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NCTE Pursuing the Light Through Laughter

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Shining a Light on Digital Literacies in a Post-Truth World

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TLP panel session: Hands-On Activities and Collaborative Strategies that Nurture Student Engagement with Poetry

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science fiction book, but is a commentary on social structure and hierarchy. Parents put their daughter on a ship into space because the earth is dying. The story is about the girl who is the last storyteller so she must share all her memories with the rest of the travelers because they don’t remember—representation for Spanish culture.

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Epic Deals Disability Customer Support Holiday Gift Guide Best Sellers Amazon Basics Customer Service New Releases Books Music Registry Amazon Home Fashion Pharmacy Gift Cards Toys & Games Coupons Sell Kindle Books Computers Automotive Pet Supplies Home Improvement Video Games Beauty & Personal Care Luxury Stores Health & Household Smart Home Handmade Audible

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A novel in verse. During the cuban war, media is gaslighting the people, two teens see with their own eyes what is really happening on the streets. Has kids question what is happening in media

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Your Heart, My Sky: Love in a Time of Hunger

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Amazon.com: Your Heart, My Sky: Love in a Time of Hunger: 9781534464964: Engle, Margarita: Books

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Critical Literacy Teaching Framework doc

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Critical Literacy Teaching Framework doc

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Critical Literacy Teaching Framework **Make a copy for yourself** Step 1: Build Teacher Cultural Competence Essential Teacher Knowledge What context do you need to effectively teach this text? What historical knowledge do you know? What knowledge do you need to build? Connection to ...

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The May 19th Project collective was formed by Renee with author and cultural strategist Jeff Chang to launch a social media and video campaign that promotes solidarity within Asian and Pacific Islander communities and with all communities

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The May 19th Project collective was formed by Renee with author and cultural strategist Jeff Chang to launch a social media and video campaign that promotes solidarity within Asian and Pacific Islander communities and with all communities. The work builds upon the powerful mobilizing narrative of Stop AAPI Hate and moves the narrative to the next stage by focusing on solidarity-which is about seeing each other, standing together, and acting together-and solutions for the way forward.

Working with a team of award-winning filmmakers, the collective produced fourteen video stories and social content that centers the legacy of AAPI solidarity, particularly with other people of color. The filmmakers include Grace Lee, Stephen Maing, Juan Mejia, Bo Mirhosseni, Tadashi Nakamura, PJ Raval, and Jun Stinson. The videos are translated into multiple Asian languages.

The May 19 Project partnered with SEE US UNITE, a social media campaign that celebrates the resilience and power of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders coming together to present the videos on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and the web at www.seeusunite.org/unite.

The collective also collaborated with A-Doc (Asian American Documentary Network), For Freedom, the UCLA Asian American Studies Center, the WeChat Project, and Chinese Americans for Affirmative Action to cross-pollinate and cross-promote each organization's solidarity and racial justice-centered projects.

#MAY19PROJECT #Seeusunite
Follow us on Youtube

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The May 19th Project collective was formed by Renee with author and cultural strategist Jeff Chang to launch a social media and video campaign that promotes solidarity within Asian and Pacific Islander communities and with all communities. The work builds upon the powerful mobilizing narrative of St…

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Writing Centers that are run by students with a teacher advisor have great positive impact on students. It will take a lot of work and buy-in to get one started at the high school level.

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Could be used to facilitate conversations about identity and society

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© 2019 Haruka Sakaguchi and Griselda San Martin. All rights reserved.

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Free online source for video and news article content with complete lesson plans. Subjects include:biology, civics and government, earth and space science, environment, genger studies, journalism, law, psychology, etc.

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Free interactive Shakespeare content: full interactive text, videos, popup notes, contemporary translations, interactive questions

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There's hundreds of free articles to use, but there is also a paid version, Newsela ELA, that has more content and novel and book study content (curated text collections with practical instructional guides).

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News Literacy Project with Checkology virtual classroom

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News Literacy Project with Checkology virtual classroom

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online resource to help fight misinformation

Checkology gives students the skills to identify credible information, seek out reliable resources, recognize misinformation and help stop its spread.

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It's like pinterest, but for school. Free for teachers and students can curate multimedia materials, create online portfolios, create lesson plans, share materials, etc. There is a paid version that will provide use data and other administrative information.

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All the resources you need to get started on Wakelet 🤩

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Self-Evaluation for Success: Students Shining a Light on Their Own
Writing By Suzanne Kail

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Bringing Public Language to the Light: Critical Explorations of the Language of our Lives

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Bringing Public Language to the Light: Critical Explorations of the Language of our Lives

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Unit of study that includes book titles for related student led book clubs/literature circles

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Copy of NCTE  Presentation Just Mercy.pdf

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By Matt Johnson, Matt Kay and Dave Stuart

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Answers to Your Biggest Questions About Teaching Middle and High School ELA: Five to Thrive [series] (Corwin Literacy)

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Amazon.com: Answers to Your Biggest Questions About Teaching Middle and High School ELA: Five to Thrive [series] (Corwin Literacy): 9781071858042: Johnson, Matthew, Kay, Matthew R., Stuart, Dave: Books

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By Julia Torres

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Learn how librarians can positively effect change in areas like digital equity and inclusiveness, while creating powerful programming for middle and high school students.

Developing programs for learners can be an ongoing challenge for librarians - especially first-year librarians. Current books on the topic primarily focus on makerspaces or read alouds, and are aimed at elementary school grades, with a surface-level approach. This book addresses deeper issues that librarians face, while illustrating how to serve teens and tweens specifically by offering programming relevant to their lives.

The authors offer practical ideas for developing effective programming through collaborating with the community to develop and implement programs, connecting programs to ISTE Standards and curriculum, and addressing curricular and socio-emotional needs. They also share practical advice on budgeting and funding to support programs, scheduling, maximizing the use of technology to aid in programming and much more. The book also explores ways library programs can have a positive impact on school culture, such as addressing the digital divide, inclusion and cultural relevance.

