Teaching Timesavers: Time is MONEY

 

Teaching Timesavers: Time is MONEY

Time. 

Time is actually the ultimate indicator of wealth, not dollars. The more time we have, the more we can do the things we love and the more experiences we can have. One of the great perks of having a job in public education is having summers off if you so choose.  However, many teachers are so busy doing all the things they can't get done during the school year, that it often doesn't feel like time off. Teaching is a job in which one performs for 6 hours a day. The prep and review of said performance is done outside of paid hours. During those six hours with our students, we must be interesting at all times, we must be professional in the face of sometimes outrageous obstacles, and we must be kind.  All of those things are important, but the most important part of the show is the learning. The students must be learning. 

The time you spend teaching and grading does not equal better teaching! If you are feeling overwhelmed with workload, you need to figure out how to be more efficient with your time!

The hours add up very quickly. You have the prep (lesson planning), the performance (classroom teaching), the review (grading). If you are not careful with your time this could add up to well over 40 hours a week! 

I don't know about you, but I don't get paid overtime for all those hours and time is money! 

Imagine if you could have that lost time back...

What would you do? Start a business? Work out regularly? Learn to cook? Learn to play the accordion? The point is: the more time we have the more balance we have. We need to learn to live like it's summer after the school day is done. 

I used to spend an extra 20 hours a week grading, planning, and responding to student and parent emails. Now I rarely spend more than one extra hour a day. I feel that I am much more balanced now and a better teacher. 

Hopefully, some of these time saving tips will help you get your balance back!

Email:

This one is easy and you can start doing this right away. 

Check your email once a day. 

I prefer to do this at the end of the school day.  It helps me transition from work mode to home mode (this is especially important for Distance Learning where the lines between work-life and home-life can become blurred). Once a day and that's it! I find that if I keep checking email throughout the day, it becomes a time-suck and I am sending more emails and going back and forth on things. We are teaching. No one expects us to email back immediately. 

I also never check work email over the weekend.  Never ever. 

And guess what? Since I have started doing that, I have really started to enjoy my weekends! No one has ever gotten upset with me for not getting back to them until Monday morning. Nothing negative has happened. This has given me my weekends back. If something is an emergency, my admin or co workers will text me. 

Plan Out the Entire Grading Period Ahead of Time:

This may seem counter-intuitive, put planning out the entire grading period in advance saves hours of time in the long run and makes you a better teacher.  Share this plan with your students! It helps students to see what is coming up and to know what is expected of them. 

Backwards planning, or knowing how you are going to assess your students BEFORE you plan and execute your lessons helps you and your students see the big picture. 

When I plan out a unit, I plan everything. Every single assignment, due date, lesson, etc...

The first time you do it, will take a few hours. The magic happens you are teaching the same class next year, and the plan and all the lessons are already done and all in one place! You can review it, discard the lessons that didn't work and add new ideas to existing lessons very quickly. 

Of course, the plan has to be loose with some cushion for things like District Testing and fire drills or Johnny throwing up on his desk in the middle of class. 

I like to include extra Workshop Days to accommodate for unexpected things. 

Incorporating "Workshop Time" Into Class Time:

Workshop time is magic! Once you start incorporating it into your class time, you will wonder how you ever survived without it. If you do it correctly, it can be a time saver and provide extremely valuable learning experiences for your students. 

I teach English, so my Workshop Time usually revolves around writing, but you can use it for any type of project. 

In my class, we are doing Mastery Grading, so the students are working on different projects at different times, so Workshop Time is open. In my class, Workshop Time is in-class time for students to work on upcoming assignments. Workshop Time enables you to work one on one with your students and get grading done DURING class time! Workshop Time has saved me hours and hours of after hours grading and tutoring time. Students love it, because they can work at their own pace, work ahead, and get help IF they need it. It saves them precious time, too! 

