Last week those of us in BC ed had no idea what this week would have in store for us. When I was a kid, "self-isolating" was humorously coined for those who rather not deal with the public, "social distancing" was something told to us by supervisors at teen dances, and "quarantining" was something learned … Continue reading Riding an edu-emotional roller coaster →

Going gradeless is a complete somersault into foreign territory. To do it correctly, in my view, it shouldn't be a partial or hurried cartwheel into gradeless. One cannot simply post marks using a proficiency scale, pat themselves on the back and call it gradeless. Gradeless is about pedagogy, mindset, communication of learning without numbers…all numbers…ANY … Continue reading Gradeless: Don’t just dip your toes, jump in →

Four weeks have passed in my gradeless English 11 class. I’m in a sort of limbo. Students haven’t asked for a grade, but I haven’t really given them a reason to. They’ve read a novel, completed three weeks of annotations with descriptive feedback, participated in discussions, and started an essay. About half of the students … Continue reading Playing chess – Gradeless English 11 Weeks 3 and 4 →

Is it strange that my first two gradeless weeks with my English 11's went pretty smoothly? I am quite shocked. I expected blow back, push back, and setbacks from my English 11 New Media kids. After all, these kids had never been introduced to gradeless. They had never heard of gradeless. But they sure knew … Continue reading Ok…Here we go – Gradeless English 11 Weeks 1 and 2 →

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 →

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 →