Reflecting on Reflections

I headed into the end of this school year feeling pretty good. Besides the obvious fact that the school year was almost over, I felt that overall, in spite of COVID and remote/hybrid learning, the year had been a success. My students had developed fairly robust reading lives, they all improved at writing in some way, and most importantly, we had enjoyed our time together. I feel like I know these students—even the ones I have never met in person.

The quarter grade would once again be determined by a quarterly reflection with artifacts. Since it was the end of the year, I also wanted to give students an opportunity to make a case for a course grade that was something other than the average of their quarter grades. I also wanted them to reflect on their overall learning and growth for the year, so I asked for a mini course portfolio. Here is the assignment I gave my AP students. (The assignment for my ninth graders was very similar, just adapted for their specific assignments.)

And here are two examples of student reflections and mini portfolios. In the first example, the quarterly reflection and portfolio are combined into one slideshow.

In the second example, the quarterly reflection and mini portfolio are two separate slideshows.

Both of these students are strong and would earn good grades in a traditional grades classroom. But what I want to highlight with these examples is how they would not have grown as much. Good students who do their work and who are already pretty good readers and writers usually do what they have to do to earn the grade they want. (In my school, this is usually a 95 or higher.) And then they stop. They’ve reached their upper limit. But because there was no upper limit this year, these students continued to climb.

In the first example, the student had spent months working on a research assignment that was just not coming together. The week before the final product was due, she decided she needed to rewrite the entire essay from a new angle. She was slightly overwhelmed by this prospect, but she was not afraid to do it: she trusted me and she trusted the process. She knew that even if her rewrite did not go well, her grade would not be determined solely by that final product but rather by the months of work she had already put in and the risk she took in deciding to rewrite it. (Side note: Her rewrite was outstanding.)

The second example was also created by an incredible student; he’s very mature and thoughtful about his work. But he has also been raised in a system that rewards students for collecting points rather than actually learning and growing. He is someone who loved reading when he was younger but fell out of the habit in high school when too many other tasks were competing for his time. In a recent conversation, he shared with me that he and most of his peers feel guilty when they do things that are not “productive”—that don’t directly contribute to the growth of their GPAs. This includes independent reading. (This problem will definitely be the topic of a future blog post.) Then he said that the way we approached reading this year helped him rediscover his reading life in life-changing ways. He said the single most significant thing he learned was how to make time for independent reading. And even though I teach AP Language and “making time for independent reading” is not a specific skill in the CED, I agree that this is the single most significant thing he learned. And it wouldn’t have happened if I had been giving points for assignments because he would not have had the time and space to develop a new mindset around reading and learning.

I could stop here and call it a year. But that’s not who I am. I know that even though this year was FULL of wins, I need to reflect and redesign my assessment system for next year. I will not be going back to grading with points, but I do need to tweak some things.

I already knew that I wanted to provide more structure around certain assignments and more direct feedback about the extent to which students were meeting expectations. I think the goal-setting approach worked well this past year, if for no other reason than it was our COVID year, and we all needed the pressure valve of grades to be released. But, as I have shared in previous posts, I was not entirely comfortable with the freedom it created, especially when it came time for the quarterly reflections. (I will also readily admit that some of this discomfort is because I still have so much to unlearn regarding traditional grades.)

After reading my students’ anonymous course evaluations, both my resolve and my discomfort increased. Their responses to the assessment question (What feedback do you have about our approaches to assessment this year?) yielded both expected and surprising results. 

Expected outcomes

“Pointless” grading is less stressful for students than traditional grades. This is the most predictable outcome, and I have a love-hate relationship with it. I have been working for years to help my students reduce their grade-induced stress, so I am thrilled that the pointless system contributed to this outcome. At the same time, I do not want anyone—especially my students—to misinterpret “pointless” assessment for the absence of expectations. I still have high expectations for their work, but now I offer multiple pathways for students to meet those expectations without fear of failure.

“Pointless” grading is better for growth and learning than traditional grades. This is related to the previous point, but it’s also much bigger. When teachers do not evaluate with points, students feel more comfortable taking risks (which I think we would all agree is necessary to growth). Students also learn a substantial amount through the process of reflecting (even if some of them found this process annoying or uncomfortable). On these points, I want to allow the students to do the talking. Here are some of their responses to the anonymous assessment question.