A typical Workshop Day in my current Virtual Class looks like this: 

• Students work individually on their projects, etc...
• If they have questions, they just unmute themselves and ask, or ask in the chat. This is great because they are getting real time feedback on their work as they do it. Also, many times many students may have the same question, so you answer once and they all hear it or see it, saving time. 
• As the students work, I grade. As I grade, I post in the chat things like this:
• Great job, Saira! I just graded your essay rewrite and it brought your overall grade up 3% (the goal is for other students to see this and be motivated to rewrite their papers as well). 
• Students, remember you need four direct quotes in your essays.
• I love how much work you guys are turning in! 
• Peter, check your email and get back to me ASAP. 
• I just finished graded the District Writing Assessment-check your grade in the portal. 
• I always grade the class that is workshopping first, so they get the real time feedback. For instance, if I am in period 4, I grade everything outstanding in period 4 before moving onto period 5. 
• Note: if you are in a co-teaching situation-this even gets better! My co-teacher and I are on top of grading, and one of us can do private or small group meets if necessary or use the time to make parent contact, etc...
• Students must stay in the Meet or Zoom for the entire class, unless they have an A, then they are free to go if they like (in the classroom, they would be free to work on an assignment for another class or read a book if they have an A). 
• In a hybrid or regular class, this would look the same, but students would have the option of talking to you in person, or even better--asking a peer for help, which saves you even more time!
• I schedule at least 6 full class days a quarter for workshop time. With Mastery Grading, I do it the last three weeks of the quarter, with traditional grading it works best before big projects are due. 

If you are doing traditional grading, try doing a workshop week for one large assignment. Let's say an essay. You can chunk the assignment into check points and have the students come up to your desk as they finish each checkpoint. They cannot go onto the next checkpoint until they pass the first. 

This is great, because it eliminates D and F projects, since the students had to get the checkpoints correct first. 

Sample Essay Workshop Checklist: 

• Day one--Thesis (5 points--each day it is late, take off one point. Check it and give the points, right when they come up to your desk. Immediate response.)
• Day two--Outline with main points and quotes being used (5pts)
• Day three--1st page (5pts)
• Day four--2nd page (5pts)
• Day five--3rd page and Works Cited (5pts)

When you grade the check points, only give oral feedback and do not collect anything! Kids stand at the desk (or not if virtual) and you TELL them what they need to fix or give them their points right there. 

When the actual final paper comes in, the grading is much faster, since you have technically already graded it DURING class. 

Putting All Grades for the Quarter In with Zeros:

The following is controversial but a powerful motivating and time saving tool! I put in all the assignments BEFORE they are due AND I put the zeros in! 

I do this right after the first progress report. I do this so students can see what their grade is if they decide to stop working. So they can see what their LOWEST grade will be. This is highly motivating for students. They like to know that their grades can only go up! This is part of Mastery Grading, but could work with traditional grading as well. 

Pros of Putting in the Zeros: 

• This gives the teacher a better snap shot of which students need the most guidance. Their grades can only go up! I tend to give the most guidance to students who are failing or close to the next grade. High achieving students can work ahead and even pick and choose which assignments to complete. Not everyone completes all of the assignments, which means LESS GRADING!
• It motivates students to redo or turn in more assignments because their grades can only go up! 
• This system allows for "trickle in" grading, which is a huge time saver! If I get 3 essays a day, instead of 200 at once, it is much easier for me to keep on top of them. Turnaround time is much faster! 

Cons of Putting in the Zeros:

• Student confusion: it's new, so students were a bit confused the first quarter. I found myself explaining why I put the zeros in quite a bit. 
• Parent confusion: at first, you may get a few concerned parent emails, but I found that parents actually preferred this grading system once explained to them.
• Grades are scarily low in the middle of the quarter.  But fear not! As I write this, we are mid quarter. About half  (41) of my English students are failing--but their grades can only go up over the next couple of weeks. At the end of the last semester, I had only had 5 students fail, total. Workshop Time and putting the zeros in motivated a lot of students that may normally fail. 

Trickle In Grading:

Trickle Down Economics does not work, but Trickle In Grading does! 

As an English teacher, grading has always been my biggest time suck. 

I have gotten rid of hard due dates. Students can turn in assignments at different times. I usually get 5-10 assignments a day to grade. Every once in a while, I may have 20 assignments. These amounts are more manageable than 180 papers at at once! 