This book:

* Discusses why programming is critical and covers how to develop library programs that are inclusive, culturally relevant and beneficial for students transitioning from high school to college.

* Shows how library programming aligns with American Association of School Librarians (AASL), Future Ready Librarians framework and the ISTE Standards.

* Provides checklists and templates to help readers develop their own programming ideas and lesson plans.

* Offers guidance on building consensus from various stakeholders and involving students, faculty and community in the development of programs.

* Shares stories from librarians in K-12 and higher education, addressing how they design their programs and offer career and educational paths for students.

Programming for teens and young adults is a catalyst for learning and exploration. The activities and learning experiences shared in this book will empower librarians and deepen student learning.

Audience: Middle and high school librarians, tween and teen public librarians, first-year experience librarians.

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Learn how librarians can positively effect change in areas like digital equity and inclusiveness, while creating powerful programming for middle and high school students.Developing programs for learners can be an ongoing challenge for librarians - especially first-year librarians. Current books on the topic primarily focus on makerspaces or read alouds, and are aimed at elementary school grades, with a surface-level approach.

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NCTE: Social Media Presentation for Padlet

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TLP panel session: Hands-On Activities and Collaborative Strategies that Nurture Student Engagement with Poetry

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The book has practical examples and it shows how to do it with IC.

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From the Foreword by Cris Tovani:

"Sarah Zerwin has written the book I desperately needed to help my beliefs about learning match my assessment practices. In Point-Less, she nudges teachers to consider how traditional forms of grading get in the way of student growth. Her pioneering ways of marking, collecting, and sharing student work shows teachers how to assess with fidelity and in ways that serve student learning. Instead of assigning random points to student tasks, she demonstrates how teachers can provide students with concise, descriptive data that serves as meaningful and specific feedback.

'Inside this book, teachers will find:

* online resources rife with tools and examples to manage feedback
* ways to harness the electronic grade book as a useful instructional tool
* frameworks that guide student and teacher feedback
* checklists to simplify convoluted rubrics.

'Sarah addresses every grading obstacle one could think of. She provides ways to navigate objections that parents, athletic directors, administrators, colleagues, colleges, and even students might have with this innovative way of reporting grades.

'It's exciting to think how instruction could change if teachers weren't compelled to evaluate everything students did for the mere purpose of putting points in the grade book. Are you ready to find your path to a better way of grading? Are you ready to lead students on this journey to becoming better readers, writers, and thinkers? If so, you are going to love Point-Less!"--Cris Tovani

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How a single teacher can "go gradeless" in ways that lead students to becoming better readers, writers, and thinkers. - Heinemann

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Writing activity that improves positive self-talk.

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Writing activity that improves positive self-talk.

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The session was from the CEL Convention with the topic on how we can develop teacher resilience and hope.

Instructions:

1. Write 5-6 sentences about the aspect of nature that you have chosen describing what you enjoy/find soothing about that aspect, its characteristics, do not using words like “I like” or surface adjectives.

2. Change your chosen aspect of nature to your name.

Example:

Norman at sunset calms me down. Norman pulls me into a pool that cleanses all the aches of the day. Then he carries me back to the shore where I sit to watch the ombré of the sunset. Norman sings the lullaby of the stars who are about to visit me. Then Norman will return once the sun rises again.

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I’m looking forward to her next novel

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Now why is it we have students write essays and book reports. What about the ledger to be kept in the business academy in graphic novel form? What about the sewing of the dress in the fashion pathway in graphic novel form? Or the procedures to address a sick patient in the health academy?

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The layers of learning can build and grow minds. I want all my teachers to have this book as a resource!

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How we can use specific words to describe our thoughts! Great material.

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Changing the Narrative Reimagining the Curriculum

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Changing the Narrative Reimagining the Curriculum

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Changing the Narrative, Reimagining the Curriculum: Light for Marginalized Voices

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Participant Copy of Empowering Leadership Teams:   CEL 2022

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Design for Belonging: How to Build Inclusion and Collaboration in Your Communities 

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Design for Belonging: How to Build Inclusion and Collaboration in Your Communities 

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A practical, illustrated guide to using the tools of design to create feelings of inclusion, collaboration, and respect in groups of any type or size-a classroom, a work team, an international organization-from Stanford University's d.school. "This is a beautiful book. Wise has applied the gift and imagination and lenses of the d.school to one of our most precious questions: how to create belonging."-Priya Parker, author of the Art of Gathering and host of the New York Times podcast Together Apart Design for Belonging , author and educator Susie Wise explains how to use simple levers of design to set the stage for belonging to emerge. For example, add moveable furniture to a meeting space to customize for your group size; switch up the role of group leader regularly to increase visibility for everyone; or create a special ritual for people joining or leaving your organization to welcome fresh perspectives and honor work well done.

Belonging brings out the best in everyone. Whether you're a parent, teacher, community organizer, or leader of any sort, your group is unlikely to thrive if the individuals don't feel welcomed, included, and valued for who they are.

The good news is that you can use design to create feelings of inclusion in your organization: rituals that bring people together, spaces that promote calm, roles that create a sense of responsibility, systems that make people feel respected, and more. You can't force feelings, but in

Inspiration and stories from leaders and scholars are paired with frameworks, tools, and tips, providing an opportunity to try on different approaches. By the end of the book, you'll be able to spot where a greater sense of belonging is needed and actively shape your world to cultivate it-whether it's a party, a high-stakes meeting, or a new national organization.

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Design for Belonging: How to Build Inclusion and Collaboration in Your Communities (Stanford d.school Library)

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Design for Belonging: How to Build Inclusion and Collaboration in Your Communities (Stanford d.school Library) - Kindle edition by Wise, Susie, Stanford d.school, Jaffe, Rose. Download it once and read it on your Kindle device, PC, phones or tablets.

