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Students are going to be more involved in their progress this year. Using the contract grading system this year has students choosing what mastery they want on their transcript during the first weeks of school. In order to earn that grade, students will have to track their progress and meet the requirements laid out in the contract.

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I am going to say Communication. I think communication is a basis for the success of the other 3 C's. Good communication skills are going to lead to a group that can collaborate better, be more creative, and critical think through an issue.

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I don't to be honest. I explain what the differences between those are on each individual assignment though. OTUS does the rest.

I use one point rubrics with the seniors, so I always provide what Mastery looks like and have the students argue what they did to qualify for Extended.

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I think it's easy to say we are the most comfortable with Can't do- Infrequent. I am also comfortable with Can't do- Chronic. What I struggle the most with is Didn't do- Chronic students. How do you force a human to do something? I am learning quite quickly with my 2-year old that is it not an easy task. I do however think that the new advisory email set up we have implemented this year is a good step forward in relieving this issue :)

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As a senior teacher, this one is hard. One of the goals with senior year is to "prepare for college". Depending on the major, group work may be a thing or may not. If it is, individualized grades are RARE. The entire project needs to be done regardless if group mates intend to help. In this regard, I think natural consequences are key. Those that do the work are more prepared for the assessment of the work. They are also more likely to work hard as a team when they reach their career which can be evident in the job setting.

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This chapter really made me think. I felt that this chapter really went against what we are trying to do at Bio-Med. This chapter states that evidence for grade should be organized by standards separately from attributes, that is important the students grade represents the level they are proficient in the content. We obviously don't have content LOs so can we truly move to a standards-based mindset?

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I highlighted, starred, and wrote in the margins all over Myth 1.The idea of not lowering the bar, just understanding it takes students different paces to get there is a main driving force behind my new class model. It is more important that students MASTER content, even if they master less.

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"Confidence is about real optimism that develops from a sense that success is possible, even if it's not immediate" Page 25

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Biggest takeaway- Progress is progress, no matter how slow. Changing mindset within the community takes time. I always need to remind myself of this! Also being mindful with parents. What we are doing looks NOTHING like their experiences at school. It is very important to include them in our process of changing how education looks so we can get them on board.

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Part of my problem of tracking students on missing work and retakes is the fact that I am the only one that thinks about it until May. If I have the students create a page in the front of their notebooks that track their tests and grades, they will be reminded every time they open their notebook. I could have a google form that they fill out after a test is graded and all the info would go to the same spreadsheet that would help me track which tests are passing.

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As a math teacher, I believe critical thinking is crucial. I need them to be deep thinkers and realize that there is a lot of ways to tackle a problem. From there they can get creative in how they will solve it.

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Oh my gosh! I am so guilty of attaching a percent to each of those levels! I am focused this year on discovering what each of those levels look like on a test. I am scared because it is not based on number right/wrong! I know extended will be those students that can give the explanations above and beyond just solving the problems. After that, it gets muddy to me.

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I think I struggle the most with the didn't do. As juniors they should care enough to complete it and I tend to get frustrated with them. I handle the can't do MUCH better when they will come to me for help. I have all the patience in the world for those kids. I need to be better at reaching out to the can't do and won't ask for help.

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I don't do a lot of group projects but this year I want to hold them accountable for helping each other during the learning phase. I want to scramble seats often and give them a grade for collaboration. I want to see them working with people they don't usually work with or tutor someone who needs help!

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The most challenging part for me is keeping track of who needs to do what and keep them accountable. I need an organized way to handle retakes and missed tests. I want to make sure parents know when their students need to retake so I get help from home as well.

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In my 18 years of teaching, I have always allowed partial credit on tests and recovery points for half credit. At Bio-Med, I have given a test, handed it back the next day (ungraded) for them to look at and fix or complete anything they didn't do. Then I went through and marked them right or wrong then let them fix anything marked wrong before a final grade was given.

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I have been know to quote myth #5. I have tried for so long to make sure my students are ready for college math classes! I have said, " you will never get retakes in college!"

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"Failure and success are not episodes, they are trajectories...the next performance is shaped by what happened the last time out"
The mental game is huge in golf because when confidence starts to fail, abilities will too. I see this in math a lot. Students start to believe that they can't or will never pass a test.

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I want the grades in my class really focus on their abilities and not on fluff. I want to make sure they understand the content in order for them to be successful in math next year. I want to focus on the attributes that will help them be successful in math as well.

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I need to think about how to keep students from abusing the system and make them want to be ready to take the assessments the first time and not wasting attempts.

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Realizing that the consequence for not doing work is making them do the work! I love the idea of giving an incomplete grade until it is complete!

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Lindsey McLaughlin

This is something I was really working on when I left the classroom. I certainly did not master this, but I did do a lot of work towards it.

Here are some of things I was working on:

*LO-based student reflection
*LO/Standards-based correctives for reteaching and reassessment (a lot like playlists, but I like playlists better)
*Student mastery contracts that were shared with students and parents
*Student self-assessment on rubrics

What I would work towards embedding in my practice today

*Student assessment conferences where we talk through the rubric together and form a consensus on mastery level
*Students evaluating their work per the rubric before submission and provide narrative evidence for where they fall on the rubric and WHY and HOW they exceeded mastery

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Lindsey McLaughlin

I think critical and creative thinking go hand and hand. I really like how Schimmer (and others) differentiate creative though from creative expression.