I usually get caught up in grading DURING the school day. This frees up time for me to do other things, like write this blog. 

Because I put the zeros in ahead of time, I don't really have an issue with students waiting until the very end to turn in work. They will do anything to get those zeros off of the grade book. This also freed up time for me to "go after and motivate" my failing students to turn in work to pass at the end. 

No Comments on Papers

I used to spend 30 extra hours grading every time I collected a batch of papers. Now I rarely spend more than one hour a day outside of class time.

Writing comments on papers is a time-suck. 

Instead, read the paper and write the notes in a little paragraph on the bottom. 

I like to use the Sandwich Method: 

1. Say something positive
2. Give criticism
3. End with a positive

Here's an example: 

Jose, great job on your thesis statement! 

However, your body paragraphs are lacking commentary. Add a few sentences to back up each of your points. Also, make sure you proofread. There are a lot of capitalization mistakes. 

I loved how you tied the whole paper to your cat, clever! 

Fix and resubmit for more points, if you like!

Grade: 6/10

You get the idea. Try this type of grading and time yourself, every minute saved counts--you will be surprised how much faster it is than destroying a paper in red marks. I find it to be more personal and helpful to the students as well. 

Oral Quizzes:

I cannot sing the praises of an oral quiz enough! Oral quizzes are probably the biggest time savers of all.  An oral quiz is when you simply call on students to answer questions instead of collecting more paperwork to grade later.  

I like to use oral quizzes to check if students have done their reading homework. I don't have time to call on all of the students during one class period so I like to break it up into sections. Here's how I do it: 

Oral Quiz for The Great Gatsby (I break this into four sessions--so each session covers a quarter of the book). 

• Make an index card for each student with their name on it. 
• Call on students to answer questions about the reading. Keep it light. This is the time for recall type questions, not thematic questions. I like to ask questions that make the students prove they did the reading, such as "Describe the scene in the pool after Gatsby's Death." Or "What were some things Myer Wolfsheim talked about in the speakeasy?" 
• If the student gets a question right they get a point. If they get a question wrong, they get a zero (it's important to put the zeroes, so you know how many times you have called on each student--try to keep this equal as possible between students)
• After the last session, I add up the points and divide by the number of times each student was called on. If they get a 70% or higher they pass and I give them full points on the quiz. If they get less than 70% I offer a harder make up quiz they can redo during office hours later if they wish.  It's much faster than grading a short answer quiz, it is more in depth than a multiple choice quiz, and the students get a good review from listening to the other student's answers. 

Oral quizzes, oral presentations, and anything oral saves you grading time. 

Practice: 

Hopefully, you feel inspired to use some of these strategies in your own classroom!  

Identify your biggest time-suck, then try to think of something you can do to fix it. There is ALWAYS something you can do, you just need to think outside the box! 

Start off by changing one assignment. Pick one of the above strategies, or come up with your own and see how much time it saves you. I would love to hear about it in the comments! 

Teacher Martyr Complex: Just Stop!

 

Teacher Martyr Complex: Just Stop!

Teaching--a noble profession where one continuously puts the students', parents', co-workers', and districts' needs above their own. Good teachers make huge sacrifices in their personal lives. They work long hours. They often put in free hours just because they love their jobs so much! Teachers put aside their health and sanity for the sake of others. Teachers care so much about children that they do not need competitive salaries, because after all, it is not about the money...

All of the above makes me want to vomit. 

Seriously, the expectation of martyrdom being part of a teacher's job, makes me want to blow chunks, and it should make you feel the same. 

Martyr Complex: a martyr complex is a destructive pattern of behavior in which a person habitually seeks suffering or persecution as a way to feel "good" about themselves. 

This translates into teaching by feeling that you must always go above and beyond to be a good teacher. A teacher with martyr complex may also feel that they are "better" than other teachers because they stay late or do extra things for free, etc... 

This post may make you feel uncomfortable, but martyr complex is a destructive and toxic way of thinking. 