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Paid Subscription Required

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Please enable JavaScript for this site to work properly.

Personalized, differentiated instruction helps you achieve lasting outcomes by prioritizing higher order thinking over memorization.

Membean is used in more than 2,000 schools in over 30 countries.

at a Glance

Automatically differentiates and personalizes to each student's skill level.

Makes teachers more efficient by saving them time and lightening their workload.

Prioritizes higher order thinking and word consciousness over memorization.

Works alongside any curriculum, including AP, IB, ESL, and more.

Promotes multiyear retention instead of focusing on short-term performance.

Gives teachers control over each student's goals and objectives.

Sorry, your browser doesn't support embedded videos, but don't worry, you can download it and watch it with your favorite video player!

How Works

Encoding vs. Retrieval

Retrieving what you need from your brain is often a bigger problem than just learning what you need. Membean continually reshapes your memory to make information more retrievable by spending 80% of training time asking you nuanced questions of varying difficulty.

Conventional Method

You forget much of what you learn quickly because more time is spent encoding instead of helping you retrieve the information you are being taught.

How Membean Works

Membean leverages the benefits of continual retrieval to train your brain to remember longer and retrieve reliably.

Blocked Learning vs. Spaced Learning

The timing of practice matters a great deal. Blocked learning creates the illusion of mastery. In actuality, rapid gains lead to rapid forgetting. Alternatively, spaced practice - where learning a single concept is stretched over a longer period of time - leads to true mastery.

Conventional Method

Weekly word lists are taught in a short period of time - similar to cramming for a test - followed by limited amounts, if any, of follow-up learning.

How Membean Works

Membean's algorithm introduces the same amount of material over a significantly longer period of time, resulting in long-term retention.

Memorizing vs. Higher Order Thinking

Easy learning is not strong learning. Membean elicits nuanced thinking and allows for mistakes, causing the experiences of surprise and internal dialogue, both of which aid in retention. We utilize 9 powerful pedagogical approaches to help you understand there's more to a word than just its definition.

Conventional Method

You are repeatedly presented with definitions and examples, resulting in memorization instead of robust mental connections.

How Membean Works

Membean applies layer upon layer of nuanced meaning and increased difficulty, encouraging you to form a rich mental picture of each word.

for Educators

We give control back to you.

Customize how long and how often your students learn. Set the quantity of questions on quizzes and how frequently they're issued. Tailor each learner's individual experience in every class. Individualized preferences for students who need accommodations? We do that! Tweak each class to your own satisfaction.

Genuine literacy for every student.

ELL? Gifted? Unmotivated reader? Membean customizes for all students and engenders word confidence. Learning definitions is just the beginning. Literacy requires deftly using words, recognizing them in text, and encountering them repeatedly, all of which eventually lead to a nuanced understanding.

Designed by teachers.

Collectively, the Membean team has 150 years of experience in the classroom. We get that students have varying levels of proficiency and diverse learning styles. We get that you need actionable data to monitor, support, and challenge students. We get the demands of state testing, especially when it comes to literacy. We get that your instructional time is precious. We get you because we are you.

Empathetic human support.

Our friendly, helpful support staff of former teachers who have used Membean in the classroom is standing by to help you with empathy and understanding. Our support team specializes in classroom needs at every level. We'll get back to you the same day. If it's an emergency, you'll hear from us within the hour. We're here for you!

Differentiated vocabulary for your students is just a click away.

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Membean is a vocabulary program that builds word consciousness and achieve lasting outcomes by prioritizing higher order thinking over memorization.

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What the Fact?: Finding the Truth in All the Noise

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Amazon.com: What the Fact?: Finding the Truth in All the Noise: 9781665900034: Yasmin, Dr Seema: Books

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Online Platform for Reading and Writing Across Content Areas Grades 3-12

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Online Platform for Reading and Writing Across Content Areas Grades 3-12

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ThinkCERCA | Personalized Close Reading & Argumentative Writing Lessons

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The CERCA Framework is a scaffolded approach to literacy that helps students develop their critical thinking skills. ThinkCERCA's expert-designed lessons walk students through the process of analyzing content-rich texts and multimedia to construct cohesive argumentative, informational, or narrative writings.

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Caldecott Medal Winner Best Children's Book of the Year
Newbery Honor Book
APALA Award Winner
A Boston Globe-Horn Book Honor Book

While driving through Ohio in an old Pontiac, a young girl's Chinese immigrant parents spot watercress growing wild in a ditch by the side of the road. They stop the car, grabbing rusty scissors and an old paper bag, and the whole family wades into the mud to gather as much as they can.

At first, she's embarrassed. Why can't her family just get food from the grocery store, like everyone else? But when her mother shares a bittersweet story of her family history in China, the girl learns to appreciate the fresh food they foraged-and the memories left behind in pursuit of a new life.

Together, they make a new memory of watercress.

Author Andrea Wang calls this moving, autobiographical story "both an apology and a love letter to my parents." It's a bittersweet, delicate look at how sharing the difficult parts of our histories can create powerful new moments of family history, and help connect us to our roots.

Jason Chin's illustrations move between China and the American Midwest and were created with a mixture of traditional Chinese brushes and western media. The dreamy, nostalgic color palette brings this beautiful story to life.

An endnote from the author describes her personal connection to the story, and an illustrator's note touches on both the process of the painting, and the emotional meaning brought to the work.

A story about the power of sharing memories-including the painful ones-and the way our heritage stays with and shapes us, even when we don't see it.