1. I wanted to be proud of the work I accomplished in this class and evaluating my own performance each quarter made me mindful of the effort I put in.  I previously approached school with an “ends justify the means” mentality which motivated me to do anything for a good grade.  Reflecting on various assignments and quarter/course work is something I had not done in any other class, but I appreciate the accountability I now have for my successes and shortcomings. I deferred from previous habits that I maintained and sometimes even relied on in classes where there are graded tests and assignments.  Because the stressful aspect was removed, I approached this class with a sense of security that one bad test grade would not alter my whole quarter and possible course grade.  
2. THIS WAS SO AMAZING. I do genuinely believe that this year’s English class has been one of the most productive classes I have taken in High School. In past years there was limited incentive to improve or grow. This year, I needed to grow continuously and show improvement in order to maintain the same grade, let alone a higher one. This year, the focus was put more on how much I improved, rather than on individual pieces. This motivated me to try and find new ways to improve. This never would have happened with a traditional grading system. 
3. PLEASE DO NOT GET RID OF IT. I loved it and know that I will probably never have this experience in any of my other classes and I want other students to experience this type of learning due to the pressures and competitiveness in our school. I honestly think this will change the mindset of many students in our school. 
4. I really enjoyed not having a grade or assessment based course this year. Not having grades allowed me to explore new ways in learning, reading, and writing. There may have been the absence of test structure, but the structure of self evaluation was highly prevalent. I was able to learn about myself and my capabilities in the process of learning this way. I wished more teachers would attempt, or at least be opened to this form of grading
5. The pointless system felt amazing and so freeing compared to the traditional graded system. I was able to take risks I normally wouldn’t have in topics and I didn’t have to constantly think about what would have impacted my grade. This class contributed almost nothing to the amount of stress I usually carry during school and I didn’t feel the struggle to balance so much work. This was the most stress free class I’ve ever experienced that still prepared me wonderfully for the AP Exams.
6. I loved the no grade approach, truly.  Grades are probably the worst enemy to learning and growth, because they attach your worth to a number. It’s something we’re all used to, but in that we’ve grown accustomed to focusing on a grade and not the learning.  My writing has been some of the best because this class allowed me to experiment with the only real “grade” being one against myself.  This approach to assessment allowed me to be introspective and learn about myself, which has allowed my work to be some of the best it’s been.
7. I originally thought that without assessments, everything that I learned in English this year would be forgotten the second it was taught. Ironically, I found that I remembered the material more so when I applied the lesson to the work we would be completing. Instead of just completing a test, I was able to channel the teachings from the lesson into whatever I was working on. It also allowed me to not stress over a number grade. I didn’t constantly look down on myself after a project was returned to me. Instead, I focused my attention immediately on revisions. In the beginning of the year, despite the benefits that Ms. Hastings described, I still thought that the traditional grading system was perfectly fine and that it was the most effective for all students. I now have a new perspective and truly see how a non-traditional grading system benefits students. 
8. The fact that this whole course was based on learning and personal growth gave me an opportunity to make my educational experience my own. This is definitely not great, but when classes have traditional grades, it’s hard for me not to get swept up in the extrinsic motivation of getting good grades. I know that the opportunity to be a student here is really valuable and I know that my parents have sacrificed a lot for me to [attend this school], so I’m still focused on learning, but that focus is shared with grades, and grades often end up dominating. But in this class, my actual job was to focus on learning and improving. And so all that I had failed to prioritize, all that I had pushed to the side in past years (leisurely reading, writing, and actually paying attention and caring about my learning and growth as a student), became my only focus. I’ve spent a lot of time and effort this year on reading, writing, and reflecting. And because of the opportunity to do that, I know that I’ve actually learned, I’ve actually improved, I’ve actually developed a better understanding of myself and the world around me. I wrote earlier about the impact that reading and writing have had on me. My life is actually so much better because of the habits I’ve developed in this class. And I’m coming to realize that my priority should have always been on making my education my own and investing in myself. It’s terrible that I didn’t realize I could even do that before, but I’m glad I just got to focus on being a student this year without worrying and stressing out about everything: I focused on developing my own voice, exploring ideas, and improving my skills. On the downside, I think on a few deadlines, I could have been a little more relaxed than I should have 😬.

Some students wanted more structure, or even more traditional assessments. I would not have expected this outcome if I had not already seen this type of feedback last year. Some students prefer traditional grades and assessments. My theory is that these are students who are good at traditional assessments. They score high on tests and essays and feel better about themselves when their academic identities are validated by a score. (I was definitely this way as a student.) And because they have been successful in a traditional system, they find it easier: take the test, get the grade, move on to the next thing. No reflection required. I do not, however, take this perspective as evidence that traditional grades are better for students or their learning. Even though the pointless grading movement has been gathering steam, we have all been raised in a system that uses points to reward and punish. I used to tell my students that they reminded me of dogs begging for treats because they would do just about anything for more points. If we revolutionized the system and raised them differently, then this mindset would probably not exist. Here is an anonymous student reflection that supports this theory:

I think that as a students we are trained to hound for points. A common phrase used among friends is “Kill fuh da point” (and yes that is the only correct spelling of that phrase). I think that sums a lot of [the mindset of students in our district]. We are trained to look for the highest grade with the least effort. To some degree that was still a problem for me and other students when we have a workload and we see something that may not directly contribute to our grade we don’t put that same effort. 

That being said, I think it is the best of a bad situation. You can’t single handedly transform the education system or even [our school], but your assessment method is easily the best. While my start of the year was not great, with all efforts being given toward that grade, as I moved on throughout the year that changed. I found myself actually using that freedom of a student of knowing that for example that if I pursue some difficult and out there goal for the class and fail at it, that is not directly determining my grade. It allowed me as a student to actually grow and take risks and really move out of my comfort zone. In a traditional class the pressure of grades would have made me choose something that I have already done or very similar to that. I would choose the safest option, and would gain nothing from it other than a grade. 