I was a martyr teacher for many years. 

Here's some of the things I would do. See if they sound familiar: 

As an English teacher, I would spend hours and hours (sometimes up to 30 hours grading essays). 

I felt this was my cross to carry. As if somehow, English teachers were BETTER people than other types of teachers. I would take my red pen and mark up EVERY single mistake, would comment on EVERYTHING on each paper. That poor kids' paper would look like a bloody red mess of ink.  Then I would get angry or hurt when the kids didn't read all of my comments. But seriously, why would anyone want to read a red sea of every tiny thing they did wrong? Why do we expect students to savor our corrections like they are manna from heaven? They are glancing at their grade and moving on with their lives. As they should!

How I changed: I don't mark up papers. I still assign a lot of writing. I do everything digitally and just write a paragraph or two at the end of the paper. I like using the Sandwich Method. Write what's good, write what needs to be fixed (ie: I write "fix your spelling mistakes"-I don't do it for them), give encouragement. Done! Side note: The Sandwich Method is also really good way to break up with someone if the need arises--you have great hair, but this isn't going to work out, and I wish you the best in future dating endeavors. 

I ALSO LET STUDENTS REWRITE THEIR PAPERS IF THEY WANT TO. This puts the responsibility on them and off of me. If they don't want to, no problem! I no longer feel like I wasted a bunch of time giving a multitude of comments and corrections that students may or may not look at. I'm spending about a quarter of the time grading papers than I did in the past. 

When I was drinking the martyr Kool-Aide, I never said "No". 

When I first started teaching I did everything. I was on every instructional committee. If a colleague needed help I would drop everything to assist them. If a student needed help I would stay at lunch or after school and drop everything to assist them. I jumped through every hoop with a hope of some sort of validation that I was a good teacher. If I was on 10 committees, certainly I would be considered a good teacher. The more I did meant the better person I was, right? 

How I changed: It's simple. I say "no" now. It's quite liberating! It doesn't mean that I don't give extra assistance to colleagues and students. Not at all. I just do it on my terms. I say things like, "I don't have time for this right now, but let's meet tomorrow if you still need help." I tell students that I am happy to help them, but I need to take a break for lunch, and I schedule a time for them to come to me, a time that works with my needs. Boundaries make happy teachers and happy people in general. I also don't sign up for anything that I am not getting compensated for. Some of you are thinking, but I can't say no. You can!  Some of you are judging me as you read this. I can feel it. I'm also ok with that, because I am a much more balanced person now. We are allowed to have boundaries. 

As a martyr teacher, I worked for free on things that I found fulfilling or important.  

OMG! I have done so much free work over the last 20 years, a ridiculous amount of free work. I have coached cheer with a stipend that ended being under 50 cents an hour. I took a bunch of 7th graders on a week long science trip to Florida (multiple times) and had to use sick time since it was considered a "vacation'.  I'm not even a science teacher! I created the annual school literary magazine free of charge. I did homework club during lunch because my students needed it, every day. I taught drama and ran rehearsals after school free of charge and put on shows free of charge. I've advised multiple clubs and participated in multiple fundraisers, all free of charge. I was the Secondary Director for the School Union free of charge. Did I get satisfaction and joy from these things? ABSOLUTELY! Did I experience burn out? ABSOLUTELY! Did it make me feel superior to my colleagues? ABSOLUTELY! The more I did, the more superior I felt. It was like a drug of martyrdom. 

Did it make me teach better? Not really...

How I changed: This is a recent change for me. I just woke up one day last year and thought, I'm done working for free. I realized that all the time I was spending working for free, could have been time I could have been making money, continuing my education, or just doing things I like to do. I'm not saying, give up doing the things you love. I'm just saying don't feel like you HAVE to work for free to be a good teacher. I'm also saying, our culture EXPECTS teachers to do these things for free, and that is wrong. 

Note: I do strongly believe that every single teacher should be on the union board for at least one term. It's super important to support the union, but I do think it should be a paid position. 

