Jeff Noble

“I’m actually smart.” I knew. But I’d rather she knew. Rather she say it. Rather she believe it. A few days earlier. “I’m stupid.” The difference? Time. Support. Patience. The grade on the page isn’t the measure. It’s the action after. Feedback. Response. Learning.

I think of learning as making meaning. I think of learners as meaning makers. Each must make meaning of the content (simply, the means) to their own meaningful end. My teaching has more meaning when I am mindful of how meaningful the experiences are for my learners. #MyMeans

"You can't give full points on retakes and corrections." Sure you can. Disruptor Series: #StepAway180

“Something for nothing.” A common argument against the 50% answer to the zero. If a kid doesn’t do anything with a 50% floor, they still fail. So, there’s no something for their nothing. The only real something is a chance with a less-punitive nothing (50%). #ZeroSense

1)Stranded in a school with percentage-based grading? Reroute. Call your grade book a "fuel tank" (well, a learning tank, a place you fill with learning). Call the percentage a learning gauge. Let kids fill it with learning whenever they want (retakes, corrections, etc).

Not sure who needs to hear this, but most of the rest of us don’t like grading either. And most of the rest of us have manipulated grades for kids at the end, too. It’s OK. You’re not ruining education. You’re reconciling the the wreck where grading & learning meet. It is OK.

Here’s the problem with putting so much weight on the daily, “by-the-end-of-the-period-students-can” learning targets. It presumes learning is on a schedule and learners are all the same. Learning is not something easily “canned.” Learning is an experience, not a target. #journey

Oops forgot the “I” in the first one. Good thing I am not perfect. 😉