To think critically about a subject and seek a depth of understanding that (creates your box to think outside of - Gardner), then you must be able to think both critically and creatively about the standard/subject being addressed. To think critically requires creativity and to provide creative/original thought about a subject requires critical discernment.

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Lindsey McLaughlin

I used single-point rubrics. This really helped me start with mastery and then work either side of the spectrum when assessing where a student landed, where they need to work, and where they exceeded the expectations - usually through providing a depth of understanding of the standard(s) being addressed in the assignment/project.

Had I stayed in the classroom, I would have adopted the practice of having students explain WHY they exceeded the standards/LOs and WHY they deserved to earn an exceeds mastery on each section of the rubric. While this practice is hard for students (and parents) and can frustrate them, I truly believe that it provides an opportunity to engage students in reflection, feedback, and buy in to the assessment process - all things that Schimmer is proposing in is work.

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Lindsey McLaughlin

When assigning group work, I also included individual responsibilities within the project/assignment and recording requirements for those responsibilities. I tried really hard to not negatively impact one student because another student was not pulling their weight. When I had students chronically not contributing to group projects/assignments, I provided them with an individualized version of the project/assignment that was being completed and they were removed from their group.

I left the BMSA classroom before we had the Collaborative LOs. I would have been more intentional in assessing actually collaboration (that Schimmer differentiates in this chapter) than just group work.

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Lindsey McLaughlin

I went through several iterations of this and still think I had a lot of work to do.

Biggest challenges:
* Students resubmitting work/asking for reassessments before I had finished grading all of the submitted work.
* Students who earned mastery being the majority of students who want to reassess so that they can earn exceeds mastery - this led to the ethical dilemma of just wanting to give them an exceeds in the first place because you knew they were going to want to reassess.
* Determining when a correction - resubmission is appropriate vs. a new assessment/variation of the original assessment is necessary.
* Organizing and keeping up with which students were working on what reassessment and when it was due.

Honestly, I worked on an assessment-to-assessment basis to try to make the reassessment process more efficient and more authentic. I worked on creating better rubrics for assessment, aligning assessments to individual standards/LOs, and creating correctives (different versions of playlists) for students to reassess the standard/LO rather than redo the assessment.

What I was missing was a clear process, from start to finish, that students should follow to reassess on a standard/LO. If I could do it all over again, this is something I would develop and practice in my classroom. I would also adopt Heidi's strategy of having students for through the rubric with her during assessment so that she can grade and provide feedback in real time.

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Lindsey McLaughlin

When I was in the classroom, I would separate summative assessments by LO. By doing so, I would determine level of mastery per LO and then provide feedback per LO to students on strengths, challenges, and areas of improvement. It took me awhile to get there and to be able to separate my assessments in a way that truly assessed them per LO. My LOs were all supported by standards. Each assessment would cover 1 - ? many standards under the LOs being assessed. I would also provide feedback based on specific standards that were being assessed under that particular LO for that assessment.

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In the past, we have used  rubrics for students to evaluate their own work (achievement).  We use the cupcake rubric format because it's easy for students at this age to understand.  They complete it on one side of the paper and we complete the other. This helps parents and students see when there is a disconnect between how they think they're doing and how we feel they're doing. We have not used this (or anything else) for them to track their overall progress but it's an interesting idea. I do believe that specifically linking standards will make this piece more clear to parents. I would like to work with McKenzie to develop a way for students to track their overall progress on standards this year.

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I believe a student's ability to think critically about what they're learning is extremely valuable. The other 3 C's are also really important, but with the rise of AI and the general state of things, the ability to determine fact from fiction will be absolutely essential. Students need to be able to review information, use what they know, and likely do additional research to form their own opinion.

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The parents see on track, work in progress, or not on track all year long.  The mastery levels are only used as a final report at the end of the year.  I'm going to talk about those instead, as those are 99.9% of our year.

On track - the student has mastered the content at the level that is expected at this time.  The goal line moves as additional concepts are taught for that skill/standard.

Work in progress - the student is beginning to master the content but has not fully grasped the skill/standard as would be expected at this time.

Not on track - the student is not completing work or is submitting work that does not demonstrate any understanding of the skill/standard as would be expected at this time.

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This past year I had a student that really struggled with this. While I wouldn't have said I had a great plan for it in the past, I'm more confident after the approach we used last year. I talked with him about what he needed in order be accountable for getting his work done. He offered that a system that included talking to his parents would probably be the most effective. I created a binder that had a page for each day. It listed what was completed on time (which we celebrated) and what still needed to be done at home. These assignments were never those being assessed for mastery (those don't ever go home at this age). They were the practice that would lead to success later. He understood why completing them was important after we talked about some of the challenges he was experiencing (I never practiced X so when I needed to use X to learn Y it was a struggle). His parents were on board and willing to use this binder to help support him while he continued to develop personal agency and executive skills.