At the end of the day, it's a job. It's your job. Yes, you are a teacher. Yes, you affect the future! Students look to you for guidance, but being a teacher is not all that you are.  You can be an excellent teacher and still have a life. In fact, you may be a better teacher if you are having time to get more satisfaction in other areas of your life. 

There is no other profession where society expects employees to do free work. If you can think of one, let me know in the comments!

Stop thinking that you need to do extra work to be a good teacher. Stop perpetuating the myth that good teachers make sacrifices.  We are not martyrs. 

Why People with ADHD Make Good Teachers

Why People with ADHD Make Good Teachers

I am a teacher. 

I have ADHD. 

My ADHD story is a pretty common one. Like many women, I was not diagnosed until I was an adult. 

ADHD can look different in girls and boys. This probably has more to do with societal expectations of gender more than anything else. Girls seem to be expected to be well-behaved and quiet, boys seem have a bit more leeway when it comes to rambunctious behavior.

So sometimes ADHD in girls and even boys can manifest as anxiety and overthinking. It does not always look like hyperactivity and an inability to focus. 

My personal ADHD symptoms are the following: 

Anxiety: 

 My anxiety pops up at unexpected times and is often  about things that don't make sense. 

When I am in full ADHD mode my thoughts are jumbled up in the front of my head like a huge pile of dirty laundry. 

Whatever is on top is what I fixate on. Today could be that one stray pink sock, tomorrow could be underwear or a sweater with a hole in it. 

In real life this could mean sleepless nights over something mundane, like worrying about getting a flat tire. It could be worrying about something that hasn't happened yet, like a partner or friend getting sick. It also can look like overthinking and being stuck in a worry trap over something I can't control.

Why this makes me a good teacher: I assume my students have anxiety all the time, since that is the standard for me. I realize that not all stress and anxiety is negative. Sometimes as teachers, we need to tap into a student's anxiety about a project or upcoming event. I try to help students work with and navigate through anxiety, rather than tell them not to be anxious or that they are being overly emotional or silly about something. This can create a deep connection between teacher and student. 

Imposter Syndrome: 

Imposter Syndrome is a feeling or belief that you have fooled others into thinking you are better than you really are. An example of this could be an artist who gets uncomfortable when complimented about her art, because she feels like she is not good enough or that the admirer must be mistaken! Or an actress who thinks she won the Oscar because she got lucky, not because she is talented.

In my brain, I know that I am a good teacher. 

However, even writing that sentence makes me feel highly uncomfortable. In fact, you know that weird heaving feeling that happens in the pit of your stomach when you lie--that small sick, creeping feeling--I feel that right now as I write I am a good teacher.  

Maybe I'm not good. There are certainly moments where I am not! There are myriads of other teachers who are better! The positive side of this feeling is that I am always trying to improve. I am certainly not the best teacher in the world, but I honestly don't think I would want to be! I mean, there is more to life than our jobs!

Why this makes me a good teacher (insert sinking feeling here): Our students feel this too. It is so important that we focus on the journey of learning more than the outcome of a particular project. I also tap into this feeling and remember to always give students positive reinforcement, even when giving constructive criticism. 

Boredom:

This may sound strange, but boredom is physically uncomfortable for me. When I'm bored, my whole body prickles with this weird vibrational energy. The hairs on the back of my neck sort of stand up, my throat feels dry, and I kind of feel like screaming. That's the only way I can describe this feeling. When I feel this way, I have to tune out completely just to feel comfortable again. I assumed everyone felt this way when bored until I was diagnosed with ADHD as an adult. 

I don't do well with slow talkers, meetings that could have been emails, or listening to the repetitiveness of the news or sportscasters on TV. 

How this helps me be a good teacher: I am hyperaware of "tune out" energy. I can feel it in my students. This really helps me with reading the class. Are students paying attention? Who is and who isn't? Am I...gasp!...being boring? Are they learning? What works? What sparks interest? All these thoughts go through my mind while I teach. 

I am not a fan of the Sage on the Stage style of teaching, mostly because I personally have trouble paying attention in those scenarios. Long boring lectures are hard to pay attention to. 

