Grow Beyond Grades

Joe Feldman is the author of Grading for Equity: What It Is, Why It Matters, and How It Can Transform Schools and Classrooms (Corwin). Joe has worked in education as a teacher, principal, district administrator, and is now founder of Crescendo Education Group, which since 2013 has supported schools in adopting assessment, grading, and reporting practices that improve equity outcomes in schools. To...

Nate Bowling an AP social studies teacher and emigrant to the United Arab Emirates. In his teaching, writing, and advocacy, Nate challenges the politics and policies that impact his students, his classroom, and society at large. Topics include: What prompted Nate to leave Tacoma and take up teaching in the UAE Why the job of teaching and learning in a low-income schools in the United States as cur...

Eric is a principal  at Hall Middle School in Larkspur, CA. Eric is the co-founder of Global School Play Day which is dedicated to promoting the idea that kids learn more when they play. In this episode of TG2Cast Chris and I discuss Progressive Education, what is it, and how teachers interested in Progressive Education can get started. Topics include: Eric’s philosophy of leadership Concerns abou...

Chris is a Social Studies teacher at Global Impact Stem Academy in Springfield, Ohio. Chris is the founder of The Human Restoration Project which is dedicated to promoting Progressive Education. In this episode of TG2Cast Chris and I discuss Progressive Education, what is it, and how teachers interested in Progressive Education can get started. Topics include: The Human Restoration Project. What i...

Skylar is a co-lead teacher and advisor at High Marq Environmental Charter School, the treasurer for Wisconsin Association for Environmental Education, and a fellow of the Greater Madison Writing Project. His teaching practice is grounded in Project-Based Learning that allows education to be used as a tool to connect youth with their community and become environmentally conscious citizens. In this...

Jeff is an English Language Arts teacher at Hillcrest High School in Riverside, California. Over his 14 years in teaching, he has taught at 3 high schools, chaired two departments, and served on several different committees. Recently, Jeff decided to use summative conferencing in his class and learned a lot about his students. In this episode of TG2Cast Jeff and I discuss the impact of grades from...

As a teacher/activist, Julia Torres's work is grounded in empowering students to use the Language Arts to fuel resistance and positive social transformation. Ms. Torres facilitates workshops and professional conversations about anti-racist education, social justice, and culturally sustaining pedagogies. She writes about these and other topics at at  juliaetorres.blog . Topics include: How Julia us...

This episode features an interview with high school student, Bennette Jester, founder of #mygradingstory and author of the website My Grading Story , and advocate of student voice in learning. Topics include: #MyGradingStory Montessori Education Student voice in learning How to motivate students

This episode features an interview with Andrew Burnett, middle school math teacher, author of the website BurnettMath , and advocate of The Thinking Classroom. Topics include: Choosing learning targets Providing feedback Reporting learning to parents without grades Building student metacognition

This episode features an interview with Dan Scratch, high school social studies teacher, author of the website Teaching for Equity and Social Justice , and advocate of teaching for social justice. Topics include: Why it is important for students to engage in social justice Building relationships as a foundation for social justice How social justice impacts classroom management Applying social just...

Countless educators, including many in Teachers Going Gradeless, consider Ken O'Connor one of the first to introduce them to the idea that traditional grades are “broken” and that a better approach is possible. Ken is an independent consultant and author of the book  A Repair Kit for Grading: 15 Fixes for Broken Grades . Just recently, Ken published the fourth edition of his seminal book How to Gr...

This episode, I interview Mariana Morales Lobo , who taught high school in Madrid and Barcelona for 15 years, and who now works as a consultant in education, training teachers and helping school leaders implement innovation. One of her main areas of interest is “reinventing playground” spaces, considering the ways these supposedly neutral spaces can be made more equitable. Her writing can be found...

This episode features an interview with Alfie Kohn, author of the books Punished by Rewards , The Schools Our Children Deserve , The Homework Myth , and his latest,  Schooling Beyond Measure . Topics include: The difference between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation How teachers can leverage extrinsic motivation Rethinking reluctant learners "Doing with" rather than "doing to"

This episode features an interview with Benjamin Doxtdator , a middle school language arts teacher at an international school in Brussels, Belgium. Benjamin is probably best known for his essays on his blog Longview on Education at longviewoneducation.org . Topics include: How deemphasizing grades reflects Benjamin's commitments as a teacher The potential pitfalls of a more gradeless future The rh...

This episode features an interview with Starr Sackstein, author of the book  Peer Feedback in the Classroom and Hacking Assessment: 10 Ways to Go Gradeless in a Traditional Grades School . Topics include: What are peer experts? Why use peer experts? How to implement peer experts in the classroom How to maximize the effectiveness of peer experts

This episode features an interview with Joy Kirr, author of the book  Shift This! How to Implement Gradual Changes for MASSIVE Impact in Your Classroom . Topics include: Why Joy decided to write the book How to create a positive classroom culture Dilemmas of grading and reporting learning How to implement Genius Hour Other shifts Joy is making after publishing the book

This episode features an interview with Jesse Stommel , Executive Director of the Division of Teaching and Learning Technologies at University of Mary Washington. He is Co-founder of Digital Pedagogy Lab and Hybrid Pedagogy : a digital journal of learning, teaching, and technology. In addition to his focus on digital and critical pedagogy, Jesse has been a gradeless educator for his entire career,...

This episode features an interview with Patty McGee, author of the book Feedback That Moves Writers Forward . Topics include: How to use the "Power of Three" in feedback. Strategies to help the stuck and reluctant writers The importance of setting writing goals How and when to introduce grammar How feedback works at the middle, secondary, and college levels