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We build PBLs that offer both group and individual opportunities to demonstrate mastery. The group work is often used more heavily during initial tasks. Students have individual assignments that allow them to demonstrate their mastery sprinkled throughout the PBL. When there is a larger summative product and it was created by the group, they still individual pieces they were responsible for contributing. These approaches allow us to evaluate them as individuals. We still use rubrics to evaluate their collaboration and communication within the group as well.

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It can be difficult to find authentic opportunities and the time to reassess standards that are only loosely connected to the rest because they don't naturally lend themselves to revisiting later in the year. When we have to come back to these standards, the assessments tend to be less integrated and more out of necessity than anything else.

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In third grade, we give our students multiple opportunities to demonstrate mastery and they are carefully scaffolded. Students are reevaluated as the difficulty of the tasks increase. Students that aren't attaining mastery initially are given additional instruction and more opportunities during W.I.N. time. We confer with students when they're having difficulties and/or when assignments are submitted, depending on the nature of the task. Assessments that are given throughout the process and with increasing complexity are more reflective of their growth than single summative assessments. This method has also helped strengthen parent understanding of student progress.

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When I started here I was teaching second grade and they were all virtual so that wasn’t something that I even thought about doing. My 2nd and 3rd year I taught 4th and honestly the majority of the students just didn’t care to check what they received after turning in something that was being assessed. I’d make them checklists to help them chunk what to do and what I was looking for to meet mastery. I thought for sure if I laid it all out for them that I’d have less students needing to redo or fix their work. I would provide explicit feedback on their strengths and areas of growth and still many of them just don’t follow through with improving their work.
This year I am going to be 5th grade Math and would like to implement a skills checklist with the mastery levels for each student to have in their binders. After we do the practice I want them to check where they are for the game. Then compare what they thought to what was assessed. I’d like them to create a plan on how and what they will do to improve to meet mastery.
I’m sure this will take me the majority of the year if not into next year to truly tweak and get it right with students but I’m hopeful that it will create a stronger relationship to their learning journey.

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I agree with a lot of what you all are saying. The idea of starting with mastery and determining what that looks like for the assessment is very important. I start with what is the main take away or skill, what are they ways that can look like. Then I think about what the other levels of mastery look like and define those.
As Lindsey Crihfield stated it looks different and changes depending on the skill, assessment, and project.
I like to get students to help me when building the criteria for what mastery should look like. I feel they become more invested with engagement when we set it up together.

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Myth 3 resonates most with me. I think that different subjects think about the mastery or their content differently, which shows how there are different ways to implement standards-based grading.

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I felt like this part is a lot about what we already do in our grading system. I liked the part about getting parents on board because I feel that is one of the harder parts to get parents to understand or to not get mad or think that their child is failing or not getting "A's".

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I need to do a better job of incorporating progress monitoring and helping students to do this. Students need modeling and helping with finding things in Otus and having them document progress and reflecting on their learning. We have worked on this as a team, but need to include more feflections independently in my class and help the students at the beginning of the year to set up a specific schedule of when we do this.

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All 4 are so important, but I think that critical thinking is most important. It's is the basis for all things. I think it is easier to work with students to help them to be more proficient in communication and collaboration, but it is more difficult to help them advance creativity.

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I feel most confident with the Can’t Do’s both infrequent and chronic students. I am able to quickly identify where a student is struggling and offering them the support they need to help them grow and identify their strengths to improve their areas in need of growth. When a student is struggling more chronically, I have worked very closely with IS and counselors to help developing a plan for the student and to see if Tier 2 instruction will help build confidence and close the gap or is Tier 3 needed and a student has a learning deficit that needs an IEP.

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One way I have monitored group work is by checking in with each group as a whole to discuss where they are as a group, what their roles are, and checking in with each person to see how they are doing with fulfilling their role. What I would like to do this year is taking more time before they begin working to build a confidence within each other first, having them then talk about what each role is and their expectations. I want them to share with each other how they are going to fulfill their role and how they are going to communicate their learning with each other. I’d like to take the time for them to learn how to give effective feedback and how they can use that to grow in their next group activity. I want them to understand that if someone isn’t doing their part there is a way to express that without being unkind. Also, expressing someone isn’t fulfilling their role or isn’t going to meet the deadline isn’t tattling.

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I find that time is the issue and challenge. Wanting to provide all the feedback a student needs to help them grow, correct, reassess, and continue teaching to move forward to next lessons is extremely challenging. I want all my students to succeed but don’t want them to loose faith in themselves when they haven’t mastered something and need to correct and manage the class moving forward. Sometimes instead of having them redo the assignment/project I assess those things again on the next project in addition to the new lo focus. This probably only worked because I was teaching ELA. Not sure that will work this year while teaching Math.

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If you mean just tacking their grades, then I can say the students don't need much encouragement when it comes to checking Otus. When it comes to tracking their hours, it can vary. During our meetings, I always let the students know what their total is, though they don't always remember that number. I find that our meetings are also a good place for students to show off what they have learned at their internships. Students will often tell me in great detail what they are working on there, and it is always wonderful to hear from the ones that are really passionate about their work.

