Shifting End-of-Term Conferences

So... we still don't have standards-based grading at the middle school level. We were well into our second year as a committee when the pandemic shut everything down. We haven't yet started up again, and I am so ready to be there instead of still hearing about extra credit and late penalties and..... Anyway...

I had also been going without grades until the end of the term for five years and then had to stop my own 1:1 grading conferences in March of 2020 - due to the pandemic and how we were teaching from April until June. And... last year I decided it would be too hard on me (and the students) to try going without grades. Was it about accountability? Honestly? Yes. The good news? We're BACK!

This is my sixth year of going without grades in our seventh grade ELA class (albeit not consecutive years - I forgive myself - and I blame the pandemic). I've learned to be proactive with parents. I've learned to share a TON with parents - a "welcome to 7th grade ELA" letter, the grading letter (after I have the discussion with students), updates on what's going on in class each month, helpful links to find books or publish writing, and pictures of the students plopped into a WeVideo. I've TRIED to learn to not get headaches wondering what the parents will think of the grading system (even if only ONE parent ever balked about it - but he was downright mean), and I've found being proactive really helps alleviate the stress. This year, as I was taking our writing time in class to write affirmations to myself ("I am fair. I am kind. I am caring. I am doing all I can do with what I have..."), I decided I needed to send one more reminder home that one grade (the final one) will be appearing in the online gradebook at the end of the quarter. So, during our next writing time, I wrote (and later sent) this:

Student grades will be posted and shared soon. My hope is that my 1:1 conversation with your child is comprehensive and helps the student become reflective. We'll be emphasizing the skills I believe they'll need in order to succeed and improve in reading and writing. You and your child will be receiving an email with the notes we discussed attached, and this should explain how we got to the grade that will be put in PowerSchool either the day we have the discussion or the very next day. If you need more information, please check with your child first, then reach out to me. These 1:1 conversations (that take time - we've got them scheduled the next two weeks) with seventh graders are one of my favorite things about going without grades during the term. Please ask them how it went once you get the report!

I then changed the form I had used in the past. I've used forms before where students and I fill them out in pen or pencil - both of us filling parts of them out ahead of time. Then I would copy them and send a copy home, never knowing if it even got home. This term, I typed in student responses and my observations on the spot - on a form that only included what we accomplished this quarter. We looked it over, I downloaded it as a PDF, then sent a copy to parents that day. The final grade was posted onto the grading platform (we use PowerSchool) later that day. The reason for this - What if parents are like many students, and look at the grade but not the feedback? In this way, I'm postponing the grade a few more hours, to give them a chance to read through the notes with their child.

I save our 1:1 conferences for our independent reading time. In those twenty minutes, I can get in solid chats with three students. I like to share snippets, and I haven't blogged in a long time, so here I go. 

All names are changed.

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Ada had a difficult time deciding on what her grade should be. In my eyes, and according to our grading guidelines (that are subject to change each year), she should have a solid A. She kept telling me she "can't make decisions." The more she talked, the more I realized she thought I would do what "every adult" does to her - make her feel like she made the wrong decision. We checked off the list, put the A on the document, and then it was time for her to come up with a goal. Ah, but this, too, demanded a decision be made on her part. At this point, we'd already gone past the time students had to read independently, so I felt I should walk away from her and help other students. I'd let her try this on her own. When I got back, she asked, "Can I type it in?" YES! Her goal was worth the wait. She wants to be able to accept feedback from me without getting upset about it. Tough to measure, but it's a goal that speaks to her feelings of judgment from adults.

Alan struggles in ELA, yet he's put forth the effort of looking at tips I provide and getting better at his comprehension checks (our articles of the week), and he even revised his writing two times. According to the checklist, he should not be getting a B or an A. We went back to his articles of the week, and noticed the improvement. He was proud of his grade, and he created a goal of asking for help understanding what what the questions are actually asking.