I am a fan of the Guide on the Side teaching, student led teaching, students moving around the class, games, discussions, and anything that gives students choices about their assignments. 

Good teachers read their audiences. 

ADHD teachers will do ANYTHING not to be boring. 

Restlessness: 

My ADHD makes me feel restless. It can manifest as feeling fidgety or having to move around, but more often it is an uncomfortable feeling of having too many things to do. It can also be a feeling that I am not accomplishing enough, or life is wasting away. I may feel lazy, but then feel incredibly guilty for being lazy. 

How this helps me be a good teacher: I understand that some students simply cannot sit still for hours on end. Just getting up to move to another part of the room for a breakout group or having students get up to write on the board or move tables is great for getting rid of restlessness in students. 

Mood Swings:

All of my close friends and relatives have experienced my mood swings. To all of you, I apologize! ADHD can make me feel extremely impatient at times. Over the years, with lots of yoga and life experience, I feel I have a better handle on my emotions. 

As a teacher, these mood swings actually help me to establish boundaries. I have no problem telling students or colleagues exactly what I expect from them. I know I cannot bottle things up...well, unless I want an explosion. 

My crazy emotions can also help me read students and can help with conflict resolution because I understand where students are coming from. I also have to come up with my own strategies to keep emotions in check. I can share these strategies with students. Students need to know that it is ok for them to feel things such as anger, fear, and resentment. We don't have to be happy all the time. Instead of repressing an emotion, feel it, observe it, learn from it, and let it pass. 

Continually Starting New Projects: 

My ADHD brain is filled with interesting ideas! I love starting new projects, like this blog! Sometimes it is difficult for me to finish projects before starting a new one. This can lead to overwhelm. But honestly, there is no better feeling in the world than starting a new exciting project! 

This helps me with teaching because I LOVE lesson planning. Seriously, coming up with new ways to teach a concept is my jam. I could do it all day. It is my favorite part of the teaching profession. 

Hyperfocus:

Oh, glorious hyperfocus! When I'm really into something, I'm REALLY into it. In fact, if something interests me, I may not want or be able to focus on anything else. 

Hyperfocus is also known as the flow state. I have felt it while writing, painting, lesson planning, and working out. Hyperfocus can be beautiful, but it can be negative too. It's not good to be obsessive about things. 

When I'm in the flow state, time doesn't exist. I can work on something for hours in total bliss. Conversely, I need to be careful not to fixate on something for hours.

Hyperfocus helps me as a teacher, because I when I am really into a lesson my excitement radiates to the students. I wish this was an all the time thing, but it's not. However, when a lesson is really good, it's really good! I also understand that the more control and choice students have over their own learning, the more they will be interested and learn. In order for our students to flow, we need to be flexible and go with the flow!

Creativity: 

My ADHD brain helps me be creative. I often think differently about problems. There is a great satisfaction for me when I come up with a creative solution to a problem. And as teachers, we face problems every day! 

Teaching During a Pandemic

 Teaching During a Pandemic

Welcome to Smarter Teachers!

 Welcome to Smarter Teachers!

The purpose of this blog is to ease your teaching stress and workload. It is possible to be effective, memorable, and rigorous without slaving away over grading student work and spending countless unpaid hours doing follow up, paperwork, and lesson planning. 

My name is Laura Kay Ellis. 

I've been teaching secondary English for over 20 years, and I'm constantly changing things up to keep my job interesting. 

Teaching can become stagnant or overwhelming if you let it. 

There are also a societal pressures to forgo pay and your own health and well being for the sake of the students. There is this toxic unspoken rule that the best teachers LIVE at school, are constantly available, and put their students before anyone else. 

I've done the whole teacher martyr thing... frankly, I'm over it! 

The best teachers have balance and a healthy work/home boundaries. 

The pandemic of 2020 woke me up. Suddenly, we were all thrown into distance learning, given a whole new set of rules, and a whole new set of responsibilities. 

How am I going to be an effective teacher through a Zoom meeting? 

How am I going to connect to 180 little boxes on a screen? 

