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Gossett                            I met my "aha moment" at the beginning of Chapter 1 when I realized the book was talking about me. I AM that teacher who grades everything. My rationale was always that more grades act as a cushion in the unfortunate event of a bad test grade. The further I read, the more it made sense that I was doing my kids a disservice. Feedback and growth are more important than grades. And THIS is the best time to harness a new routine when my classes are small and conferences are doable. 

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Gossett                            I met my "aha moment" at the beginning of Chapter 1 when I realized the book was talking about me. I AM that teacher who grades everything. My rationale was always that more grades act as a cushion in the unfortunate event of a bad test grade. The further I read, the more it made sense that I was doing my kids a disservice. Feedback and growth are more important than grades. And THIS is the best time to harness a new routine when my classes are small and conferences are doable. 

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1. Most of the time grades are not an accurate reflection of students' skills and abilities. soo true...

2. On page 4 says: Grades can Kill motivation and I agree. Unfortunately there are cases when grades can be a trigger to the students, so they can start working on their assignments.

3. on page 7 encouraged to provide feedback to students. when we do that they have the chance to revisit and improve their work. I like it. I always try to write comments on students paper and asked them to re submit work.

4. I think that small classes like we have now give us the chance to have conversations with each students about their growth. it is hard to do it when you have large ones.

5. unfortunately sometimes teachers are powerless in a system were grades rules.

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Students are our customers in education so we need their feedback and be willing to make changes to reach their needs.

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I felt that everything in Chapter 1 resonated with me. But I think the key to it all is item #7: Traditional grades happen to students.

If we are not working with students to focus on the process of learning over just completing a list of tasks, then we are grading students on compliance. Is that really what we as educators want to do?

I also thought it was interesting that as I was reading this chapter, the school started talking about progress reports and I was receiving comments from others wondering why I had nothing in my grade book yet (“Not even a participation grade or something?”). The fact of the matter was, my students are in the middle of their learning process and I could not honestly assess them on their knowledge of Forces and Motion just yet. I did end up putting a compliance based grade in there (and I don’t like it’s presence in my grade book.), which just reinforces how hard it is to be innovative within our current reality.

I am left with a genuine question after reading chapter 1 of this book. If our school is promoting books like this one, does that mean that we as teachers are being encouraged to buck the system and try new things that might not fit “inside the box” that our educational system was designed for?

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I think that for me an essential point is that "Traditional Grades Do Not Reflect Mastery of Grade-Level Skills" because it only shows what the student did but not his/her skill set. Additionally, we often focus on the product and not on the progress and we don't require students to think about their learning. And thinking about one's own learning (metacognition) is essential for students to grow and to become independent learners and inquirers.

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1.Going back to middle school and beyond, I have always had the theory that a letter grade or number does not determine ones intellect. For example, some individuals don't do well on tests, but they have an understanding of the content during a class discussion. In my short tenure as a teacher I have quickly learned that grades/grading SHOULD NOT be the focal point of our students education. As number 3 suggests, spending 90% of the time supporting the process and the other 10% of assessing their finished products is far more rewarding.

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As the author wrote and I´m in agreement with her, The problems associated with traditional grading practices discussed in this chapter can be alleviated if teachers use blended models instead of traditional ones.Mr Morales.

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I agree with Ms. Manning on #3...the product is important, but truly learning the process will "stay" with students longer...case in point, when students tell me they created a project at home, I know they retained the process...there are many steps before reaching the end product. I have always believed Related Arts classes should not be graded and focus more on students reaching success on their own abilities.

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I often watch Rita Pierson's Ted Talk on "Every Kid Needs a Champion" because her enthusiasm and passion for education can get even the most stubborn individual hyped up and ready to learn. Human connection is a powerful tool, especially in our professions working with young people. When our students know that we care about them and value them as people first, the sky is the limit to their performance in the classroom. I told my students from day one - regardless of their age, nobody wants to be disrespected. Even with them being 11-13 year old kids, I address them as "no sir - yes sir and no ma'am - yes ma'am." In return, I receive that respect from them without even asking. Relationships are everything!

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The quote..."understanding where the learner is coming from in his/her learning process, and where the learner still needs to go.  I believe wholeheartedly in building relationships with students; one, students quickly learn teachers care about them, and two, through conversations I can better improve their class experience.

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I love the quote "... they must be partners of the students in their relationships with them" in the beginning of the chapter. I think this quote is essential because it points out how essential relationships and relationship building is. Additionally, all the "Partnership Principles for Teachers and Students" are important to have in order to foster a good relationship and communication between students and teachers.

