Staring Assessment in the Face...literally!

It's two weeks into semester two, and our no grades classroom is in full swing. This initiative has already changed my teaching style, how I plan my classes, and even how I organize my time at school, and at home. This is due to the amount of time it takes to make regular observations and to conference with students. Both are needed so that students know exactly where their learning is (goals, strengths, weaknesses and next steps), and both are used as evidence that will help students and myself generate their numerical mark at midterm reporting periods. Speaking as a type B person, the organization of all of these different elements has been difficult, but doable. Using google forms as an "app" on my phone has helped me to make oral notes and observations on the fly, and to also record my conversations and conferences with students.

Since student self assessment is such a huge part of the no grades classroom, I wanted to make sure students had the proper tools and understanding when talking about their learning in class. As a part of my course outline, I handed out all the rubrics that we would be using for the semester (linked under Rubrics for Assessment through the Arts tab), which included some student friendly "can do" statements in language that I hoped would be accessible for them to start assessing themselves with. It was clear that the expectations and levels needed to be simplified further if I wanted students to really understand the concept of self assessment. This poster is now posted in both of my classrooms. I think as the semester progresses, we will be able to speak about assessment more in depth, but for now, simple is good.

  

Students seem to be very comfortable talking about their learning using this language. I refer to this poster almost every class, and I do think that it helps them to stay focused and on task, and also provides them with some ways in which they can start to think about how to improve their work.

I believe that assessment shouldn't be considered as an afterthought, jammed within the last 10 minutes of class (I am very guilty of this in past courses). I wanted to students to think about the PROCESS of assessment and the TRANSPARENCY of assessment. Constructed with my learning goals and success criteria in mind, on Monday of last week I pinned a self-assessment to each music stand and told students that in 3 days they would be assessing themselves on the following expectations. I thought that if they saw this list in advance, and had a chance to look it over multiple times, it would help them to be aware of their learning, and perhaps help them to achieve their goal more effectively. 

After they submitted these assessments, I looked them over and found them to be very accurate to what I had observed in class....phew!!! I was also pleased during our conferencing time when students were able to talk in detail about these expectations...what they did well, what they needed to improve upon, and what their next steps may be in order to achieve their goals. There seemed to be a sense of ownership of their assessment, and that feeling was something I was really proud of. I will definitely be using this assessment strategy again!

As we roll into our third week of the semester, I need to begin to create more balance between written self -assessment, and video evidence (using Seesaw) that will help drive student assessment in a different way. Now that I feel I'm starting to get a grasp on the semester, digital evidence needs to be more or a priority. Wish me luck!!! 

Student reactions to no grades

I love the first day of the semester, new students, new courses and a unmistakable renewal of energy in the building! I was most excited, however, to be announcing the no grades concept to my music classes, and was curious to see what their initial reactions would be...I was not disappointed!

After the usual meet and greet and the explanation of course expectations etc., I told my class that they will not be receiving numerical grades as a part of their regular assessment. I saw a lot of confused faces, a few students whispering "what?!?!" to their neighbour, and one student even yelled out "Clarke, you're crazy!!"...which I loved!! I was hoping to receive a few different reactions that would fuel my explanation of the no grades learning process. After a lengthy discussion, most students seemed to understand how this was going to play out this semester, although I could tell they were still a little skeptical, having never been a part of a gradeless classroom. 

My biggest concern is what message they brought home to their parents last night. Attached to their course outline, I wrote a letter home to parents (I have linked this document under the "Transforming Assessment in the Arts" resources tab) because the last thing I want is there to be a misconception as to why we are going gradeless, and I want parents to understand how this is going to affect and enhance their child's learning. I am anticipating a few calls and emails, and am hoping parents attend my after school meeting tomorrow if they have any questions or concerns. It is important to me that everyone feels comfortable taking the plunge with me...support is essential!

Towards the end of my classes, as an exit ticket, I asked students to write down/ type out some of their initial reactions to the no grades classroom. I will keep these responses as they will be writing a reflection at the end of the semester on how they felt about going gradeless in June. I'm sharing a few examples as I was surprised about a common theme that emerged as a result of their writing.

The general consensus seemed to be that GRADES = STRESS. Mental health is a huge initiative at our school, as I'm sure it is in other schools in our region. We often talk about stress at home, stress caused by social media, stress caused by bullying etc. While it seems logical that students may stress about completing assignments, or whether or not they're being successful in a course or not, it didn't immediately occur to me that the actual number on a test/assignment/project is a big stress trigger for students, and can interfere with their learning. We discussed this further in class once I saw these responses, and students were very vocal about how a numerical grade negatively impacts them, and how that makes them feel as a learner, and an individual. There was also discussion about how high grades can positively impact and drive students, but can also lead to slacking off on future course work if the grade was high enough.

Not all comments about this initiative were positive, and that's ok. There are students who thrive on numerical grades, and commented that they need to see the number in order to assure themselves that they are doing well in class. Through consistent conferencing, dialogue and self-assessment, I am hoping that students will not feel reduced to a number, but empowered about what they've accomplished in class, and informed about what their next steps may be in order to improve their learning.

Taking the plunge...and welcome to my blog!

Starting semester two, there will be NO MORE GRADES given in my music courses at Georgian Bay District Secondary School. I am SO excited.

You may wonder why I'm doing this, and I have to admit there has been the odd time throughout this planning process that I've questioned myself, but I always find myself coming back to the question of "what purpose to grades even serve?" If I tell a student they have a 70% in my course, is it meaningful to them? Does that number drive them to improve their learning, or does it give them permission to slack off a bit?

 The goal of assessment is to improve student learning, and I've reached a point where I don't think the assignment of a grade to test, assignments etc., is helping to achieve that goal. Through observations, conversations, feedback and student self-assessment, I think we can throw out the grades (and negative energy/environment that is sometimes created with these numbers) and help our students to focus on their own learning process in order to be successful in any course.

With the help of my friend and colleague Jackie Calder, we've created a solid plan that is student focused and will embed life-long learning, student self-assessment skills, and an emphasis on the creative process, that will benefit students long after my course is finished.

The plan:
Throughout my music courses, students will be given a series of 8 rubrics which reflect the 8 big ideas of the music curriculum. "Can do statements" have been linked to each portion of the rubric, so that the expectations are written in student friendly language. Depending on the task, assignment, area of focus being assessed, these rubrics can be combined or altered. Students will gather digital evidence needed, and link this evidence to where they think they are on the rubric. I will mainly be using Seesaw and Google Apps For Education as my evidence gathering tools. If you aren't familiar with Seesaw, it's amazing and I highly recommend it. As I navigate throughout this semester, I'm sure I'll be writing about it a lot!

After the student self-assessment process is done, conferences between myself and the student will occur, and adjustments may occur to where the student has placed themselves on the rubric. The key to no grades is constant conferencing and feedback, so students are crystal clear on what they've done well, what the need to improve on, and what their next steps might be. Now, by law I must assign a numerical grade for each reporting period (midterm and final). Their grades will be mutually agreed upon between myself and the student, and will be based on the series of rubrics that they students have filled out for themselves, and the conferences we have in class. I will also be making daily observations of students through Google Forms, which students have immediate access to, which can also be used as their digital evidence for certain rubrics. This all sounds like a lot of work, and I think it should be.

I'm most interested in my students' (and their parent's) reactions to no grades. Will they be confused, excited, stressed (I hope not), angry? Through this blog, I will not only be sharing the resources that I'm using throughout my courses, but also my reactions and my students' reactions to what goes well and what doesn't. I'm not expecting everything to go smoothly...what's the fun in that?! My goal is to improve student learning, and I'm going to stay focused on that!