Are my students going to be ok? Am I going to be ok? Panic is setting throughout my district and across the world. We are FORCED to adapt and adapt quickly. 

There are two ways a person can deal with change: 

Freak out and fight it.

Treat it as a challenge and jump in. 

Either way, you are still going to have to change. It's inevitable! 

A simple change of mindset can change your whole life! 

Let's jump in and change our teaching to work for us! 

What is working for you with your current teaching situation and what is not? Let me know in the comments. 

Mastery Grading

 As a teacher, I sometimes notice frozen students. 

These are students who seem stuck. They are the ones that purposely make themselves invisible and fly under the radar. They are the ones who don't turn in large assignments and don't try. It could be fear of failure--It could be the assignment seems too daunting--but whatever it is, these students are stuck. 

Sometimes people need a small stepping-stone-success to go on to bigger and better things. If the task at hand feels too daunting, it is easy get stuck in a negative mind trap.

I went hiking with a dear friend who happens to be way more bad-ass than she thinks. She had never gone hiking before, but she loved the beauty of wildlife and nature. I was excited to take her on her first hike, but I could tell she was nervous.

Her fear was that she would fall and get hurt hiking. 

We decided to hike Palos Verdes which has novice trails with little steep offshoots down to the beach. I was so excited she was hiking! So was she! In our excitement, we decided to take one of the steep trails down to the ocean. It was gravely and she fell. Right into a CACTUS! 

I was dismayed. The thing she feared had happened, and I thought the day would be ruined and that she would never hike again! 

But she nonchalantly got up, pulled some cactus spikes out of her hand, and said, "Let's keep going!"

I couldn't believe it. The worst had happened! 

She said, "Well, the worst has happened, and I'm fine!" Her fear had dissipated. She fell into cactus and it wasn't as bad as she had feared. She had survived that fall with grace and kept going with pride. 

Since then, she has done several hikes. In fact, she probably hikes more than I do. That first hike, with the fall, was a stepping-stone-success for her. She had faced her fear and realized she could do it. 

This is what Mastery Grading does for our students.

• Mastery Grading allows students to fail and redo assignments. 
• Mastery Grading allows students to work at their own pace. 
• Mastery Grading allows students to choose their own workload. 

When my friend on the hike fell, she is the one that got up, dusted herself off, and decided to go on. 

It would have been a much different story if I had scolded her for tripping and said something like, "This is your one opportunity to show mastery in hiking and you blew it!"

That would be ridiculous! She just fell, she didn't blow anything. We all fall sometimes. 

So why are we only giving one chance to our students with their assignments? How do we give our students the opportunity to take risks and practice while keeping our own work load under control? 

This is where Mastery Grading comes in.

Mastery Grading is student led learning. They are allowed to stumble and get back up. They have choice, buy-in, and ownership of their own learning. 

Mastery Grading can also be called Tiered Grading. The way it works is that students complete all of the mandatory C assignments with grade level appropriateness to receive a C in the class. Then if they choose to, they can move on to the B assignments to receive a B, and finally the A assignments to receive an A. 

The Principles of Mastery Grading

• Messing up is ok. Just try. Redo assignments if needed. 
• Late work is ok. 
• Choice of Assignments.
• Assignments must be completed with mastery to get credit. 
• Students take responsibility for their success.
• Growth Mindset not Fixed Mindset.

How Mastery Teaching Lessons Teacher Workload: 

• Not all students decide to do all assignments.
• Assignments trickle in in manageable grading chunks.
• Grading time is built into class time. 
• Pre-planned lessons and coursework alleviate workload.

The Grade Book

The grades are weighted into three categories.

Weight of Grades: 

• C Assignments: 75% of the grade
• Basic Grade Level Standards Based Assignments and Assessments
• Most of the assignments for the class
• These are either 1 or 2 points. Half credit is given to assignments below a 70% and full credit to a 70% or higher. Everything can be redone. 
• B Assignments: 15% of the grade
• Fewer assignments. Larger assignments. 
• 10 points each. 
• A Assignments: 10% of the grade
• Higher level synthesis projects
• Only one or two a quarter
• 10 points each