New England Book Award Winner
A New York Times New England Book Award Winner A New York Times Best Children's Book of the Year A Wall Street Journal Best Children's Book of the Year A Boston Globe Best Children's Book of the Year A Washington Post Best Children's Book of the Year A Boston Globe-Horn Book Honor Book Winner of the Cybils Award An SCBWI Crystal Kite Award Winner A New York Public Library Best Book of the Year A Chicago Public Library Best Book of the Year An ALSC Notable Children's Book Named a best book of the year by Publishers Weekly, BookPage, School Library Journal, Kirkus Reviews, Publishers Lunch, Shelf Awareness , and more! A CBC/NCSS Notable Social Studies Trade Book An NPR 'Book We Love!' A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection!

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Watercress - Kindle edition by Wang, Andrea, Chin, Jason. Download it once and read it on your Kindle device, PC, phones or tablets. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading Watercress.

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The #1 New York Times bestseller that sparked international dialogue is now a book for young adults! Based on the adult bestseller by Ibram X. Kendi, and co-authored by bestselling author Nic Stone, How to be a (Young) Antiracist will serve as a guide for teens seeking a way forward in acknowledging, identifying, and dismantling racism and injustice. New York Times bestseller How to be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi is shaping the way a generation thinks about race and racism. How to be a (Young) Antiracist is a dynamic reframing of the concepts shared in the adult book, with young adulthood front and center. Aimed at readers 12 and up, and co-authored by award-winning children's book author Nic Stone, How to be a (Young) Antiracist empowers teen readers to help create a more just society. Antiracism is a journey--and now young adults will have a map to carve their own path. Kendi and Stone have revised this work to provide anecdotes and data that speaks directly to the experiences and concerns of younger readers, encouraging them to think critically and build a more equitable world in doing so.

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Amazon.com: How to Be a (Young) Antiracist eBook : Kendi, Ibram X., Stone, Nic: Kindle Store

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This is Which One Doesn't Belong?, a website dedicated to providing thought-provoking puzzles for math teachers and students alike. There are no answers provided as there are many different, correct ways of choosing which one doesn't belong. Enjoy!

Which One Doesn't Belong?

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This is Which One Doesn't Belong?, a website dedicated to providing thought-provoking puzzles for math teachers and students alike. There are no answers provided as there are many different, correct ways of choosing which one doesn't belong. Enjoy!

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Walking in Shakespeare's Shoes:  Connecting His World With Ours Using Primary Sources

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Walking in Shakespeare's Shoes:  Connecting His World With Ours Using Primary Sources

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-Instructional strategies for Shakespeare's plays and sonnets.
-Primary sources to connect the past with the present.
-http://www.shakespearedocuments.info/get-started.html
(if link doesn't work on school server, try your home wifi)

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Walking in Shakespeare's Shoes: Connecting His World and Ours Using Primary Sources

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Walking in Shakespeare's Shoes: Connecting His World and Ours Using Primary Sources [Steelman, Sheridan Lynn] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Walking in Shakespeare's Shoes: Connecting His World and Ours Using Primary Sources

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Explore this free selection of teaching modules, lessons that help every single student unlock a range of texts.

As you try these out in class, ask yourself:

1. Are all students speaking the language of the text?

2. Are all students collaborating and creating with one another and the text?

3. Has the voice of every student been included, honored, and amplified?

4. Have students bravely and respectfully confronted the tough issues (identity, difference, power) raised by the text?

5. Did I, the teacher, get out of the way?

For even more classroom resources and professional development, become a Teacher Member today and gain exclusive access to , our online universe just for teachers.

For a $40 tax-deductible contribution to the nonprofit Folger Library, you'll enjoy all the benefits of Teacher Membership, including full access to everything on Folger Teaching. Your school may even cover the $40 donation. Use this template letter to help make the case to your administration.

Interested in Folger Teaching but not yet ready to take the plunge? Try out the free lessons shared below.

A Sampling of Folger Lessons

Special Teaching Materials for Right Now

Play-Specific Teaching Modules

Julius Caesar

A Midsummer Night's Dream

Romeo and Juliet

Twelfth Night

Other Lesson Plans

Any Play

Other Texts

The Folger Method gets all students unlocking all kinds of texts, not just Shakespeare.

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Explore this free selection of teaching modules, lessons that help every single student unlock a range of texts. As you try these out in class, ask yourself: Are all students speaking the language of the text? Are all students collaborating and creating with one another and the text?

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Comparing primary source documents and Romeo and Juliet

Lesson plan with links to documents

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Comparing Primary Source Documents and Romeo and Juliet

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Author: Gina Savino teaches English at Smithtown High School in Smithtown, NY Editor: Greta Brasgalla, Folger National Teacher Corps and Curriculum Specialist at El Dorado High School, El Paso, TX Common Core Anchor Standards: R.1, R.4, R.5, R.9, SL.1, L.5 Text: Romeo and Juliet 1.5.51-60 Students will identify literary techniques in Romeo's speech to Juliet in 1.5.

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Paid subscription required

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WordPlay - The New Way to Read Shakespeare

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Shakespeare with a film on the page. Easy Shakespeare.

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Silent Conversations set the stage for more in depth conversations.

Students read and annotate selected texts, building on classmates' ideas when possible, as a way to prepare for classroom dialog.

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About this Strategy Guide

This guide introduces silent conversations, a collaborative learning technique that has students thinking, sharing, and reflecting about important questions-but through writing rather than talk.

Research Basis

Dialogue and conversation are cornerstones to our approaches in helping students try out and develop new ideas, but not all learners are equally comfortable or adept at participating in large- or even small-group verbal discussions. Silent conversations capitalize on the social nature of learning by asking students to share their thinking and to build from and reflect on the thinking of others, but they do so by allowing students the to use writing for additional time to think and refine their ideas.

Strategy in Practice
Preparation

Using either teacher- or student-generated open-ended questions (4-5 is a good number), make a "discussion space" for each question. If students are able to be up and moving around the room, write each question at the top of a piece of chart paper and post them at intervals throughout the room. If students need to remain seated, write each question at the top of a piece of printing paper. (In this case, consider making multiple copies of each question so each student will have a question to respond to at all times.)

