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
Building Better Rubrics
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
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
3 Ways to Focus on the “Why” Instead of the “What” – Building Deeper Meaning in Learning
In this post: How to move from “What” to “Why” Dive into DoK to deepen the learning Just ask! The power of asking your students “Why” Don’t rob students of the chance to discover and go deeper Ban “What” From Your Classroom Education has long been far too focused on the acquisition of information and learning how to follow algorithms … Read More