One of the most persistent narratives of the school system is that it’s a place where students do work in exchange for grades. However, what would school look like if grades didn’t exist? Chris Sarkonak is one of many teachers involved in the grassroots movement called “ungrading” to move school away from a culture of compliance, towards a culture of … Read More
Frequently Asked Questions about Assessment: Featuring Tom Schimmer
This week’s guest, Tom Schimmer, dives into the frequent struggles and misperceptions of assessment practices. Tom provides excellent strategies to help provide feedback to your students and how to complete this important strategy in a timely manner. In this episode, we discuss: Frequent Mistakes in the World of Grading, Rubrics, and Assessments Student Investment through Assessment And his Newly Released … Read More
Sneaking Assessment Into Writing Instruction
TL;DR: Assessment doesn’t always have a positive connotation. Start with an asset-based mindset: what can students do well? Clarify what you want the students to be able to do and look for it. Involve students in the goal-setting process. Sneaking Assessment Into Writing Instruction If I mention assessment to teachers, they cringe. Maybe the cringe comes from the thought that … Read More
Narrating the Learning Journey using Self-Assessment & Portfolios (w Katie White)
Too often, self-assessment is treated as a capstone, rather than a catalyst, and portfolios as a scrapbook, rather than a learning tool. On this episode, we go beyond the mistakes we’ve made with self-assessment and portfolios to discover how they can help students tell the story of their learning. Katie White is a Canadian author, consultant, and leader, and she … Read More
Funny about Money | Tim Cavey | High School GPA
In Don’t @ Me (2:36), Tom opens with an observation about how people have a funny relationship with money. Then, Tom is joined by MS Assistant Principal and the host of the Teachers on Fire podcast, Tim Cavey (13:50) for a conversation about an array of educational topics. Finally, in Assessment Corner (49:08), Tom answers a listener question about High … Read More