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For senior Apex, students are getting an early taste of what a professional work environment is like. For some students, that can be a difficult adjustment, especially at the start of the school year. I have had some students who do not always clearly communicate with their supervisor about when they will be able to go to their internship, which can lead to problems.

Clear communication not only helps keep everything running smoothly at the internship, but also helps keep everyone on the same page if there are any issues.

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Similar to what other teachers have said, I will fist check to make sure that students met everything I was looking for. This includes the LOs and rubrics for the assignments. If they have met the requirements, they will receive at least a mastery. For some assignments I will let students know how they could receive an exceeds (Example: If pictures are included in their blog). For other assignments, it varies. For the presentations, if students went above and beyond with their work (clearly practiced, dressed professionally, etc.).

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The university I graduated from was a mastery college focusing on competencies of their learning objectives. Here’s the skill or target and the student either can or can’t. We were given multiple attempts to prove competency of the skills and the final result was either pass or fail. Having this as my background I have found it easier for me to focus on a student’s mastery of content/skill/target/standard. When students turn in work I have always reviewed it, checking it against the learning objective, provide feedback either in writing or verbally through a conference (this is my preferred and most often used method), and every opportunity to fix/redo/correct/prove mastery of the objective.

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I'm best with Didn't do- Infrequent. Seniors who don't do their work infrequently often have something going on in their personal life. I have found that sitting down with them to ask them what happened to their work is enough for them to let me know what is going on with them and to make sure they are doing alright. We can then come up with a plan to get them on track and avoid this becoming a chronic issue.

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Unfortunately, senior Apex does not give many opportunities for group work. In the past I have watched students while they work in groups and took notes. I would also give an overall grade for their work. This year I am planning on having students practice their Ignite presentations in groups where they will be giving feedback to one another. This is definitely an area I could improve on, so I will be brainstorming some ideas on how to incorporate more groups work into senior Apex.

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A few times I have had a student who worked on the research paper who wanted to improve their grade by redoing an assignment. The problem would be making sure they would have enough time to retry the assignment while also having enough time on their next assignment. For these students, we will usually sit down together an come up with a clear time table and see if they felt they could make these changes in that timeframe.

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Students have to meet with me regularly to make sure they are on track. If a student is struggling, we will work together to help them get back on track.

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#5: Students will be unprepared for the real world

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#5: Students will be unprepared for the real world

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This one had me thinking about how many jobs look very different than they did 20 years ago. In some ways I feel that our students are more flexible and thus will be better able to adapt to a changing work place.

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"Grading practices have to pass the confidence test (will they contribute to a student's sense of optimism?) in order to remain an integral part of how teachers grade students."

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"Grading practices have to pass the confidence test (will they contribute to a student's sense of optimism?) in order to remain an integral part of how teachers grade students."

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Students should value feedback more than the actual grade. In the future I will make an effort to improve my feedback and differentiate how it is delivered to the students.

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I often have a handful of students ask or email me about their grades when I post new assignments, but it’s never more than a few. I try to have students be more involved with their progress by completing a self reflection at the end of each project that they turn in to me. I want to adjust it for this year based on the reflection questions in the book, to try and make it more relevant and meaningful to them.  I also have a goal of communicating more with families and the students themselves about their progress throughout the year.

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First, I think it is important to distinguish the criteria using a rubric for each summative assessment. If there are 5 options, families already assume the levels equate to A, B, C, D and F. Mastery is the overall goal, demonstrating proficiency on specific learning objectives. If you have taken the proficiency to the next level, by applying additional skills, demonstrating a much higher level of understanding and being able to fully explain it or teach it to others. These things are also demonstrated using new or creative ideas and show a different way of looking at the concepts. If students are not proficient in some areas, then this would be lower than mastery, depending on the level of proficiency demonstrated.

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I feel individually I am good at handling thr Can't Do Infrequent and Can't do Chronic in my class. I try to help with a variety of different approaches to bridge the gap. As a team I feel we also try to work with the Can't do Chronic and Didn't do groups by creating a system of pulling kids to help them at advisory times and usually do this by subject, or through a mastery matters time we set up as a team to try and help the students.

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I try to have individual components that are assessed separately. I would like to have the students be more actively involved in the assessment process. I think it is important to include self reflection and also setting up the criteria to assess a project and even spell out group assessment criteria with student input.

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Reassessment can be challenging. I have found it works best to meet with individual students and while the others are working on assignments. It can take quite a bit of time, but have found it helps students to explain their learning and truly demonstrate their knowledge. It is best to structure this time while students are working on a project or other specific things and then meet with the students you need.

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I give the students multiple attempts to show mastery and this may also include verbal explanations or demonstrations to show their thought process if paper and pencil or typed answers are not clear. I try to have multiple formative  assessments with descriptive feedback before a summative assessment. I think the part of this section that is pertinent is yo help families to understand there is a difference between hard work and demonstrating proficiency.