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When our PLC met, we agreed that assessment based on the IB Rubric does exactly what Chapter 1 describes. Cool to know we already assess kids in many ways other than a final content grade.

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IB Assessments/Blended Learning - Pecarina

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IB Assessments/Blended Learning - Pecarina

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Assessing students using the IB Rubrics falls right in line with the information on grading outlined in Chapter 1. We discussed in our PLC that assessing where students fall in line with mastery of content instead of a 'right' or 'wrong' mentality allows them to view themselves on the continuum of the big picture of learning versus smaller "right now" status.

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Chapter 1: Something that stuck with me during this chapter was how "anything that isn't graded feels unimportant". While I know this isn't true I do sometimes find my students feeling like this. I see value in things that are turned in and still not graded because it is beneficial for the students to have practice and receive feedback on them but it can be difficult for the students to see that value.

Chapter 2: Something that really hit me in this chapter was the discussion about not being afraid to fail in front of your students and making them a part of your learning process. Sometimes this can be difficult for me I don't like the vulnerability or seemingly like I don't have control but I can try to make them a bigger part of my learning process because I know they could provide insight or feedback that I might not have thought of.

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Chapter 1
I love the idea of not having grades. Grading do take up so much time and sometimes I wonder what they really do for students. Putting the learning in the students control seems like a wonderful concept!! I'm looking forward to learning more about what this looks like in the ELA classroom
Chapter 2-
It does seem like the more I read about Blended Learning, the more approachable and doable it seems. I like the idea of having students have a conversation about grades and what they think they should get. I can see this being really effective. In ELA, we can use a portfolio all year long and assess at each quarter with the student.

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When I read Chapter 2, I agreed with everything that Tucker said about having the learning be a partnership between the teacher and students. What I want to improve upon in my classroom is student led conferences. While I do talk one on one with students, I think that having intentional and scheduled conferences would be a better approach. That way no one can slip through the cracks. I’m looking forward to learning more strategies to incorporate this into my practice.

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Students need to take ownership of their learning process and reflect on it.

use data to plan lessons that meet students' needs.

I like the end of the week exit ticket. I usually use it at the end of the class, but I use just the first question so I will use this one. it helps students to think and reflect
on their learning.

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We discussed in our PLC that music/ensemble classes do not really conform to traditional grading...we are CONSTANTLY giving feedback as students work (collaboratively, not in isolation), and revise and re-do immediately on a daily basis. This type of feedback is natural to our classes and the way we operate. On page 9, when discussing how grades negatively impact learning, I made a note about students "not learning because they are passionate about a topic" - that is (ideally) why they are in our classes, and as teachers, we often run into problems with the 4th point about things without grades being viewed as unimportant. Our classes as a whole feel this way, since our grades "don't count" toward promotion, and students feel that our work may be "optional" since they can fail our classes without any real consequence.

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When I sat in on the first session for this book on October 1st (which is a Thursday, a day I’m normally not at Sullivan), it was said that the older teachers definitely had their run-in with traditional grading practices, but some of the younger teachers might have not had to experience it. Well, reading the first chapter of the book, I was able to specifically recall my school experience and how it was for me in comparison to my younger sister. I am not kidding when I say that between my sister and I, a traditional teacher would think that I knew everything because I got good grades, whereas they probably would have assumed that my sister was not learning because she didn’t turn in work all the time. In reality, learning was just not exciting with the pressure of a grade on it, so she lost her desire to turn in assignments. I wish learning was more collaborative going through school, because while I really liked receiving feedback and improving on my skills, there were also the people who weren’t really getting that out of their learning. In Chapter 2, Tucker talks about the different components needed in blended learning, the most important one being relationships with students. You can’t propose this novel idea of conferencing and collaborating on grading without having some sort of relationship with the students. Otherwise, they’ll think you are crazy since they probably haven’t had their run-in with blended learning either. I really liked Tucker’s First Day of School stations (Figure 2) because they give students choice on what they want to do first and this also allows for them to already demonstrate technology skills and any other skills they already possess (we can then acknowledge these as some potential strengths).

