Going Gradeless
After a bit of a dry spell, I'm back. It's that time of the school year when every sentence in my head starts with "Next year..." Completing that sentence is a whole new way of schooling for me. I have long believed that when it comes to motivating learning, grades do more harm than good. I have often said, “When I open my own school...no grades.” I know I am not alone in this belief. And, when I face the reality of my bank account, I know I am not going to start my own school. So I have decided I am going to go as gradefree as possible next year within the system I work in now. After reading Hacking Assessment by Starr Sackstein, I think I have a framework figured out where feedback and conferencing and self-reflection take the place of grades for the most part, allowing the quarterly grade to be a more accurate reflection of students’ learning. I went into class today and, after introducing the books I’m asking my AP Lit students to read thi...