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I feel that all 4 of these are really interwoven but if I have to choose, I would prioritize Creativity. As the art/engineering teacher I know that creativity is so important not just to create art or to build/engineer something. If a student is creative in their thinking it allows them to see things from multiple angles, to develop multiple solutions to a problem, adapt to all kinds of environments and situations, and so much more.

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Myth 5 students will be unprepared for the real world

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Myth 5 students will be unprepared for the real world

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I understand all sides if this argument, as the traditional practices can be said to be unrealistic in life. Real world applications often involve failing and retrying or retesting multiple times. Most things in life it is not expected there is perfection on the first time, then you move on. I feel this makes it even more important to blend learning and assessment in a variety of ways to replicate what real world examples are like. The more we can prepare kids the better as with any job, there are so many things that are learn as you go. Problem solving and working with others are pertinent to success in all avenues.

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Myth 4: Students are no longer held accountable
This resonated with me because to me accountability meant turning things in, meeting deadlines, being responsible for your own learning. After reading, I realize those are true but in a different way now. Students must do the practice to be successful for the game and holding them accountable can look different. I’m going to change the way I approach this with my students this year to help motivate them to want to be successful for themselves and hopefully achieve more self-efficacy.

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I generally have multiple criteria listes in my rubrics. Mastery means they met all the criteria at least minimally. Exceeds mastery means they went above and beyond in regards to those criteria. Developing means they may have missed a few of the criteria. Not yet would mean they missed most of the criteria.

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I agree that allowing students the opportunity to submit assignments past the due date does not hinder their preparedness for the real world as long as they are communicating their progress to you. In the workplace, superiors would almost always prefer that you communicate that more time is needed to produce a better quality project than to submit substandard work. Teaching our students to advocate for themselves to showcase their best work teaches much more than any half-completed assignment ever could.

Additionally, I loved this quote... "The best preparation for success tomorrow is success and confidence today." I think it is vital that we instill as much confidence in our students by highlighting what they do "right" than continue to focus on what they do "wrong" and diminish their confidence. It is the students that struggle the most that tend to need the most encouraging.

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There were two quotes that really stand out to me, p. 27 "the first lesson is that success and failure are contextual and connected to both past and future experiences" and p.29 "My conversations with students have changed significantly. We now talk about learning, proficiency  and mastery rather than points, percentages, and grades. Their motivation and confidence have skyrocketed as we no longer waste valuable class tome on homework compliance, questions about points or whether an assignment is necessary for their grade."

I think both quotes truly set the tone of a classroom for engage learning and self-motivated students. It helps students decrease stress and anxiety about assessment and learning. It sets them up for future success.

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With the recent changes to our whole system of grading, it will likely be another year or two before I've figured out how best to plan/execute/report student progress and achievement in regards to our new Attributes-based grades.  My reporting out is, admittedly, more about ELA skills and tasks completed.  And the Progress reporting tends to occur more in the Formative phases of a unit.  Students might communicate one-on-one or within written feedback on an assignment what they're struggling with, what still needs to be improved.  At the end of a unit, I often have a self-assessment as part of the grading process.  Students will simply add a horizontal line below their finished work; below that line, they'll tell me what grade they feel the assignment deserved and why.  This year, I will make sure they address EACH of the Attributes being graded WITHIN each task.  So, a good self-assessment might look something like this:

Overall grade I deserve: Mastery

Problem-Solving LO: I did really well with problem-solving in terms of group work. We had a lot of issues. I showed leadership and helped reorganize when we had issues related to absences and people not doing their share.  - High Performing

Professional Communication LO: Honestly, our final product was not great.  I noticed when we were presenting that we still had a lot of grammar issues on our presentation, and we probably needed at least one more good source based on your feedback and on the class's questions.  So, the Communication LO would be Developing.

Balanced out, though, I'd say Mastery.

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I think I do well with the didn’t do- infrequent kids. I offer to students to come in during advisory times to work on projects, which helps the can’t-do kids, but often times the didn’t-do’s don’t take me up on that offer. I may then decide to require those kids to come in to work on their project. I will tell them to come in during advisory to work, and will communicate to their homeroom teacher that they need to do so. I should do this more often but I know that a lot of times, the kids that are not turning in my work, are also not turning in work in other classes, so I hesitate to require them to work on my assignments so as to not take away time that they could use for other classes.

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In advisory, we have our students complete weekly check in’s.
I’d like to add more exit tickets to my class and hope to try the Otus simple questions and check in’s.
I feel our grade level portfolio’s are a great tool for students to reflect and see their growth through the year. We create Google spreadsheets where students can enter typing results and watch the development of their skills. Also students post programming projects and can see how their skills increase

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So I have a hard time choosing just 1 of the 4 “c”
But if I have to I’m going with “Creativity - Trying new approaches to get things done equals innovation & invention”
We need creative solutions to the challenges prior generations have left us with. We need to stop repeating the errors and develop innovative solutions.

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On pg. 97 the book says that in order to be accurate, a student should receive a cumulative grade of Incomplete if they have not turned in enough assignments. That varies from our current practice where in Otus, each No Evidence drags the cumulative grade down. Is there a possibility of doing something like giving an Incomplete grade vs averaging? How would this work for end-of-year grades though?

