I need to come clean with all of you. I’m embarrassed and somewhat ashamed about what I have to reveal. Please refrain from chastising me or rolling your eyes. I hope that you will not think less of me because of this information which I am about to bestow upon you. Okay, here it goes… … Continue reading Learning isn’t a privilege, it’s a right
***Updated with a video link at the bottom*** Since I began working with my Secondary Assessment Learning Team (SALT) at my school, I've attempted to tackle numerous projects, but none has been more significant and problematic than my grade book. Since going officially gradeless (feedback only with students, no levels, no points, no scores, no … Continue reading What story does your grade book tell?
For the first month of quarter one, I saw approximately 50% of my English 8 students. No joke. I’d take attendance and hit an equal number of Absent as I did Present into Myed. After putting my heart and soul into planning a quarter and being stoked to be back in the classroom face to … Continue reading Popcorn attendance, learning opportunities, and mulligans: musings about teaching in a quarter system
Quarters. Copernican. Ten weeks. These are the words many high school teachers across British Columbia have heard in the last few weeks instilling intrigue, fear, and anxiousness for the new school year. Sure, it’s the same number of teaching minutes, but it’s not so easy to just double the lessons and call it a day. … Continue reading Backwards design to survive our quarter course reality
There is a solo project I do with my Drama students. I have them pretend they are a small child trying to fly a kite on a windless day. I tell the actors that despite all odds, their character should never give up. Here is what the actors show me. At first, the child is … Continue reading Let’s Go Fly a Kite
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…
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
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’
As mentioned in my Teachers Going Gradeless post, communication of student learning is vital for gradeless and standards based grading to be successful. By communication, I mean communication of pivotal learning points in a student's learning journey:where they are at now and how to get to the next level. Communication should highlight the growth and … Continue reading Choreographing Communication of Student Learning
my growth mindset 