This episode features an interview with Bennette Jester, high school student, founder of #mygradingstory and author of the website My Grading Story, and advocate of student voice in learning.
We should be focusing on “better” practices, as what is “best” today may not be best for the children we teach in the future. With that in mind, we need to continue to be on the lookout for teaching practices that we feel are right and good for the children we have in front of us on a day-to-day basis.
So the question is: How do we, people who are interested in making education better for students, help traditional schools adopt some of the things that made my education so far fantastic?
I had spent a good deal of time reading Jo Boaler’s research on the ways students learn math as well as Arthur Chiaravalli’s writings about creating a gradeless classroom. When I returned to the classroom I decided I was going to change…
In a gradeless classroom, students are expected to be creative, take risks, fail, and learn from their mistakes in the name of improving themselves and gaining knowledge. In my classroom, students assess their own work and one another’s.
Going gradeless will transform a classroom, benefiting student learning and growth. Setting up the classroom to promote this mind-shift in practice is key to having a successful year.