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My programming and keyboarding are clear skills easy to measure for mastery. I do factor in prior experience and growth especially I have students coming from different schools with various backgrounds in the development of these skills. Exceeds are the students who have completed the assignment and choose to “ go beyond” and to challenge themselves. The lo I use for programming is typically problem solving, so if the student can solve the problem, it’s mastery. At the beginning of the year, I try to provide ways for students to go beyond. At the Lakeland “play conference” this summer I met a fellow programming teacher who, with the students developed a list of XP points - students developed a list of ways to “go beyond”. I’m planning to experimenting with this approach this year.

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When dealing with didn’t do, I find in middle school that the making learning “mandatory” effective
I start with an email home and to the student using outs mail - I typically require the student to sit at my desk during advisory and often will relocate seat to near me during class. Frequent in class checks for on task behavior are needed. When those interventions do not help, I email and call home a list of “must do”. Parents, I find are appreciative of the specific assignment / learning goal needed to be completed.

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It depends on the project. Sometimes I have pairs work together for idea building but they each complete their own artwork. In this case, I will have two separate grades. One for the project they completed, and one baed on whether or not they actually spoke to each other and worked through ideas with each other. Sometimes however, if there’s a group working together on a single artwork, I’ll keep notes throughout that tell me if they are all working on the project equally. Then, when it comes to the final grading, if the end product is amazing but one student contributed nothing, then they aren’t going to receive the same grade as the rest of the group.

For next year, I remember someone telling me about having students complete a social contract with their group members, where they decide on their own rules and expectations for each other. I may try something like that?

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When students are working in groups, its is beneficial to have them accountable for themselves as well as part of the group.

This year we created natural disaster newscasts. Each person in the group had their own role: news anchor, field reporter, meteorologist, etc. They were in charge of their own script but their group was their to help them and they were completing one video together. Some autonomy is beneficial in not letting one person do all the work. I have used group daily work logs in the past with higher grades but I will be trying them with 5th grade this year.

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The most challenging part about reassessing students is realizing that they didn't understand the concepts until it is too late. Then you are stuck reteaching everything that you did for the past month or so and students feel so overwhelmed that they can shut down. I have found that it is easier to reassess with small check ins along the way of the process than wait till the end or a unit or project. They can redo the check for understandings as many times as they need and I can help during advisory or WIN. This helps with students confidence and catch students before they fall too far behind.

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"Standards-based grading involves a level of proficiency that illustrate a natural progression of quality."

I think as a whole Bio-Med does this with our grading scale. We separate developing mastery from exceeds mastery.

In my personal practices with the mastery scale it helps to have rubrics to know where students are on the mastery scale. Rubrics help identify what competencies have they grasped and where do they still need to grow. This allows me identify standard separately and find the gaps that need to be filled.

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Myth 3: There is only one way to implement standards-based grading

"Every grading decision we make has consequences. Decide to grade homework and there will be a resulting consequence; deciding not to grade homework and there will be a different resulting consequence."

This made me think of some math teachers that assign math homework every night to help reenforce concepts learned during the day. If they don't grade it then some students wont do it but if they do grade it then some students will start to have anxiety about the homework.

I don't normally give homework but this myth made me question some of my teaching practices and the alternative consequence it could be providing.

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"students must emerge from any grading experience with an increased sense of optimism" p23

Grades should not provide anxiety but should promote a positive learning environment. I think about how we give students multiple attempts at the same skill. Its okay if they don't reach it the first time but they need to keep trying. Teachers need to nurture a growth mindset in students to help them optimistic.

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My biggest takeaway from this chapter is the idea that standards and standardization are not the same thing. We have always talked at Bio-Med that students can show work in whatever way they choose to show mastery but it is easier said than done when planning a project. I like the analogy of the building code they used in this chapter. The building has to live up to the code but all the buildings can look different.

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Critical thought is important across all disciplines, from biology to citizenship & governance. All the controllable problems of the world can be solved through analysis, critical thought, and evidence-based mass action. I truly believe that. Critical thought leads to creative solutions. When people get locked into a box of what's been done before, or how things have always been, they can only tread water at best. To make progress in this world - that is, to swim ahead - we need people who can see things with more objectivity, step back, weigh ideas, come up with their own ideas, and advocate those ideas to others.

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Pg. 23 “Grades must be a reflection of student proficiency, not a reward for compliance.”

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Pg. 15
The urgency to act must not translate into irrational or ill-informed implementation that actually makes things worse. It doesn’t mean everything should be changed all at once. Each teacher should begin where he or she is most comfortable.

Administrators should provide teachers a reasonable amount of time to establish new routines without making them feel rushed.

I felt both of these strongly. I know that I want to know it all now and do it all and get overwhelmed because it’s not realistic. Implementing small changes, taking the time to master the new before adding another change. This is something I have been working on for the last two years.

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I have to admit, in kindergarten I haven't explored or experimented with ways for students to track their achievement or progress. Do I think it can be done? Yes.

