Grow beyond grades.
I explained the importance of giving students feedback, but realized it wouldn't be much use, since there really was no opportunity for improvement. It was more about making sure each student had met each standard. She pressed me further, “but why do you need to be the judge of that? Have them evaluate it themselves.”
This episode features an interview with Dan Scratch, high school social studies teacher, author of the website Teaching for Equity and Social Justice, and advocate of teaching for social justice. Topics include: Why it is important for students to engage in social justice Building relationships as a foundation for social justice How social justice impacts … Continue reading Social Justice Education w/ Dan Scratch – TG²Cast Episode 9
When I first started teaching roughly 10 years ago, I knew that I wanted to embrace social justice as a framework to my pedagogy. Specifically, I wanted to create the conditions where my students and I could learn about how issues of race, class, gender, sexuality, ability and colonialism have impacted the world we live … Continue reading The Case for Social Justice Education
Countless educators, including many in Teachers Going Gradeless, consider Ken O'Connor one of the first to introduce them to the idea that traditional grades are “broken” and that a better approach is possible.
Denver educator Julia E. Torres explores how going gradeless can serve the large context of equity, liberation, and student empowerment/autonomy.
For the past 25 years, I’ve taught writing through a workshop model, conferencing for two or three minutes with as many students as possible as they write in class. I would collect the pieces every couple of weeks and spend long weekends grading them at home. However, a few weeks ago, Aaron Blackwelder’s blog post, … Continue reading Flipped Feedback — The Impact on Student Growth
Hilda: My lovely, lovely castle. Our castle in the air! Solness: On a firm foundation. One of the more profound ironies of “going gradeless” is realizing just how fundamental grades are to the architecture of schools. Grades undergird nearly everything we do in education. By threatening late penalties and administering one-shot assessments, we focus our … Continue reading How to Build Castles in the Air