Explain to students that this is a silent conversation. Instead of speaking to their peers as they respond to the questions and build from each others' ideas, they do so in writing. As in a spoken conversation, though, a key goal is response to previous ideas, not just presentation of something new.

Distribute different colored pens/pencils to help keep track of the "speakers" in the conversation and/or ask students to put their initials after their comments. Encourage students to use evidence to support their assertions and to add supporting (or contradictory) evidence to the discussion already in progress when they get to a new question.

Caution students against merely agreeing or disagreeing with a previous response. They need to elaborate on any such responses with a because statement that either offers up new evidence or presents an alternative view of the evidence already at hand.

The Discussion

Set aside 15-20 minutes for the conversation and allow students a few minutes to interact with each question. If students are up and round the room, several students will be at a question at a time; if using single sheets for seated students, students can pass the questions down a row or around a table.

Remind students to add new ideas and to build from previous ones as well.

Announce when it is time for students to move to a new question or to pass their question sheet around.

Allow for 2 or 3 passes through each question while students continue to add their thinking to the paper or chart paper.

Reflection

After the silent conversation, allow time for students to look back at everything that was written in response to each question, but without writing anything new. Alternately, assign groups to look more closely at one of the questions and response spaces, with each group ultimately sharing to the rest of the class the most interesting and important points raised in response to the question.

Facilitate reflection either with talk or in writing. Focus on questions such as these:

How did your classmates build from one of your ideas?

What's an idea that changed the way you're thinking about the text or topic?

How was participating in a silent conversation different from a regular class discussion?

What's something you want to ask or add now that you've had additional time to think?

Students might choose one of the questions as the beginning of a writing prompt. Post the conversations around the room and/or take photos of each set of responses and post them on the class wiki or website so students can refer to them easily.

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About this Strategy Guide This guide introduces silent conversations, a collaborative learning technique that has students thinking, sharing, and reflecting about important questions-but through writing rather than talk. Research Basis Dialogue and conversation are cornerstones to our approaches in helping students try out and develop new ideas, but not all learners are equally comfortable or adept at participating in large- or even small-group verbal discussions.

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Are grades helping our students become proficient?
Are our tasks a measure of compliance or proficiency?

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Teach students that numbers and letters are just temporary symbols for where they currently are in relation to proficiency-not a symbol of their worth.

Encourage students to be learners NOT grade earners.

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Years and years ago, I was first introduced to the concept of "going gradeless," it seemed like a revolutionary concept-which it is. I was working in a somewhat traditional suburban school district. Nothing folks were doing was particularly different or revolutionary. Although the idea of going gradeless seemed interesting, in the name of consistency, everyone had to do the same thing, so nobody rocked the boat or brought up the idea of seriously trying something new.

That was five years ago.

In my current environment, working in the only urban school district in my state, nothing is different. Teachers are given a curriculum map and grading guidelines, directions on how to post, and that's basically it. There is little to no research done on innovative or new grading methods, and nobody I know of tampers with the tried-and-true method of using points as a way to incentivize learning.

All teachers are expected to get students to produce results on standardized tests equivalent to their white counterparts (in completely different settings). If the results do not come back as expected, teachers and programs will be deemed failures, schools will be closed. We all bear the heavy burden of responsibility for our school's fate across our shoulders each day, along with the mark of being a "RED" aka "FAILING" school. We are regularly reminded of these facts.

It's generally assumed that with regard to grading practices, we have to provide consistency for students so that everything is fair, and students are consistently evaluated with regard to their achievements, no matter what school they attend.

The fact is that this is pretend. Consistency is illusory.

In my school, we have tried to get on the same page numerous times, but there will always be a component of subjectivity when it comes to grading practices and policies that teachers employ and enforce because we are individuals. No matter how hard the system tries to bring us all in line, educators are unique creatures. We will not be tamed.

Though trends like standards-based grading may come and go, we still mold grading practices to suit our own ideas of what is fair, which is why teachers going gradeless is a logical evolution away from traditional systems of evaluation, and toward a new system centering students in the process of measuring mastery and acting on feedback.

In an environment like mine-an environment that was not designed for black and brown students to succeed in any capacity-going gradeless remains a distant dream for most teachers, rather than an actionable reality. Lack of communication, high teacher turnover, mandatory procedures, oppressive evaluation practices (both for students and teachers) all serve as a perfect storm that most often reduces the classroom experience to a clinical, lifeless exchange between teacher and student. Sound dramatic? Ask the students. They will tell you the truth if you can be quiet long enough to listen.

As all of us working in urban schools know, there are lots of so-called "accountability measures" that I and the students must abide by. Though there are so many of these, at the same time, there are astonishingly so few measures in place to make sure grades actually stand for the same level of achievement from one class to another. We all know it is possible for teachers to grade students based upon how they "feel" a student has done in their class. As much as it pains me to say this, and as unethical as it sounds, I know there are folks out there who give grades as "gifts." They "reward" students with A's and B's without using any student assignments to determine that grade.

As a result, many students become resentful when they get into a class where they discover they have to "earn" a grade by meeting certain standards. There are other classes where students believe, "As long as I do all the work, I should get an A. The quality of the work doesn't matter." In still other scenarios, students have no idea how the standards align to their assignments. They learn that if they do what their (mostly white) teachers tell them to, they'll be rewarded with a passing grade.
If this isn't indoctrination into a system of blind obedience, I don't know what is.
This is what comes from everyone-students and teachers-knowing that the current grading system is a great big chess game, complete with winners and losers. Ditch too many classes, ignore too many assignments, and you will be a casualty of the system and your teacher's sword of truth (and justice). Have nice handwriting and turn every assignment in early-you'll be rewarded in ways you can't even imagine-and most definitely know you don't deserve.

