When fifth- and sixth-graders at The Valley School of Ligonier swapped paper worksheets for digital Wakelet portfolios, something unexpected happened: conferences stopped feeling like formal report-outs and started feeling like real conversations. What began as a small pilot quickly gained momentum and has now expanded across the entire middle school, grades 5 through 8, making conferences more engaging, increasing parent participation, and giving students a genuine sense of ownership over their learning.
“Parents weren’t just hearing about their child’s learning, they were seeing it” said Reneé Moore, Teacher and Technology Advisor.
Located in western Pennsylvania, The Valley School of Ligonier is an independent K–8 school grounded in helping students seek wisdom, embrace integrity, cultivate wellness, and build community. That philosophy comes to life during its student-led conferences, where learners guide their families through Wakelet portfolios filled with projects, photos, Google Docs, videos, and short reflections from every subject. The shift has transformed how families experience progress: one parent, after attending her seventh grader’s traditional paper-based conference, walked into her fifth grader’s portfolio session next door and was amazed by the difference.
For students, the impact goes deeper than presentation. “The portfolios made students more honest” Reneé shared. “They could show real growth, like improving a test score from 46% to 89%, and talk about how they learned to study differently.” Instead of highlighting only polished work, students tell the full story of their learning journey; challenges, progress, and breakthroughs included.
đź•“ Making Time for Portfolios
Of course, building thoughtful portfolios takes time, something every school struggles to find. Reneé and her team have made it work by weaving Wakelet naturally into the school day rather than treating it as an extra task.
They now start earlier in the year, introducing Wakelet in September so students don’t feel rushed. Artifacts are added during advisory and a daily “WIN” (What I Need) period, giving students regular, low-pressure moments to reflect and upload their work. A favorite new strategy is the Wakelet “Parking Lot,” where students collect potential artifacts, tests, projects, or photos as they go, then later choose what best represents their learning and add reflections.
By the time conference day arrives in February, students aren’t scrambling to assemble evidence. They’re ready to lead the conversation, confidently sharing not just what they did, but what they learned along the way.
đź’ˇ How Ms. Moore Gets Students Started with Portfolios
For many teachers, the hardest part of using portfolios isn’t the technology it’s knowing how to begin. A blank page can feel overwhelming for both students and staff. That’s why Ms. Moore focuses on making the start simple, structured, and creative.
Instead of introducing Wakelet with a long explanation, she eases students in through a fun, low-pressure project. This year, students created a colorful Pop Art design in Canva first, then learned how to upload and link it in Wakelet giving them an instant win and their very first portfolio artifact on day one.
From there, she removes the guesswork. Using Wakelet’s Activity feature, Ms. Moore sends ready-made portfolio templates directly to each student, so they’re never starting from scratch. Planning sheets and short script guides help students decide what to include and how to talk about their learning, turning reflection into a manageable step rather than an afterthought.
Even the logistics are simplified. With iPads, students use the Notes app’s scan feature to quickly capture clean, high-quality images of paper work, making it easy to add anything from worksheets to sketches to their collection.
By breaking the process into small, supported steps, Ms. Moore helps students build confidence early, so creating a portfolio feels natural from the very beginning.
🧩 Conference Day in Action
By the time conference day arrives, the atmosphere feels very different from a traditional setup. Classrooms transform into presentation spaces. A podium stands at the front. Students plug in their iPads, project their Wakelet collections onto the screen, and take the lead, walking their parents through their learning journey in their own words.
Instead of teachers doing most of the talking, students explain their projects, reflect on challenges, and celebrate progress. The shift is powerful. Students speak with pride and confidence, and parents leave with a much deeper, more personal understanding of how their child has grown throughout the year. Example: https://wakelet.com/wake/B7o8jvKAzCufYMkEIt_aq
🌱 A Vision That Grows With Students
For Ms. Moore, this is just the beginning. The long-term vision is for every student to graduate eighth grade with a comprehensive, multi-year portfolio – a rich record of creativity, progress, and reflection they can carry into high school applications and beyond.
Some traditions are already taking root. Last year, students recorded video reflections at the end of the year, then watched them at the start of the next to set fresh goals. Eighth graders even created “future self” videos, sealed away in a time capsule with a Wakelet QR code, to be opened when they return as high school seniors.
But the benefits go beyond academics. Portfolios have become a natural way to teach digital citizenship too, helping students build responsible, ethical, and confident online habits as they curate and share their work.
đź’¬ Teacher Takeaway
For schools considering a similar approach, Ms. Moore’s advice is simple: start small. Pilot with one or two grades, create easy-to-use templates, and let students take ownership of the storytelling.
The results speak for themselves – more meaningful conferences, more confident students, and stronger family engagement.
As Ms. Moore puts it, “Wakelet helps kids see that they have a story worth sharing, and that’s what learning’s all about.”
🚀 Ready to bring portfolios to your school?
If you’ve ever wondered how to make conferences more meaningful, give students more ownership, or better showcase growth over time, Ms. Moore’s approach shows that it doesn’t have to be complicated – you just need the right starting point. Wakelet makes it easy to launch, manage, and scale digital portfolios without adding extra workload for teachers.
If you’d like to see how it works in action and explore what this could look like for your students, book a quick demo and chat with our team. We’ll walk you through real examples, share simple templates, and help you map out a plan that fits your school. Your students already have stories worth sharing – let’s help them tell them.
*Special thanks to Renee Moore and her students for sharing their stories and successes! If you want to see more of Ms Moor’s templates, collections and student portfolios then check out this collection: https://wakelet.com/wake/HFT-s0CfOljb-mZHsdYrr