Kim is so, so quiet during class. She will, however, ask me for help when she needs it during independent work. I commended her for that, saying, "There are some students here who are still 'on mute.' I don't know why they don't ask me for help - they must be scared of me or something. Nice job advocating for yourself when you need it."     ---     She replied, with her hand patting my knee, "Mrs. Kirr, you're like the least scariest person in this school." I'm not sure if that's a good thing, but I'll take it.

One other bit of discussion I feel I need to document... During parent/teacher conferences, one parent said that when he got the letter explaining about the grades for this year, he was very impressed. He wanted to write back, but he said his written English is worse than his spoken English, and knew he wanted to wait until he could tell me in person how much he likes this philosophy. He also thanked me for sharing so many books about, and written by, characters and authors that are "not what Americans deem the 'norm,'" but that belongs in an entirely different post.

Lisa avoids school. Last year was really rough on her, and this year she's been in school more, but when she's not here, she misses classwork and doesn't take the time at home to catch up on it. She chose the last day of our 1:1 conferences to meet to talk about the grade, and I made sure to not let her know she was going to go the next day... I wanted her in class! She did come to school, we chatted about the evidence, and she thought she should get a B. I asked her to go through the grading guidelines to show me what she accomplished, and she noted then that her comprehension skills were in the 60% range. So... she adjusted her grade to a C. This was up from last year when she received all Ds and Fs in ELA. I told her that if we only relied on the computer, she would be receiving a D. This encouraged her to continue reading the entire time in class and putting forth the effort in writing, as well. I reiterated what we'd said at parent conferences - that when she's in classes, she does better.

Email comments from parents this time around:

• We could see much thought had been put into the evidence document. Thank you for the meaningful recap. 
• We really like your format.
• Thank you for the detailed summary of ____'s First Quarter grade.  ____ and I spoke about his grade last night and he seems satisfied...
• We really appreciate the feedback.
• Thank you for your time and effort...
• I appreciate the feedback and the chance to see ____ comment on his strengths and weaknesses.
• This is great feedback and I’m glad to know ____ is doing well in class for the most part. We will encourage him to read more independently so he can reach his goal...

Some teachers would disagree with the grades we came up with. Oh, well. I feel that the reflection process is worth it, or I wouldn't put in the work doing this. I do have one student who told me it would be less stressful to her if she had "typical" grades. She, however, takes three times longer taking short assessments during class (the articles of the week and the book club book check ins), because she strives for 100%. I truly think she may have ulcers early in life due to the pressure she puts on herself. We should not be adding more stressors to children's lives - Some student don't do so great in certain classes, and some feel they need to get 100% or they're failures. Oh, how I wish we'd get going with the standards-based grading discussions once again!!

Other posts of mine regarding 1:1 conferences with students

Even more resources: 
     Frequently Asked Questions for Parents on our classroom Weebly
     Feedback Instead of Grades LiveBinder for parents (and teachers) to peruse
     My own reflections on this journey (since May, 2012)

Conference Musings - Shift in Focus in Year Five

I work in a school system that requires grades at the end of each term. Although I do not have points or marks during the term, I am required to come up with one often-arbitrary letter that is supposed to represent student achievement in our ELA (English Language Arts - reading, writing, speaking) class before report cards are issued. This year, the elementary schools in our district are in their second year of standards-based grading, and I'm hopeful we'll have it at the middle school level by the time I retire. Until then, I believe the way I'm trying to help my students learn without the reward, threat, stress, or constant checking of their grades is the route I need to take.

Since I piloted "Feedback in Lieu of Grades" in 2015-2016 with one class and then used it each following year, my favorite part of the year is conferring with students each quarter. (Sadly, it's also the time of the year when I get a migraine due to the stress of "getting it right" and "not making parents mad or students cry." This quarter, I blamed the migraine on the barometric pressure, but my friend and hubby may be right, as they saw the correlation before I did.) Conferring is my favorite part, as I can look through the evidence with each student individually, and they can voice their opinions on what they believe they should get on the report card based on that evidence. They reflect on the goal they made last quarter, and they either create a new goal for the next quarter, or keep or tweak the one they had. I am able to write about their achievements and habits, along with their contributions, as we sit alongside each other. I love to see the smiles on their faces when they read what I've written, even if the grade they are getting isn't that often-sought-after "A."