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Ch. 1-  When I reflected on this chapter, I thought of how I transitioned from teaching ELA to reading intervention.  Even though the subjects are related, the mindsets are totally different.  I went from grading everything to providing intentional feedback.  The results of my students' growth shocked me.  I started to realize that grades are oftentimes more for the instructor than the student.
Ch. 2- The quote that resonated with me states, "When teachers form a partnership with their students and invite students to take an active role shaping their learning experiences, that partnership positively impacts student engagement." This quote resonated with me because student engagement is a huge obstacle to overcome, but this statement addresses the "how".

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I can see the issue with grading both as a parent and as a teacher. I have been very frustrated when my son's whole grade is based off of one test score, and if he has an off day (he is not a good test taker) then he just has one grade that is suppose to represent all of his learning. To me that is crazy. I also have been told that in elementary school (this is where only summative grades go on the report card) they can not retake SS or Science tests. I guess those are not as important. I have also said to my girls who are in high school to just play the game many times. I am not sure what the right answer is with grades, but I know that a lot of students just do enough to get by. I do as a math teacher try very hard to focus on the learning and also the reflecting and learning from their mistakes and not so much on the grades. I know there is still a lot of work to be done and a lot of room for improvement. 

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I can see the issue with grading both as a parent and as a teacher. I have been very frustrated when my son's whole grade is based off of one test score, and if he has an off day (he is not a good test taker) then he just has one grade that is suppose to represent all of his learning. To me that is crazy. I also have been told that in elementary school (this is where only summative grades go on the report card) they can not retake SS or Science tests. I guess those are not as important. I have also said to my girls who are in high school to just play the game many times. I am not sure what the right answer is with grades, but I know that a lot of students just do enough to get by. I do as a math teacher try very hard to focus on the learning and also the reflecting and learning from their mistakes and not so much on the grades. I know there is still a lot of work to be done and a lot of room for improvement. 

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Chapter 1:
The piece of this chapter that resonated with me the most was problem #2: "traditional grades are used like carrots to get students to complete work". This is definitely the case with my kids. While I don't necessarily grade everything they do, I do grade most things, and if I don't explicitly state that something is graded, I will inevitably hear someone yell out "Is this graded??" This is something i've struggled with a lot in my career. I don't feel the need to grade everything; however, it is the only way I really know of to combat student apathy & the fact that, if it isn't graded, it doesn't get done.

Chapter 2
In this chapter, I most related to the concept that open communication is a necessity for student success. This is a definite given - if you don't talk with your students, you'll never get to know them. I can see how it may get easy to talk at them instead, for the sake of time; however, the things you lose in exchange for those extra 15 minutes are massive. In my class, we do a weekly mental health check-in where my kids let me know how they are doing socially, mentally, and emotionally. They have the ability to request a conference with me either in person or over canvas messages. They do tend to take advantage of this, and i think the check-in is the piece of my classroom i am most proud of. After reading this chapter, I am inclined to add a section on the check in where they can provide input on their academics, as well.

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Traditional grading focuses on product rather than process.  Using rubrics to grade can help look deeper in to the process.  Especially with math, a student could have done 4 of the 5 steps correctly, but the one mistake results in a traditional grade of zero points, but a rubric shows that he had 80% of the process correct even though the product was incorrect.
I do believe there still needs to be some traditional grading for skill based assessment as well.  Blended teaching practices.

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I really connected with the idea of grading parts of an assignment as opposed to the end product.  The students I serve can sometimes only compete parts of an assignment due to their proficiency levels.  If they can receive feedback and grades based on that work, their confidence improves and they are willing to put in the effort.  If they are only judged on an end product, they may not be able to reach that goal.

I was also reminded of the importance of feedback.  Many times a number on an assignment does not tell a student what they did well and what areas need improvement.  Students need meaningful feedback to grow.

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Thank you for sharing, Ms. Unruh - this is the survey they had students complete prior to designing choice boards.

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This form can help you determine which intelligences are strongest for you. If you're a teacher or tutor, you can also use it to find out which intelligences your learner uses most often. Many thanks to Dr. Terry Armstrong for graciously allowing us to use his questionnaire.

Instructions: Read each statement carefully. Choose one of the five buttons for each statement indicating how well that statement describes you.

1 = Statement does not describe you at all
2 = Statement describes you very little
3 = Statement describes you somewhat
4 = Statement describes you pretty well
5 = Statement describes you exactly

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This form can help you determine which intelligences are strongest for you. If you're a teacher or tutor, you can also use it to find out which intelligences your learner uses most often. Many thanks to Dr. Terry Armstrong for graciously allowing us to use his questionnaire. Instructions: Read each statement carefully.

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WOW!!!!!!!

