In This Post: A common argument against retaking assessments, and why it doesn’t quite work. The benefits of allowing retakes in your classroom. “You can’t do retakes, they won’t have redos in the real world.” This is one of the most common arguments I hear about allowing for reassessment in our classrooms. And honestly, I don’t think it’s valid. At … Read More
Using Backwards Design to Create Assessments
In This Post: Aligned assessments are vital to accurately measuring student understanding. Four steps to create assessments that are aligned to your objectives. As an educator, assessment design can be a pain. Many times, we are tempted to find an assessment from available curriculum resources or grab questions from the “back of the chapter” and call it a day. However, … Read More
Using Conferences for Grading Students
In This Post The struggle of quantifying mastery with a letter or percent. Grading conferences as a solution to this struggle! Steps to set up grading conferences in your classroom & communicate about them to stakeholders. Feedback from students on grading conferences. In a mastery learning classroom, determining student quarter or final grades can be difficult. How do you assign … Read More
Top 20 Blog Posts to Start 2020
In This Post: A look back at my favorite blog posts from 2019. Want to be on this list? Guest blog with us in 2020! As we embark on 2020, I find myself reflecting back on 2019. There’s been a lot of growth and change, much of it positive. And at Teach Better, that is always our goal. Better today. … Read More
Collaborative Behavior Planning: Putting Students at the Helm
In this post: Discover the biggest problem with most student behavior plans What is a student-led behavior plan? Steps to make a student-led behavior plan work for students and teachers Let’s get this out in the open: implementing and designing behavior plans to improve the behavior of challenging students is not an easy task. Sometimes they work, and sometimes they … Read More