“Please submit this as soon as you can.”

Reported the first numerical indicators in the learning record yesterday.

Translation. I put the first scores in the grade book yesterday.

I am trying to make the latter a long-lost language in my classroom, words that will eventually need translation, but for now it is still the language that my students and parents speak. Scores. Grades.

Seems it might not be worth the effort. I only have them for a year. Every other class speaks fluent grading. And the system seems steadfast on sticking with “Grade Speak,” so what’s the point?

Better. Always. Only. Ever. Better.

But is it better? I don’t know. Better’s a way not an end. And on my current path, I am trying to find a better way to see and communicate learning in my room.

0 = Missing. This is true. And I even say as much. But yesterday, as I plugged this particular numerical indicator into the record, I felt compelled to comment, “Please submit this as soon as you can.”

Of course, when kids and parents see it, they likely won’t see beyond the 0 and the corresponding percentage (0’s have long been triggers), but I want to believe that adding the comment, which is an invitation, might begin to change the frame a bit if I say it enough.

It’s missing. It’s not cause for undue alarm. It won’t stay a zero. It’s just communication. And I want that message to be translated as, “Please submit this as soon as you can.” Less formally, and to my kids, I will simply ask them to put some learning in their learning tanks.

Semantics? Silly words? Maybe. But I believe better has to be different, which means it has to sound different, too. Learning is too often lost in language. Just ask a learner.

Happy Tuesday, all.

Do. Reflect. Do Better.

“We can’t stop the learning for a month.”

It’s not No Learn November. It’s No Grade November.

No one said anything about stopping learning. Ever. Learning won’t be taking a back seat. It will be front and center. The whole idea is to take off the training wheels, to remove the strings, and to take away the crutches.

Learning without the hindrance of grading. Learning about learning.

So what does that look like? Well, it starts in the same place as it would with grades: our priority or focus standards–or whatever language we use to identify the standards at the center of our work. And I think this is a key point to make with those who may have misgivings (principals, department chairs, parents) about the No Grade November campaign. The learning will still be centered, will still be focused upon the same standards. That much will be the same. It has to be. But I think from there, the sameness stops (to a degree). It has to. Taking grades away for a month will create a different dynamic in the room, a reality that will be both liberating and frightening. The wheels are off. The vehicle will change, so we have to drive it differently. And that will require some planning, beginning with, “How do I want it to look? How do I want it to feel–for me and the kids?” Many have dreamed of a reality where they were unencumbered by grading. Here we have a chance to imagine–and create–what that will look like. Exhilarating. Intimidating.

And it is the latter that will keep some from venturing down the path. They will convince themselves that they don’t have the ideas, the time, or the energy to plan for such an occasion. And so, with that in mind, I will seek to support folks in the coming weeks and months with ideas for planning and rolling out the learning during No Grade November.

The learning will not stop; in fact, it may well finally begin.

Happy Monday, all.

Do. Reflect. Do Better.