This quarter, one of my students lost a parent. Another has a parent in hospice. Others are dealing with hurt I can't comprehend. My focus as we started conferring this past week was compassion and celebration. I've been the calmest I've been during these conversations. I, myself, have carried less angst into these conversations, as I'm truly NOT focused on the grades. I'm practicing what I preach, focusing on what they've learned, and the habits or mindsets that have gotten them to where they are at this point in the school year.

Maybe it's because my own mindset is better this year. Or maybe it's because parents haven't complained about how they have to take more time if they want to know how their child is doing in our class (they have to go into each assignment and click "view" to see the comprehensive narrative feedback). Or maybe it's because I had one parent tell me that she actually gets MORE information from our class than from the others. No matter the reason, I'm glad my focus has shifted again. I'm glad I have enough confidence in the system I've created in my tiny corner of the school to be able to simply reflect on how the quarter has gone with each student. In this fashion, we can make a plan for next quarter and start working towards it.

Made with Pixabay + Keynote

Last quarter, due to this type of grading being a bit too stressful for the grade-driven seventh graders, I switched two students over to more "typical" grading. This quarter, at least one other student is going that route. The other students aren't even aware of this, as we're still doing the same activities, and we're still speaking the same language of doing this work in order to learn... not in order to get a good grade.
I still don't have it all figured out. I still have four days of conferences this week with students and one or more may cry. I may still get an angry email from a parent. At this point, however, I am glad the students and I have the relationship we have in order to reflect honestly on how the second quarter of the year has gone and to make plans as to where we go from here.

Want more stories? Check out the reflections I've shared on other times I've conferred with students. Looking to have conversations like this with your students? --> Pages three & four of this document show what we discussed at our conference this past quarter (third and fourth quarters will be added when I need them).

More resources: 
     Frequently Asked Questions for Parents on our classroom Weebly
     Feedback Instead of Grades LiveBinder for parents (and teachers) to peruse
     My own reflections on this journey

Conference Musings Q2

Once again, it's my busiest time of the year. One-on-one conferences with my 7th graders to decide what tiny little letter represents all of our work and learning from the quarter. (Past reflections on conferring with students are here.)

I've conducted 61 one-on-one "grade" conferences with students the last two weeks. I need to meet because even though I've gone all quarter without points or scores averaged together, I still need to put a final letter grade in the online gradebook. Some conferences go faster than five minutes, and some go slower, and they all leave a paper trail for students to take home and explain to parents. This quarter, we used pages 6 & 7 of this document. These were the second grade conferences we've had this year, so they were a teeny bit faster than first quarter. It's still quite the learning curve for some! 

Here are some snippets (all names are changed)...

Alan -

     I know he's got an "A." There's no doubt. He had trouble with his writing, but followed the feedback and improved it dramatically in his first revision. He asked me if he could average the numbers for the scores he had. Sure - even though this is one thing I think is wrong with typical grades. He came up with a 94.5%. "Yeah, I'll take that," he said.
     Me - Hey, [Alan], since you like to average the numbers, would you like to just simply go with a regular grade next time?
     Alan - Hmmm... Will I get the same feedback?
     Me - Nope. It's either grades OR feedback, as it's too much for me to do both, and the research says it doesn't help, anyway.
     Alan - Then I'd rather stick with the way we've been doing it. I think the feedback helps me learn.
     Me - (with a tear in my eye, I swear) Thanks for making it all worth it. It sure is a heck of a lot more work, but when I hear it's helping you learn, it's all worth it.