There are few changes that maybe you might want to adapt. I definitely think more day to day “assignments” that actually might have to be submitted at least early in the year would be a nice way to ease students in. It would allow them to adapt to this foreign system, and from their you can slowly remove that scaffolding. Another thing that I would add is that maybe have more peer groups because that is where I gained a lot.

I think what I am trying to say is that a system like this will always have to grow and adapt, but that I think as a teacher you do a lot to make your students enjoy and relate to the class. I think that you should continue this approach and think that it has merit and should be adopted by a lot more teachers. 

Surprising outcomes

Because I did not assess with points, some students interpreted this as the absence of assessment. When I read these types of comments, I was horrified. I wanted to go into Google Classroom and write a refutation post to all of my classes. (I didn’t. But I was very tempted.) I would argue that they were being assessed all the time. Everything mattered because everything could be used as evidence of growth and learning. From weekly reading reflections to final essay drafts, I was assessing constantly. The fact that some of them did not understand this tells me I have more work to do in the beginning of the year when I lay the foundation for the course.

Some students actually found this approach to be more stressful than traditional grades. This is due to a variety of factors, but most of them all come back to the root problem: they have been raised in a traditional grades system, so they have a lot to learn/unlearn about learning. Many of them shared that they did not know how they were doing without the numerical grade (even though I provided abundant feedback). This tells me I have a lot of work to do with them on interpreting feedback and applying it to goals and growth. Here are some of those comments:

1. I think that the grade-less system was more demanding than a traditional grading system, but that it facilitated more growth. It helped me make creative decisions and take artistic liberties because I was more focused on creating something I was proud of than on not getting points taken off. However, I would appreciate it if there was a bit more clarification or structure with the grades to know how I’m doing in the class.
2. I prefer traditional grades rather than determining grades at the end of the quarter. It was a little burdening to think about because I was never 100% sure where I stood.
3. It definitely gave me anxiety when trying to compile all my work for the reflections at the end of the quarter and give myself a grade, since I’m more used to the straightforward-ness that comes with number grades throughout the year. It did, however, force me to be more organized with my work and keep track of what I did throughout the quarter.

Some of the students are concerned that this system will leave them less prepared for future English classes. I disagree, but I understand the concern. My decision not to give tests this year was not only because of my pointless assessment system; it was also because of remote learning. One of the things I will think about this summer is how I might repurpose traditional tests and quizzes to provide feedback without using points. (Sarah Zerwin talks about this in Pointless.) Here are a few of those comments:

1. I was glad that there were no tests, but I’m also scared that I won’t be able to face tests in the years to come (since I haven’t had an English test since before the pandemic started).
2. I feel somewhat underprepared for 10th grade because I know other 9th grade English classes are very hard (according to most of my friends), so I am afraid of how 10th grade will be. However, in this class, I feel I have more freedom to try to improve myself instead of sticking to getting a good grade. I have more leeway to step out of my comfort zone. Everything has a good side and bad side, so this aspect doesn’t have to be resolved. I am very satisfied overall with this approach to teaching. 
3. Though I enjoyed not getting any formal assessment this year, it might still be necessary to assess a student’s knowledge. Pop quizzes would be great.
4. I don’t think there was a “paper” assessment this year. This was one of the most drastic differences from the other English classes I have taken. While I enjoy not having to take a test, I think as stressful as they are, they are important. Even though they just test how well you can take a test, that is what school is partially about.

Now that I have this feedback, I can more directly address these concerns early in my courses next year.

Some students still find traditional grades more motivating. Again, I suspect this is because of how they have been raised. This attitude is compounded by the fact that all of their other teachers still use traditional grades, so when students had to make choices about which work to do, they often chose the other classes. While I do not find that to be a compelling enough reason to return to traditional assessment, I do think some of my students raised valid points about motivation. 

1. Assessments truly are needed as external motivators for students to internalize information. It could be about rhetorical terms, practice multiple choice, etc., and be created in a way that it can only benefit your average if you don’t prefer there being grades. But I do think this sort of pressure is needed, especially at [our school]. I understand your idea of no grades, but it has to be implemented at a younger age and I feel like at this point as juniors people expect to be graded, and when they aren’t given grades and assessments they will take advantage of the opportunity and cheat themselves and you. 
2. I believe that although the grade-less grading policy provided for a stress free environment that in theory should be more conducive to learning, they also provide ample room for students to slack off, procrastinate, and put minimal effort into their work. In the future, even if grades are not taken into account for the quarter average, I think that numerical grades would help students in knowing if they’re on track to deserving an A for the quarter or not, and if they need to put more effort and seek help on their work. 

I definitely have some thinking, planning, and creating to do around my assessment practices. I need to let all of this feedback settle inside of me so that I can process it and move forward with it productively. Because even though I KNOW it would be easier just to return to traditional grades, I also KNOW that doing so would inhibit learning and invite all the grade-grubbing, point-begging behaviors that I despise. Pointless grading is the right practice for me. I will continue to evolve this system—probably for the rest of my career. The results of those efforts will definitely be future blog posts.

For now, I am just going to let all of this percolate in the back of my mind while I read and relax at the beach.