Starting the Journey

So, commitment and decision made.  It’s a done deal!  I’m going to move forward with a view towards experimenting and finding my route with grading and feedback.  It will all officially begin in January.  I’m going to start with 2 of my 4 classes and see how things go.  Being me, I originally wanted to start wholesale.  Wiser heads and good advice prevailed 😜. I will play, try, fiddle, and experiment with just half of my students.  This will give me excellent data and feedback with comparison, as well as somewhat reducing the pressure.  I will not change things with my grade-driven advanced class.  I will leave well-alone with my struggling, larger, on-level class...but my two other classes offer up the perfect scenario.  I have built good relationships with both parents and students alike:  I feel that we have built a strong level of trust.  Since they are smaller classes (low 20s), it will be easier to build in more conference time as I find out what works (and what doesn’t) for me - and for them too!  Finally, those classes are not as grade-driven and are far more open to change than my advanced group - but I do have several very strong students who will give me good feedback and will take the challenge seriously.  Because I will let them know and allow them to be a part of the experiment 😜

I’m excited 👏👍👏

We start trying things on for size on our return from Thanksgiving Break. 

The kids wrote an essay as a summative.  I have given feedback, but no grade.  On Monday they will complete a reflection and grade themselves with the rubric (serving as a content refresher too!), and fill out a conference preparation form.  We will then get together to compare grades, consider my feedback, and I will offer an editing opportunity.  If I just graded, then the learning has ended.  This way of doing things will allow the kids to keep learning and make edits for a final piece of work.  Even more powerful, I hope, will be the one-on-one time to discuss work and explain the feedback 📖✏️💯

What about the other two classes?  I’m not being mean - all my kids will have the opportunity to discuss and improve, I’m not going to hurt one group by holding them to the traditional ‘grade and done’ mentality.  Bottom line is, all kids will benefit from this venture, but starting January, half will be creating portfolios and using formative work to influence summative discussion and grade. My hope is that my other classes will ask for it as they see things unroll...we’ll see.


This is going to be fun!

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