I'm a sharer. I'm a disruptor. I believe that a sound assessment pedagogy is the key to student success.
Semester one is over. Semester two is just beginning, and I am up to by eyeballs in excitement, anxiety, and curiosity. Semester one was an amazing step in my gradeless journey. I learned so much in the past five months. If you are just tuning in to my blog, I moved, this past semester, to … Continue reading Parachuting into more gradeless
Recently, on a day in the computer lab with my Humanities 8 students, I went about delivering my usual shtick as to what they could do when they were finished their work. But on this day, I had something a bit more special in mind for those kids who were done early. They could read … Continue reading Oops, I did it again…
Mr. Rogers coined the phrase,and it was from his heart. He wanted his viewers, children, to know that he appreciated them even when they were angry, sad, frustrated, confused, exhausted, or terrified. I've felt all of those emotions over the last year. I put myself out into the social media world, front and center, for … Continue reading I like you…just the way you are
A few months after I launched the gradeless learning scale to the teachers at my high school, it was noted by a reputable professional that students and parents alike would soon view the headings of the scale as no different than letter grades. In their view, what they were trying to tell me was that … Continue reading Going More Gradeless
Once upon a time, in a far away gradebook, oh about fifteen to twenty odd years ago, there was a keen and eager teacher who wanted to create an assessment for an English 9 short fiction unit. She laboured over the assessment and decided that a test would be the finest of fits for her … Continue reading Content, A Fairy Tale
For the first week of school, a young man (Let’s call him Brad) hid in his hoodie in my Humanities 8 room. He refused to do any work. I pulled him out, one day, and questioned him in an authoritarian manner. It's the beginning of the school year and I needed to show him I … Continue reading Syncing Maslow with Bloom
You’ve embraced a gradeless mindset. Your students are showing progress. It was a struggle at first, but you persevered in your communication of student learning to parents and they now appreciate that your focus has been on learning and not grades. Wahoo! Success! But it’s June and the Ministry of Education requires a letter grade … Continue reading The Report Card Dilemma
I fell in love with project-based learning a few years ago when I went looking for deeper way of doing projects with my Humanities 8 students. At that time, I was doing project work with my students, but it was cookie-cutter projects: posters, PowerPoints, and newspapers…you know what I’m talking about. I gave out the … Continue reading My 21st Century #20time Epiphany
I’m so done with letter grades. I’m done with having to generate a symbol of learning that is banal and meaningless. To me, putting a letter grade on a report card is the equivalent of putting onion flakes on the perfect hot fudge sundae. Yuck. Take my Drama 10 class. Over six weeks, they worked … Continue reading There is no ‘%’ in ‘team’
When I was in university, I liked A’s. I was shaken by A-‘s and a smart person knew better than to come near me if I got a B+ on anything. I liked A’s. Funny thing is, I’m not sure why I liked A’s. I knew they epitomized a standard of achievement that students desired. … Continue reading Grades are the bane of my existence