Paul -

     Similar to the conversation with Alan, except Paul actually said he "crunched the numbers." When I asked him if he'd like to go to normal grading, he thought about it and finally said, "No. Let's wait one more quarter. If it doesn't work out in my favor, we can switch over fourth quarter." (Seriously. I can't make this stuff up. Oh - and this is the kid that reminds me of my one and only nephew.)

Ally -

     Oh, how Ally was nervous. Her legs were shaking up and down, her face was blotchy red.
     Me - [Ally], what do you think when you see all this evidence? What does it tell you?
     Ally - (quietly) I don't know... I don't know.
     Me. - Let me change the question. How does this make you feel?
     Ally - (straightening up) Proud.

Upton -

     This quarter, he's been blowing off directions, asking me every day to repeat what I'd already said (and what was on the board), going on YouTube so often that I had to block it for our class, and has been talking a ton while I'm sharing how we're going to work each day. I haven't talked with him about it, as he's not the loudest one in the class. He's also a huge reader, so I don't worry about him figuring out the directions or following through when he gets down to work.
     These were the comments he chose for his report card:

He knows. 

He knows. 

This, in itself, helps me to realize, once again, how important it is to take time to reflect.

Mike -

     He, too, has been ignoring my directions, distracted as heck at ANYthing happening in the room or outside the room. Head turning this way and that, busting out laughing at things I cannot see or hear. He's not distracting the class - only himself.
     For our "analysis of evidence" writing, he wrote three sentences. I marked it as "incomplete" and let him know I was available before and after school, and during lunch. The day before we were to meet about his final grade, he "wrote a new one." When we sat down to chat, I asked him where his paper was with the page numbers for the evidence he'd found for his writing. He mumbled that he didn't do it. When I asked who he went to for peer editing, he said he did it on his own. When I asked why there was a blog post about something totally unrelated to ELA, and yet he didn't yet post his reflections on our book clubs, he said he didn't get to it. We looked at his evidence. He did not try to inflate it. He was honest and reflective. We agreed on his grade. Then he set a goal to "use class time more wisely."
     Yes. Yes. Yes.
     I will help him with this goal as we move forward.

Conference Musings

Seventh graders - what a mix of minds!

I've conducted thirteen one-on-one "grade" conferences with students this week. I need to meet because even though I've gone all quarter without points or scores averaged together, I still need to put a final letter grade in the online gradebook. The end of the term is next week Friday, so I've reserved five days to have 5 min. conferences with students. Some go faster, and some go slower, and they leave a paper trail for students to take home and explain to parents. The first conferences about grades are always tougher than the rest of the year. Students have never done this before, and it's quite the learning curve for some! We use this document (the first two pages) to discuss evidence so far.

Here are some snippets (all names are changed)...

Evelyn - 
     I see, on our documenting sheet, that she has earned an A. It's solid. She's gotten proficient or mastery on her writing skills, and she's got 90% or higher on her reading comprehension checks. I ask, "What do you think your grade should be?"
     Her response - again and again - "I don't know."

Cassie - 
     She knows she should get an A. I ask, "What is your evidence?" She can't find it. We need to look through everything and write it off to the side, so she can see what I see. We end up deciding a B- is more representative of her learning right now. I look at last year's grades when I have time. Uh oh. I might be hearing from parents. She had all As last year...

Jimmy -
     He starts by saying, "I've never done this before, so I'm going to do my best, but I might make mistakes. So...." and he goes on and on about his skills, how he's doing, where he could improve... He's got three goals for next quarter and wants to narrow it down to one that will have the most impact... I don't have to say a thing.

Norman -
     Has been in trouble this year. Only once from me. I "let him get away" with things that do not impede other students' learning. I pick my battles, and I think we have an "okay" relationship. He seemed scared, yet put on his tough face. He seemed surprised to know I agreed with his assessment of himself and did not bring behavior into the mix. Behavior doesn't belong in a grade. If it did, however, he'd have an "A" for looking me in the eyes the entire time we talked.