Students know this "hidden curriculum" well. They have figured out how to play the game so that they can get what they want from winning it. The sad part is that little learning happens if students are merely performing compliance-based tasks and conforming to the demands of a system that uses grades as punishments and rewards.

If I follow district directives, I will post grade trackers on the walls of my classroom, publicly declaring "losers" and "winners" for all to see-to encourage "healthy competition." If I follow school mandates, I will post grades every week after I put assignments into Schoology (also in Infinite Campus) for athletic eligibility purposes. It is widely believed that the grade equals feedback, and students need regular feedback. I've never heard anyone discuss the fact that students themselves can provide valid feedback, and that grades are the most basic and simplistic type of feedback.

So how does one begin to "go gradeless" in such an environment? My goal is always to have systems in place that empower students to accurately grade themselves. They know what mastery looks like and can provide evidence to support whatever grade they give themselves-with me to help guide and support them. But how do I encourage independence when students are conditioned to crave constant validation and feedback from me?
How do I go gradeless in a system that relies so heavily on standardized tests as a measurement of success that my school's very survival depends on those results?
It's a lot of weight to carry.

Every quarter, I have my students respond to a series of questions in a reflection form. This data doesn't really do much for my end-of-year Student Learning Objective data meetings, because it is qualitative. However, the questions are designed to generate reflection on unit goals and essential questions. I don't collect student data in Google forms with the goal of providing evidence of my greatness in my end-of-year evaluation meetings. In no way do I want students to come to my class feeling that it's all a game-one they pass by showing me what I want to see, but many still do feel this way-a feeling reinforced by the fact that we are not consistent with regard to grading practices, policies, and procedures.

Furthermore, as my friend and colleague Marian Dingle has said in the comments for ,

"As a Black female educator, I have to acknowledge that grades have become a gatekeeper for opportunities for them, and obsession with them is taught to children by their parents as a means for survival, legitimacy, and the pathway to "success."

As the majority of my students come from Black or Hispanic families with strong work ethics embedded in their family culture, I know I have to tread carefully when dealing with family and cultural norms or traditions. It is insensitive at best, and ignorant at worst, to prioritize my desire to "push the envelope" and be "progressive" over a family's desire to see their child succeed in a way they can understand-by achieving the highest grades. Many of my families see a high GPA or all A's as a mark of distinction. Students communicate respect to their families and garner self-worth from their class ranking and position. Their focus is on the GPA as a gateway to college and a better life-social mobility. It means that success is attainable not only for their white counterparts, but for them as well. When the belief that a grade equals self-worth is so ingrained, it becomes challenging to shift mindsets around what grades "should" mean.

I have to be honest, I have received feedback on evaluations that says, "Students are still showing a high level of dependence on the teacher." This is hard feedback to receive, especially because the ultimate goal is no dependence on the teacher. The ultimate goal is empowerment through independence. I can make excuses and say that students are so unprepared for the demands of AP English Language and Composition by the time they get to my class, that I feel I have no choice but to front-load them with information, but is this really accurate?

The only way that I can know what they take away from each quarter is by asking them. My Google form has some of the following questions:

How did you challenge thinking in our classroom?

How did you contribute to the conversations that are already happening?

What skills did you learn this semester?

Which do you feel you could teach someone else?

What new knowledge did you gain?

How has your thinking transformed?

In what ways will you continue the learning that has just begun?

This year, my "grades" will be rooted in this with Ss attaching their best evidence to a portfolio that will support their statements. My resistance against a system that would commodify something as beautiful as the learning process, starts here. https://t.co/z3txHyvKdf
- Julia E. Torres (is reading all the books) (@juliaerin80) December 11, 2017

These are not questions that will generate data the district wants, but they provide invaluable data points for further conversation with students (and reflection about my practice) for me. I outline my thinking about this more fully in a Twitter moment :

This is the ultimate goal of learning in my classroom, and I look forward to a day when those of us in urban education are free to fully commit ourselves to this practice. Though many of us believe in education as a practice of liberation, the current system continues to oppress us all-it also turns us into tools of oppression.

Some would say that, "There has to be some tool for measurement, and this is the best we've got." I don't disagree that there has to be a way for determining mastery so students can know whether they progressing toward a goal. But I don't agree that we have to keep going with a system that is broken because that is what tradition dictates.

I know that students have to evaluate themselves somehow. But when you've worked with students who are crippled with insecurity due to constant messages that their best simply isn't good enough, it's hard to comply every week with the "professional expectation" to further label and oppress them through assigning grades. I feel like I'm commodifying their learning, reducing all that is good about what we've done that week to a number and letter that usually doesn't fully reflect their academic progress. It's difficult to feel that pressure from the system-along with the expectation from the students (because they've been conditioned)-to provide a grade as the carrot at the end of the stick.

So where do we go from here? There are so many barriers to progress that have to be considered. Those who are first- or second-year teachers from Teach for America (as a lot of our staff are) are just figuring out how to teach with a lot of oversight and very little useful support. The last thing on their minds is figuring out how to organize and implement a progressive new way of grading. We often say that starting as a new teacher in our district is like drinking from a fire hose. Perhaps this is why few of them last more than two or three years.

Another obstacle is that students who have been conditioned to learn for grades will and do push back when their self worth and family identity has been carefully constructed around the idea that they are "A" students. Dismantling this ethos or cultural practice is a daring move to make, one that requires knowledge of and communication with students, their parents, and the community. When the only communication home is a reprimand or advisement of disciplinary action, neither trust nor good relationships between students, parents, and schools exist.

Sharing best practices is also a good start. However, a lot of folks assume that what works in suburban white-dominated spaces are "best practices" that set the bar by which all other practices are measured. It is assumed that since these progressive practices work in schools with predominantly white student and staff populations, they must work for everybody.

This simply isn't so.
In order for us to make actual progress, I offer the following:

1. Go into schools in your area that are considered "urban" and get a sense for what the teachers and students there are dealing with regarding expectations, habits, and beliefs around who can and who can't succeed.

