Preparing Students for Life: How Retakes Help Instead of Hurt

Teach Better TeamBlog, Differentiate Better, Grade Better, Lesson Plan Better

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

Accountability in Retaking Assessments

Rae HughartBlog, Differentiate Better, Grade Better, Innovate Better, Lesson Plan Better, Mastery Done Better, Personalize Student Learning Better

TL;DR: The importance and necessity of offering retakes. Tips to increase accountability in your students through your retake process. Why not offering retakes is diminishing the value of your content and your teaching. I have been there. Running down the hall to catch a student to remind them for the 12th time that day they need to meet with me during … Read More

Using Backwards Design to Create Assessments

Chad OstrowskiBlog, Differentiate Better, Grade Better, Lesson Plan Better

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

Teach Better TeamBlog, Differentiate Better, Grade Better, Mastery Done Better, Personalize Student Learning Better

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

Building Better Rubrics

Chad OstrowskiBlog, Grade Better, Innovate Better, Lesson Plan Better

In This Post: An experience with a badly created rubric. What rubrics should measure… and what they shouldn’t. Ideas to include students in rubrics and assessment. Some time ago, I sat listening to presentations from my students. I paused at a student who obviously had not understood the concepts they were presenting on. The student spoke well, included the required components in … Read More