We have different seating options in our room. I make sure to sit on a chair that is the same height as the student's chair. I want them to know this should not be scary. It's just a conversation about how they're doing right now, and where they can improve. I LOVE these conversations. Some are tougher than others, but I feel like I learn so much about the students, and I feel that we build more of a bond of trust with each other. If (when?) we do go to standards-based grading, I'd love to keep these conversations going at the end of each term.

My "gradeless" resources so far: "FaR" tabs of our classroom Weebly

                                    Feedback Instead of Grades LiveBinder for parents to inspect
                                    My own reflections on this journey

She's Scared to Ask

Last quarter, as I conferred one on one with Christine (not her real name), she confided in me that she's scared to ask for help.

On her own, she wrote a new goal for fourth quarter: Ask for help when I don't understand.

This past Friday, she hadn't turned in an in-class assignment. I went to her and asked, "Do you need help on the assignment you haven't yet turned in?"

Her reply was a head nod.

I then asked her, "Do you remember what your goal for fourth quarter is?"

She softly replied, "Ask for help."

I asked her to take it out so I can help her with it, and help her get closer to achieving her goal.

Penciled in - right on the assignment - she'd written, "I'm still scared to ask for help."

I looked her in the eye and reiterated, "I'm here to help."

-----

I'm so glad she was able to tell me her thoughts in our meeting at the end of third quarter. What great feedback for me!! I was aware that it was something to celebrate. However, I still confided in a coworker how meeting with Christine was upsetting to me, and that I didn't know what to do to fix it or help her. How can she be scared of me? ME? I feel as if I'm very compassionate in class. I feel as if I praise so many little things students are doing so we have a positive relationship. I feel as if I'm approachable and allow time for students to talk with me. How could she be scared of ME? My coworker tried to assure me. She, too, was scared (maybe that wasn't the exact word for her) to ask for help from any teacher. She, too, didn't participate. She, too, did her work, did well, and then went on with her day.

Yet here it is again. That feeling that I can't do enough. That feeling that I need to do much more.

I will continue to sit and chat with each child. I will continue to make great eye contact, smile, and praise for efforts, word choice, patience, etc. Yet it looks like I'll always need to do more.

I'm reaching out to my PLN today - what can I do to help students who are scared to ask for help?

Conferring Once Again - Q3

The end of each quarter, I sit down with my students, one-on-one, and we talk about their learning from the past seven or eight weeks. Ultimately, we have to come up with one letter grade that represents learning they've shown. This one little letter is all they get for their work, but that's how the system is for me at this moment in time.

These conferences are my most stressful time of each quarter, and also my favorite. They're stressful because I need to make sure I have time to see each child, and I hope to goodness that they're not absent the day they were scheduled. They're also stressful because I then have to enter that one grade in the online gradebook, and I worry about parent reactions. THANK YOU to all those supportive parents who have read my myriad two-week updates and emails home. One more stress? The rest of the class is working on their own... or are they?! Letting go of that control is tough, but most students are doing what they need to be doing during this time.

These conferences are also my favorite time of each quarter. This is a result of the conversations we have, the learning that is demonstrated and celebrated, and the reflections and goal setting.

Here are some tidbits from this past quarter... All names are changed and do not even closely resemble the child's name.

Abby's goal for next quarter is to ask more questions. She didn't know where an assignment was, and was too nervous to ask me. ME. I wonder how she functions in other classes.

Bill's goal for next quarter is to set his alarm on his phone so he remembers to read every day after school. He went to his locker and set it right then.

Cliff realized, although he's doing very well academically, that he has a tough time with theme and the author's message. He decided he's going to write about the theme of everything he reads in class and at home from now on.

Donny is proud that he's now reading at home and that he found a genre he enjoys (nonfiction).