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Hi there! I have five years of teaching experience at the middle and high school level! In May of 2012 I graduated Magna Cum Laude from Bowling Green State University in Ohio. My major was Adolescent Young Adult Education with a minor in English (7-12 language arts). In August of 2014, I finished my Master's Degree in Marketing & Communications. Currently, I am working on my doctorate in curriculum and instruction.

First, I would like for you to know that I absolutely LOVE teaching and I thoroughly enjoy each and every student that comes into my classroom. My teaching style is very student centered. The majority of my formative AND summative assignments are geared towards helping my students learn information through active learning AKA not simply having them do busy work/worksheets. In my work and lesson plans, you will find that a lot of the assignments are big projects and engaging essays that require students to think outside the box! :)

HONORS/AWARDS/SHINING TEACHER MOMENT

-Magna Cum Laude -Member of Sigma Tau Delta (English Honors Society)

MY OWN EDUCATIONAL HISTORY

Bowling Green State University Bachelor's degree in AYA ILA (7-12) Franklin University Master's Degree in Marketing & Communications

ADDITIONAL BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION

Teaching is my passion! My life would not be complete without helping students achieve their dreams one class period at a time. I hope you enjoy my work and can use it to the best of your ability!

English Language Arts, Balanced Literacy, Creative Writing, Writing-Expository, Reading, Grammar, Vocabulary, Specialty, Math, Science, Astronomy, Biology, Chemistry, Social Studies - History, Civics, Government, U.S. History, Arts & Music, Physical Education, Career and Technical Education, Health, Other (Specialty), Geography, Other (ELA), Critical Thinking, For All Subject Areas, Literature, Classroom Management, Word Problems, General Science, Short Stories, Writing, Oral Communication, Reading Strategies, Writing-Essays, Holidays/Seasonal, Back to School, Thanksgiving, Christmas/ Chanukah/ Kwanzaa, Poetry, Mental Math, Winter, The New Year, Spring, Place Value, Products For TpT Sellers, For All Subjects, Summer, Informational Text, Vocational Education, End of Year, Close Reading, Classroom Community

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Hi there! I have five years of teaching experience at the middle and high school level! In May of 2012 I graduated Magna Cum Laude from Bowling Green State University in Ohio. My major was Adolescent Young Adult Education with a minor in English (7-12 language arts).

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In our PLC, we created a reflection piece that is used as part of the project grade.  There was also a planning piece that had to be submitted prior to student presentations.  They were assessed more on their ability to plan and revise the plan through trial and error.

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I really appreciated the quote at the start of this chapter "don't steal the struggle." As a new teacher I do find joy in setting things up for students and doing a lot of the work. I am excited about the blended learning essay assignment. I look forward to putting it into action this week Nov 1st-6th.

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I really appreciated all the tools to help students to think more  meta cognitively. Especially the think-aloud strategy and station rotation lesson design for students.

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As Ms. Unruh stated, our PLC had students plan their project and then reflect on it. I think that it worked very well and that it helped students to think about their goals and their learning. I also believe that students will put more thought into their goals and into their work, if we create more opportunities for them to plan and to reflect.

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I am a big fan of creating opportunitites for students to use metacognition strategies to improve thier learning. (And it fits in perfectly with the IB AtLs!) This year I have been trying to get my students to think about their thinking, reflect on how they have studied in the past, and make a plan for what they are going to do on their days at home. This year's circumstances make it more challenging (on both the teachers and the students) because rather than getting a scaffolded approach on how to learn independently, our students were thrown off the deep end and were expected to just start being independent learners from the get go. I think we have seen from the results of Q1, that this was not an effective strategy. My hope is that during Q2, teachers and students can continue to become partners in learning and more of the student led approaches (like The Grid Method!!!) will become common-place so that students can achieve their academic goals.

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The list of "who is doing the work" really hits home. Working with ESOL students, it is often hard to find ways to have them take on more of the responsibility. I realize I need to engage them in monitoring their own learning and in creating ways to learn - even outside the classroom. They already bring an excitement to learn English and they are so eager to learn new things. By tapping into that excitement, I can help them become life-long learners. I need to explore ways for them to check their own progress and not always rely on teacher feedback.

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Chapter 3: "Who is doing the work in your classroom?" - The arts are such an easy fit for the Blended Learning model because of this. Their work is self-created. Their ability to self-assess and reflect are constant (in a normal year when we can actually sing more regularly and easily). In Chapter 4, there is an on-going self-assessment document that would be great to modify for content.