I like the following quote from page 172, "for real confidence to develop, students must experience some - even small - success." This made me think back to when I was in first grade and we had a math fact ice cream bulletin board. We earned a scoop of ice cream once we met or surpassed our goal of math fact timed-tests. Once we got 10 scoops atop our own personal ice cream cone (maybe 10 I don't remember the exact number), we were invited to have an ice cream party in the classroom with the teacher. While I don't support all of this, it did allow for students to see their growth, work toward a goal, and see our success.

In my classroom, I'm not sure how I could carry out a system of students tracking their progress but possibly a sticker chart in our reading or math groups where students add stickers to a sticker chart when a skill is mastered and once filled, that student would be awarded a trip to a treasure chest or a piece of candy or some other incentive. The sticker chart would be for their eyes and would give them an opportunity to see their progress over time. and a goal to work toward.

I am open to any and all suggestions pertaining to this idea with younger students, as you can see I am definitely a work in progress here!

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On Track - student is able to consistently demonstrate an understanding of the LO.

Developing - student understands the LO inconsistently; has some errors.

Not Yet - student has many errors or does not show understanding of an LO.

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As a specials teacher, my projects take students a week or more in class to complete. This makes it difficult for them to have time to redo it when we need to move onto the next thing. And since we use supplies and materials  that they are unlikely to have at home, that is generally not an option for them either. I would need to figure out a way for students to demonstrate proficiencies in a more time-efficient way.

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The myth that resonated with my most was Myth #3: There is only one way to implement standards-based grading. There were several points that stuck with me in this section. "Our goal is to accurately report student proficiency while maintaining students' confidence in their continued growth." This is huge because kindergarteners are so excited to learn and just so excited about school and my main priority is to keep that excitement alive and support that love of learning. Another point that stuck with me was "the important question to consider is whether each grading practice enhances or diminishes the ability to accurately report proficiency." Going into my second year, I am discovering and re-discovering creative ways to accurately collect evidence of proficiency with my kinders!

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When looking at the 4Cs, (1) critical thinking, (2) communication, (3) collaboration, and (4) creativity, I'm not sure I can pick just one to be priority. As a kindergarten teacher, all four of these competencies are developing and my role as their teacher is to support and help students develop in all these areas. I am encouraging students to be both critical and creative thinkers while learning how to collaborate and find ways to effectively communicate their ideas and communicate when problems may arise. In conclusion, if I had to pick one (or 2) of the 4Cs, I would have to say that collaboration and communication take priority, especially in the kindergarten classroom. The ability to work together and communicate are vital in students' learning and encourage and pave way to students' critical thinking and creativity.

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One thing I find in kindergarten is that most, if not all of my students want to do anything to please you! With this being said, there have not been many cases of "didn't do" students that I've had to deal with. Furthermore, the quadrant that I am most effective in dealing with and one that I find I am most often addressing is the "can't do" students (both infrequent and chronic but mostly infrequent). What I found was that the can't do/infrequent students just needed an additional 5 minutes at the back table to go over a concept with a more hands-on and/or guided instructional approach. Several times last year when this occurred quite frequently was with the introduction of a math concept, for example, addition, subtraction, or sorting of 2d/3d shapes. When I recognized a student wasn't quite understanding, I would find an opportunity to work one-on-one or small group and re-teach this concept and in most cases, just using some manipulatives and an "I-do, we-do, you-do" teaching approach, the light bulb flashed on and students understood!

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When reading this chapter, I had a difficult time connecting this to my reality: kindergarten. With much of the chapter focusing on homework it made me really have to think about how I can make this feel more relevant to my situation. I did relate a lot of what I read to digital days which helped.

In regards to group work, collaboration in general is a huge concept for 5-6 year olds to grasp. Being able to work with peers is something that can be very hard for students and something we all work on throughout the year. Students in my classroom have many opportunities to show and grow their ability to collaborate. We spend a lot of time having discussions and role playing different scenarios to learn and become better collaborators. I also like to "force" students to figure it out and work together. Of course, I am there as a mentor and will jump in when necessary, but it is so incredible to see how proud students are when they solve problems on their own!

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A quote from chapter 4 on page 50 that really stuck with me:  "By rethinking how we organize and examine evidence of learning... we are more likely to report accurate grades and create a grading experience that leaves students feeling optimistic about their future success."

Making time in our schedule to be able to pull students aside for me to ask questions or have them show me what they know is very beneficial in assessing while also allowing time for relationship building and confidence boosting. In addition, my own organization of having a running checklist where I'm looking and listening for a particular LO is extremely helpful as I'm moving around partner, small group collaborations, or even whole group helps me gather accurate and frequent evidences of learning.

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I find that assessing in kindergarten is just plain difficult and something that challenges me daily but does get easier throughout the school year as students become more familiar with day-to-day routines and procedures. The biggest challenge of all is collecting accurate evidence of what my students know. A lot of that challenge comes from the time in a day; being able to work one-on-one or in small groups with students is most beneficial as these settings allow me to get a better understanding of what they know.  Being creative is one way that I remedy this challenge. Being creative with the schedule; finding time to pull aside students for a quick question is one way. Another being creative with the lesson delivery or hands-on learning activities that allows me to collect accurate evidence of learning in both small or large group settings.

