Teaching Students to Understand Standards

What good are standards if students don’t understand them? Students need to understand the expectations, in a language that makes sense to them, so why not have them rewrite them?

Make Standards Visible in Mastery Communication

Learning is an on-going process and it seems inadequate and arbitrary to try to label learning along the way when it looks so different for so
many students. But since many of us are in the situation that does require grades, we must make sure students and parents aren’t surprised when progress reports or report cards come. Even if
your comments are pre-written, make sure to provide meaningful comments to aid in understanding the snapshot you are providing.

Why Mastery Portfolio?

Shifting away from traditional grading practices is challenging, but that obstacle shouldn’t deter any educator who is interested in doing what is best for all kids. As we move to a different paradigm that tracks learning through progress of priority competencies, we allow students to see their strengths and build on them. In this podcast […]