2. Consider practices and beliefs held there that might also useful to students in suburban schools. You might be surprised at what you discover. It should be an exchange without the presumption of an environment being "better" or "worse" than the other.

3. Speak to the students in each environment. Gather evidence about what works for them and what doesn't regarding grading practices, including any cultural values and beliefs around grades.

4. Remember that no progressive change that includes only some of us can possibly be good for all of us. If you believe in a true revolution, make sure you are extending the reach of the work so that it benefits all, even those in other schools on the other side of town.

Julia E. Torres is a Language Arts teacher at a public high school in Denver, Colorado. Her work is grounded in empowering students to use the Language Arts to fuel resistance and social transformation. You can read more of her work at juliaetorres.blog.What do you think? Sound off in the comments below or continue the conversation on . And please join Julia and co-moderator Marian Dingle for a follow-up on urban education this Sunday, March 11 at 9 p.m. EST/7 p.m. MST.

Years and years ago, I was first introduced to the concept of "going gradeless," it seemed like a revolutionary concept-which it is. I was working in a somewhat traditional suburban school district. Nothing folks were doing was particularly different or revolutionary. Although the idea of going gradeless seemed interesting, in the name of consistency, everyone had to do the same thing, so nobody rocked the boat or brought up the idea of seriously trying something new.

That was five years ago.

In my current environment, working in the only urban school district in my state, nothing is different. Teachers are given a curriculum map and grading guidelines, directions on how to post, and that's basically it. There is little to no research done on innovative or new grading methods, and nobody I know of tampers with the tried-and-true method of using points as a way to incentivize learning.

All teachers are expected to get students to produce results on standardized tests equivalent to their white counterparts (in completely different settings). If the results do not come back as expected, teachers and programs will be deemed failures, schools will be closed. We all bear the heavy burden of responsibility for our school's fate across our shoulders each day, along with the mark of being a "RED" aka "FAILING" school. We are regularly reminded of these facts.

It's generally assumed that with regard to grading practices, we have to provide consistency for students so that everything is fair, and students are consistently evaluated with regard to their achievements, no matter what school they attend.

The fact is that this is pretend. Consistency is illusory.

In my school, we have tried to get on the same page numerous times, but there will always be a component of subjectivity when it comes to grading practices and policies that teachers employ and enforce because we are individuals. No matter how hard the system tries to bring us all in line, educators are unique creatures. We will not be tamed.

Though trends like standards-based grading may come and go, we still mold grading practices to suit our own ideas of what is fair, which is why teachers going gradeless is a logical evolution away from traditional systems of evaluation, and toward a new system centering students in the process of measuring mastery and acting on feedback.

In an environment like mine-an environment that was not designed for black and brown students to succeed in any capacity-going gradeless remains a distant dream for most teachers, rather than an actionable reality. Lack of communication, high teacher turnover, mandatory procedures, oppressive evaluation practices (both for students and teachers) all serve as a perfect storm that most often reduces the classroom experience to a clinical, lifeless exchange between teacher and student. Sound dramatic? Ask the students. They will tell you the truth if you can be quiet long enough to listen.

As all of us working in urban schools know, there are lots of so-called "accountability measures" that I and the students must abide by. Though there are so many of these, at the same time, there are astonishingly so few measures in place to make sure grades actually stand for the same level of achievement from one class to another. We all know it is possible for teachers to grade students based upon how they "feel" a student has done in their class. As much as it pains me to say this, and as unethical as it sounds, I know there are folks out there who give grades as "gifts." They "reward" students with A's and B's without using any student assignments to determine that grade.

As a result, many students become resentful when they get into a class where they discover they have to "earn" a grade by meeting certain standards. There are other classes where students believe, "As long as I do all the work, I should get an A. The quality of the work doesn't matter." In still other scenarios, students have no idea how the standards align to their assignments. They learn that if they do what their (mostly white) teachers tell them to, they'll be rewarded with a passing grade.
If this isn't indoctrination into a system of blind obedience, I don't know what is.
This is what comes from everyone-students and teachers-knowing that the current grading system is a great big chess game, complete with winners and losers. Ditch too many classes, ignore too many assignments, and you will be a casualty of the system and your teacher's sword of truth (and justice). Have nice handwriting and turn every assignment in early-you'll be rewarded in ways you can't even imagine-and most definitely know you don't deserve.

Students know this "hidden curriculum" well. They have figured out how to play the game so that they can get what they want from winning it. The sad part is that little learning happens if students are merely performing compliance-based tasks and conforming to the demands of a system that uses grades as punishments and rewards.

If I follow district directives, I will post grade trackers on the walls of my classroom, publicly declaring "losers" and "winners" for all to see-to encourage "healthy competition." If I follow school mandates, I will post grades every week after I put assignments into Schoology (also in Infinite Campus) for athletic eligibility purposes. It is widely believed that the grade equals feedback, and students need regular feedback. I've never heard anyone discuss the fact that students themselves can provide valid feedback, and that grades are the most basic and simplistic type of feedback.

So how does one begin to "go gradeless" in such an environment? My goal is always to have systems in place that empower students to accurately grade themselves. They know what mastery looks like and can provide evidence to support whatever grade they give themselves-with me to help guide and support them. But how do I encourage independence when students are conditioned to crave constant validation and feedback from me?
How do I go gradeless in a system that relies so heavily on standardized tests as a measurement of success that my school's very survival depends on those results?
It's a lot of weight to carry.

Every quarter, I have my students respond to a series of questions in a reflection form. This data doesn't really do much for my end-of-year Student Learning Objective data meetings, because it is qualitative. However, the questions are designed to generate reflection on unit goals and essential questions. I don't collect student data in Google forms with the goal of providing evidence of my greatness in my end-of-year evaluation meetings. In no way do I want students to come to my class feeling that it's all a game-one they pass by showing me what I want to see, but many still do feel this way-a feeling reinforced by the fact that we are not consistent with regard to grading practices, policies, and procedures.