Edgar thought he should get a "D" in class, because he never reads at home. We had a great discussion about how reading habits affect comprehension, but that I don't think habits should belong in a grade. It turns out we agreed on a "C" because his comprehension was in the 70% range. He asked, "If I read more, will it go up?" I got to tell him that the only thing that helps improve reading comprehension is more reading.

Frank revised then revised then revised once again to improve the grammar in his writing the week before we met. His new goal? --> Revise as soon as he gets feedback!

George, once again, admits to playing video games all afternoon and evening. Talking with him helps me know that I can NOT do it all alone. It also helps reaffirm that we should be reading (books of students' choices) in class every day.

Helga's goal for next quarter is to stay away from distracting friends during independent reading time.

Issac is proud of his improvement this past quarter!

Judy has stepped up her participation this past quarter!

Kelly realized (without my help) she is distracting other students when they work in a group! Her new goal is to focus on getting the task accomplished when she works with friends.

Leo was nervous about his meeting with me. He came and said, "I'm nervous." It turns out that he was hyper-focused on one part of the grade. When we looked over the other evidence, he said, "I'm not as nervous anymore." We discussed averaging points in the gradebook versus taking the evidence for what it is, and he was happy he had revised his writing.

Molly's new goal is to head to our class website reading challenge page to look through the myriad lists of books and create a large one for herself so she can begin to choose what to read on her own (instead of coming to me each time she finishes a book).

Nick thought he should get a "D" because of his behavior in class. We then had the discussion about how behavior will impact his learning at some point, but for now the evidence for his academics shows he's in the "B" range. We then talked about how his behavior might be impacting OTHER students' learning...

Olga's new goal is to stop doodling during classwork time. She didn't do as well as she'd hoped this past quarter, and blames it on "not getting down to work."

Patrick told me he really wants to change seats so he's away from a certain someone who distracts him.

Those are the stories I remember offhand, without going back into my notes. When I feel as if my class is slipping away from me (let's call it "spring fever"), I can go back to these conversations and realize that we do have a connection, and we can have discussions about what's going right, and where we can improve.

My "gradeless" resources so far: "FaR" tabs of our classroom Weebly

                                    Feedback Instead of Grades LiveBinder for parents to inspect
                                    My own reflections on this journey

Learning Conferences - A Reading Snippet

At the end of each quarter, during our one-on-one conferences, I learn so many great tidbits from my scholars. This past week (I still have three days of conferring left), I learned that I STILL have to work on changing my vocabulary.  Here was how the conversation went after we talked about her eight point growth for her MAP assessment:

T = teacher / me       S = student

T - Eight points is further than what they predicted would be your score. How did you do on our own class tests?
S - Huh?
T - How did you do on our quizzes in ELA?
S - What? You mean our comprehension checks? Those?
T - (Chuckling, as I realized in my mind they are still called "quizzes," even though we call them "comprehension checks" each time we discuss them this year!! I even wrote about them earlier this year.)

I don't remember how I responded. I only remember that I was embarrassed. Are "comprehension checks" still "quizzes"? I had to look up the word...

Checking for comprehension through brief questions... Yes, I suppose it still IS a quiz. Who am I kidding, calling it a "comprehension check?" No one. I knew this going into it. HOWEVER... This name change helps my students stay calm about their score. It helps them see that this is a check of their comprehension of this ONE passage. It is not a label that will stick with them. When I go one step further to separate out the categories into literal and inferential questions, then we get even MORE information about their comprehension, and we can set goals to minimize confusion for the future.

Here were two goals students could choose from if they were having difficulty with their comprehension:
To improve with literal questions - Find the answer directly in the text and highlight it.
To improve with inferential questions - Find at least two clues to the answer you choose. If you cannot find two clues, you most likely have not chosen the answer yet.

During our conferences this quarter, students were able to use arguments such as, "My last three scores are my best, because I was really focusing on the text and finding the answers there." Or, "I have improved from first quarter to this quarter, because now I can prove that I understand more inferential questions than I have before." I love how our language has shifted over the past year. I love that the conversations are now about learning, and not about letters or numbers. I'll have to remember this feeling and look at it as a goal once a new batch of learners comes my way in August!

