Category: Grades & HW

These are blogs where I write about grades and homework in an effort to challenge the traditional use of the two.

Nov 15

Billy Jack and the Freedom School

Okay, I’m a Billy Jack fan. And after being drawn to watching his movies again I found them even more cool than when I first watched them as a kid. I remembered the martial arts and butt kicking Billy Jack did and I too felt the passion of Billy Jack at seeing such hatred over …

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Oct 03

Innovative Schooling?

I hear a lot, or rather read a lot, about changing the way we “school” our children. I hear ideas about not sorting kids by age, not being driven by bells and schedules, and about not controlling or making kids conform to traditional school rules. I have trouble wrapping my brain around ideas that are …

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Permanent link to this article: https://educatoral.com/wordpress/2011/10/03/innovative-schooling/

Aug 05

RSCON3 Was Sooooo Cool!

For me it’s the middle of summer (a little past middle so middle-ish). How cool is it in the middle-ish of summer to get to choose from a bunch of great sessions taught by incredible people from whom I learn so much? Very cool. How cool is it to do that online, without having to …

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Permanent link to this article: https://educatoral.com/wordpress/2011/08/05/rscon3-was-sooooo-cool/

Aug 02

In My Humble Opinion

Face to face conversations with my next door teaching neighbor about going gradeless and helping students learn without worrying about covering enough curriculum to pass a standardized test has been helpful for me. I get to think deeply about my beliefs about how I think students learn best and about accountability and if I’m doing …

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Permanent link to this article: https://educatoral.com/wordpress/2011/08/02/in_my_humble_opinion/

May 31

Love Learning

After a stimulating faculty meeting we were given two prompts to respond to as a closing activity. Here is the one I chose and my response. What is it you really wish your students can learn from you? If I had only one thing all year that my students would take away from their time …

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Permanent link to this article: https://educatoral.com/wordpress/2011/05/31/love-learning/

May 12

Our Race to Somewhere

Tuesday night at 6pm Chimacum Middle School hosted a screening of the movie Race to Nowhere. We had 92 people from our community, our schools, Sequim, and Port Townsend attend the screening and afterward many stayed behind to discuss the movie’s content. Speaking for myself, the movie was amazing. At a few points throughout the …

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Permanent link to this article: https://educatoral.com/wordpress/2011/05/12/our-race-to-somewhere/

Apr 21

Race to Nowhere Comes to Chimacum!

On Tuesday, May 10, from 6 to 8pm at the Chimacum Schools auditorium we will be having a screening of the movie Race to Nowhere (buy your tickets here: http://www.racetonowhere.com/epostcard/4935). Tickets to the screening are being sold online for $10, plus a processing fee, per person and will be available at the door on the …

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Apr 09

What is On-Task?

What does on-task look like in a 21st century classroom? How do you get your students engaged in learning? I think about the types of learning that take place in my classroom a lot because I don’t know if the things I’m doing actually help my students learn. Is it enough to abolish grades so …

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Permanent link to this article: https://educatoral.com/wordpress/2011/04/09/what-is-on-task/

Permanent link to this article: https://educatoral.com/wordpress/2011/03/23/can-i-be-excited-now/

Permanent link to this article: https://educatoral.com/wordpress/2011/03/09/giving-feedback/

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