Furthermore, as my friend and colleague Marian Dingle has said in the comments for ,

"As a Black female educator, I have to acknowledge that grades have become a gatekeeper for opportunities for them, and obsession with them is taught to children by their parents as a means for survival, legitimacy, and the pathway to "success."

As the majority of my students come from Black or Hispanic families with strong work ethics embedded in their family culture, I know I have to tread carefully when dealing with family and cultural norms or traditions. It is insensitive at best, and ignorant at worst, to prioritize my desire to "push the envelope" and be "progressive" over a family's desire to see their child succeed in a way they can understand-by achieving the highest grades. Many of my families see a high GPA or all A's as a mark of distinction. Students communicate respect to their families and garner self-worth from their class ranking and position. Their focus is on the GPA as a gateway to college and a better life-social mobility. It means that success is attainable not only for their white counterparts, but for them as well. When the belief that a grade equals self-worth is so ingrained, it becomes challenging to shift mindsets around what grades "should" mean.

I have to be honest, I have received feedback on evaluations that says, "Students are still showing a high level of dependence on the teacher." This is hard feedback to receive, especially because the ultimate goal is no dependence on the teacher. The ultimate goal is empowerment through independence. I can make excuses and say that students are so unprepared for the demands of AP English Language and Composition by the time they get to my class, that I feel I have no choice but to front-load them with information, but is this really accurate?

The only way that I can know what they take away from each quarter is by asking them. My Google form has some of the following questions:

How did you challenge thinking in our classroom?

How did you contribute to the conversations that are already happening?

What skills did you learn this semester?

Which do you feel you could teach someone else?

What new knowledge did you gain?

How has your thinking transformed?

In what ways will you continue the learning that has just begun?

This year, my "grades" will be rooted in this with Ss attaching their best evidence to a portfolio that will support their statements. My resistance against a system that would commodify something as beautiful as the learning process, starts here. https://t.co/z3txHyvKdf
- Julia E. Torres (is reading all the books) (@juliaerin80) December 11, 2017

These are not questions that will generate data the district wants, but they provide invaluable data points for further conversation with students (and reflection about my practice) for me. I outline my thinking about this more fully in a Twitter moment :

This is the ultimate goal of learning in my classroom, and I look forward to a day when those of us in urban education are free to fully commit ourselves to this practice. Though many of us believe in education as a practice of liberation, the current system continues to oppress us all-it also turns us into tools of oppression.

Some would say that, "There has to be some tool for measurement, and this is the best we've got." I don't disagree that there has to be a way for determining mastery so students can know whether they progressing toward a goal. But I don't agree that we have to keep going with a system that is broken because that is what tradition dictates.

I know that students have to evaluate themselves somehow. But when you've worked with students who are crippled with insecurity due to constant messages that their best simply isn't good enough, it's hard to comply every week with the "professional expectation" to further label and oppress them through assigning grades. I feel like I'm commodifying their learning, reducing all that is good about what we've done that week to a number and letter that usually doesn't fully reflect their academic progress. It's difficult to feel that pressure from the system-along with the expectation from the students (because they've been conditioned)-to provide a grade as the carrot at the end of the stick.

So where do we go from here? There are so many barriers to progress that have to be considered. Those who are first- or second-year teachers from Teach for America (as a lot of our staff are) are just figuring out how to teach with a lot of oversight and very little useful support. The last thing on their minds is figuring out how to organize and implement a progressive new way of grading. We often say that starting as a new teacher in our district is like drinking from a fire hose. Perhaps this is why few of them last more than two or three years.

Another obstacle is that students who have been conditioned to learn for grades will and do push back when their self worth and family identity has been carefully constructed around the idea that they are "A" students. Dismantling this ethos or cultural practice is a daring move to make, one that requires knowledge of and communication with students, their parents, and the community. When the only communication home is a reprimand or advisement of disciplinary action, neither trust nor good relationships between students, parents, and schools exist.

Sharing best practices is also a good start. However, a lot of folks assume that what works in suburban white-dominated spaces are "best practices" that set the bar by which all other practices are measured. It is assumed that since these progressive practices work in schools with predominantly white student and staff populations, they must work for everybody.

This simply isn't so.
In order for us to make actual progress, I offer the following:

1. Go into schools in your area that are considered "urban" and get a sense for what the teachers and students there are dealing with regarding expectations, habits, and beliefs around who can and who can't succeed.

2. Consider practices and beliefs held there that might also useful to students in suburban schools. You might be surprised at what you discover. It should be an exchange without the presumption of an environment being "better" or "worse" than the other.

3. Speak to the students in each environment. Gather evidence about what works for them and what doesn't regarding grading practices, including any cultural values and beliefs around grades.

4. Remember that no progressive change that includes only some of us can possibly be good for all of us. If you believe in a true revolution, make sure you are extending the reach of the work so that it benefits all, even those in other schools on the other side of town.

Julia E. Torres is a Language Arts teacher at a public high school in Denver, Colorado. Her work is grounded in empowering students to use the Language Arts to fuel resistance and social transformation. You can read more of her work at juliaetorres.blog.What do you think? Sound off in the comments below or continue the conversation on . And please join Julia and co-moderator Marian Dingle for a follow-up on urban education this Sunday, March 11 at 9 p.m. EST/7 p.m. MST.

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Going Gradeless in Urban Ed - Teachers Going Gradeless

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It's generally assumed that we have to provide consistency for students so that everything is fair, and students are consistently evaluated with regard to their achievements, no matter what school they attend. The fact is that this is pretend. Consistency is illusory.

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Labor Based Grading
More feedback/less grading

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Inoue NCTE22 conversation, full version.mp4