Seventh Grader Reflections - A Snippet

Just a snippet of two conferences I had with students regarding their grade for third quarter today... Just a reminder - we've had no grades/marks all quarter, and students need to give me their evidence for reading, writing, and grammar.

A conversation with "Lisa"*
Me - "Why do you think you earned a 'B' for reading?"
Lisa - "Well, my comprehension scores are 97% for literal, and 91% for inferential, but I only shared two of the five books I read this quarter."
Me - "What makes you think you have to share more than two?"
Lisa - "You said if we share books, it helps other students read them."
Me - "What stopped you from sharing them?"
Lisa - "I didn't really think anyone else would like the other three I read."
Me - "Do you think we should share books we don't necessarily like?"
Lisa - "I don't know."
Me - "I think it's valuable to share books you DO like. You show here that you read 30 minutes each night?"
Lisa - "Sometimes less, if I'm busy. But I always make up for it on the weekends."
Me - "I still don't understand why you think you earned a 'B' for reading. Your evidence proves otherwise."
Lisa - "A 'B+' then?"

Lisa is so hard on herself. She had THREE goals for next quarter, when she clearly earned an 'A' for reading, writing AND grammar. Her goals were very high, so we discussed making them manageable so she didn't stress herself out!

A conversation with "Kyle"
Me - "It says here that you believe you deserve an 'A' for grammar. I don't see any evidence listed. Let's write down the pieces you submitted for feedback and go over the feedback that was given. ... For each of your three pieces, the feedback was 'needs improvement.' Do you remember what that would be as a score in a 'typical' class?"
Kyle - "Um... maybe not good."
Me - "On a typical rubric, that's a D. So... you've got three pieces that show your grammar skills at a 'D' level right now."
Kyle - "I revised one a lot."
Me - "Yes. My notes say you revised this one three times. My notes also say that I asked you to look back at my feedback. You seem to have added MORE writing to the piece instead. Is there a reason you didn't follow my feedback to add capital letters and periods?"
Kyle - "I didn't really read it." (Kyle had asked for WRITTEN feedback instead of video feedback this past quarter. I gave him one sentence that showed where he was doing well, and one sentence that suggested a revision. This was in lieu of a 2-5 min video.)
Me - "So... (trying to not let my emotions show on my oh-so-transparent face)... Was a one sentence suggestion too much for you? Would you prefer the video feedback again?"
Kyle - "No. I just wanted to write more."
Me - "Writing more is not getting better at writing. In fact, you wrote more without adding any capital letters or ending punctuation. When did you learn how to capitalize names and the beginnings of sentences?"
Kyle - "Um... First grade?"
Me - "So... You wrote more - without adding any capitalization or punctuation. You didn't improve your writing. Revising is what helps you improve."
LONG PAUSE
Me - "Let's regroup. Let's look at the evidence, and reflect more accurately now on what you think you have earned as a grade for grammar."
Kyle - "Um... A 'C'?"

Big sigh. Sitting with Kyle for double the time it should take to confer is a struggle. Not giving grades or marks throughout the year is one of the toughest things I've tried in my teaching career. Even though the struggle is real, I won't give it up.

Why?

This is one reason: Some students need a TON of practice reflecting. Some have either never had the chance before, or just simply need more practice. I'm definitely giving them the opportunity to practice.

There are oh-so-many more reasons. You can discover some of them in the video I share with parents, but today's conversations were a glimpse into one other huge reason. Reflection is a skill that needs to be practiced in school. I don't know how much it's happening in some homes.

*No doubt - the names here are fictitious.

My resources so far: "FaR" tabs of our classroom Weebly

                                    Feedback Instead of Grades LiveBinder for parents to inspect
                                    My own reflections on this journey