Discuss the answers to the Goal Value Exploration sheet of sentence completions from session 1. Use the following guiding questions and your analysis of their responses:

  1. Look for patterns within the responses on the Goal Value Exploration worksheet.
    Does the student seem to have high or low interest in the class?
    Does the student seem to perceive the class as having high or low utility for him/her?
  2. What things do interest the student?
    What does the student value?
    Where does the student put forth effort?
    How could some of that enthusiasm be channeled into school?

Additional Questions For Discussion:

1. Are you doing as well in this class as you could?





2. Are you doing as well in this class as you would like to?





3. When do you put forth the most effort to do well in school?





4. What do you find interesting about this class?





5. How is the class useful to you now?





6. How will the class be useful to you in the future?





  • If you have not done so already, explain interest and utility value to the student.
  • Talk to the student about how he/she perceives his/her interest and utility values. Ask the student to provide concrete examples that illustrate his/her likes or dislikes within the class. Don’t accept vague or general answers or “I don’t know.” Instead, ask clarifying questions to try to tease out the students thoughts and feelings about the class.
  • Tell the student that next week you will be discussing ways to increase the value of class/school.
  • Explain to the student that people usually engage iun activities wither because they enjoy them (intrinsic value) or becasue they expect some sort of reward, pay-off, or future benefit (utility value).
  • Ask the student to brainstorm the interest/intrinsic value and utility value of the class, and to bring his/her ideas to the conference session next week.

Next Section: Session 3
Previous Section: Session 1