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p. 23 "Grading practices must also serve the big idea of establishing, sustaining, and growing student confidence about potential successes; students must emerge from any grading experience with an increased sense of optimism."

I really liked the focus of confidence throughout this chapter and that "maintaining student confidence is non-negotiable" (p. 31). While a lot of the focus of this chapter was targeted at teacher grading, I looked at it as teaching in general. My focus and main takeaway from this chapter is the importance of creating a positive learning environment where my students are optimistic and excited about and learning.

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p. 11 "We now embrace the idea that formative assessment is essential to closing the gap between where the student is and where the student should be... The strategic use of classroom assessment along an intentional learning progression creates an efficient, effective path toward proficiency."

This quote resonated with me because 5-6 year olds come to my classroom with such a wide range of skills and abilities. Understanding where they are at the start of the school year and where they should be at both the start of the year and the end of the year is crucial in student learning and development. With my first year of teaching kindergarten under my belt, I am eager to start my second year with a better grasp of where my students should be when entering K and when moving onto to first grade. Also, I feel much more confident in my role and that I have a better knowledge of the learning progression and teaching practices to support growth for all students.

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Okay, last time, I promise... but the chapter reiterated my thinking that our TOP score moniker should be 'Mastery'. To be a Master of something is to have elite understanding & to be able to explain it to others.... like Yoda.  Traditionally, a "masterpiece" was the piece of work created by a skilled craftsperson that showcased all their skills, be it carpentry or metalwork or what have you.

4 - Mastery (or, we could call it 'High Mastery' for a few years to help segue that 'Mastery' out of our student lexicon)
3 - Proficient
2 - Partially / Developing Proficiency
1 - Not Yet Proficient
0 - Lack of Evidence

Now to answer the question... well, it depends on the assignment, doesn't it? For ELA, I like to provide an overabundance of student examples as well as my own examples, which we review at the start of any unit, or as the assessment comes into full view.  I love that in the book they talked about including students in these discussions.  I find that students are MUCH harder on past student examples.  But I appreciate these discussions, as they'll talk through many of the issues on any given writing assignment.

Like others have mentioned, I start from 'Mastery' expectations.  If they exceeded them via my judgment or via clear criteria (ideally both), then High Performing.  If not, I must note the reason & communicate that reason with the students on any feedback so that work can be corrected as needed.

Sometimes, these judgments WILL come down - at least in part - to Numbers; did students answer 5 out of 5 comprehension questions accurately or in a way that showed understanding? But most commonly with ELA, it's a depth of thought and application of effort.

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This doesn't need to be an all or nothing in other districts, any teacher can implement in their room. It is better if a district is on board but it is doable. This means there are more teachers and resources out there than I previously thought.

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Although all of these skills are important I believe that if I had to pick one it would be critical thinking. I tell my students that if we all thought the same way no new ideas would be created and society would stand still. Life would we boring if we all thought the same way. Problem solving and reasoning is important no matter what future the students choose. I feel that creativity, collaboration, and communication works best when everyone in the group brings different thoughts to a project.

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The practices in my class that already align to mastery including opportunities within projects for choice in process, product, and at times even content. Additionally, I use rubrics that clearly define the expectations and allow students to self grade.  When students don't hit the mark on mastery or it isn't reviewed at the same level that they thought their mastery was, we have a conference to provide them feedback on how they can improve it.

I also use a mastery playlist to allow students to reattempt a skill or LO when they haven't demonstrated at a mastery level. This choiceboard of assignments has an alternative exercise, project, activity or lab that students can select which path they want to use to demonstrate mastery.

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None of these myths surprised me. However, the one I resonated the most with would be myth 2.  Although I believe standards based grading is worth it,  there is fine tuning process when starting a new class, curriculum, etc. The more you learn your standards and know them and align them to grading and this does take a lot more time up front for teachers.  Even now after teaching a class for multiple years, in true reflection, I recognize that I haven't found the balance of doing it efficiently and something I want to strive to work for to develop a better balance of time.

The myth on holding kids accountable versus teachers doing more work is a fine balance and two that can contradict each other.   There are many times I feel like in order to hold students accountable I have to assess valulable assessments, but at what point is there too much assessment? What is that balance? When standards are already skill based I find that there are times students demonstrate the skill early on while other students take more time and activities. I truly believe all students should have the time needed to learn it but then the time to create additional exercises, activities, learning opportunities for specific content is a lot, especially if students don't have the know how to create or come up with a way to demonstrate the skill again. We talk about differentiation in education and I know personalized learning is the answer. As I've been trying to think through what this looks like in my classroom, my only resolve is that technology is the solution. We have to figure out how to leverage it to allow these personalized learning paths for students.

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In 5-6, this was done often with Google Form Self Reflections, Group Reflections, and Teacher Check-ins. This is much easier to accomplish with older students. I implemented end of project paper reflections with the 3rd and 4th graders towards the end of the year that were effective. I implemented end of lesson check-ins with smiles and frowns, and numbers for the K-2 towards the end of the year as well. This is on of my main goals for the coming year, is to implement more student reflection on process and self-grading. I have a lot of work to do!