Sensing my faltering, waning energy and effort from yesterday’s post, friend and colleague Dr. Chris Valeo, a professor of English at Eastern Washington University, threw me a lifeline, suggesting that my readers could help by sending some questions my way.

“Good morning, Sy! Would it help to have questions/wonderings from your reading faithful as you start to reflect in a wrap-up-this-year kind of way? It wouldn’t mean that you had to answer all — or any! It would be more that all of us who have been benefiting from the public thinking you’ve been doing could share a thought or two that might offer inspiration or momentum.”

I readily jumped at the opportunity, encouraging her to send some wonderings/questions. She did. Here’s one that caught my attention this morning.

“Do you see the past three years as part of one arc or as three separate efforts to innovate?”

Though each year has been a distinct journey, they all stem from the same place. So, with that, I would have to offer that they are all indeed part of one arc: giving students ownership of their learning.

Year One

Give ’em all an A. And I did. As my faithful know–as you know, Chris–I literally handed a wooden A to each kid as they walked through the door on day one. I made a 150 of them that summer. I wanted the gesture to be symbolic as I told them they had an A for the entire year. No matter what. At the end of each term, regardless of what they did or didn’t do, they would find an A on their transcripts.

The idea was to take grades off the table, so we could focus on learning, on learners. And we did. It remains the most authentic year I have ever experienced as a teacher. But despite the authentic learning experiences we created, I changed my approach the next year.

Year Two

Select-and-Support. For a number of my kids, the give-’em-an-A approach was a leap too far. It was so different from what they were used to, and I felt that I had heaped too much ownership on their shoulders, so I sought a middle ground. I still wanted ownership to be the focus, but I wanted to provide an easier transition into ownership. So, after making some connections via Twitter with other teachers around the world who were experimenting with taking grading off the table, I devised a select-and-support approach. Basically, the kids would come to the table at the end of the term with a self-selected grade and evidence to support it.

This approach seemed to make the transition easier for kids. Looking back, I’m not sure it created the same level of ownership as the previous year, but it still de-emphasized grading and thus more greatly emphasized learning.

Of course, in year two, I was also trying to create an easier transition for fellow teachers who were interested in what I was doing but were not ready or willing to leap so far as to give all kids an A. But they felt they could rally around the select-and-support approach, and they did. Jenna Tamura and Madeline Alderete, my grade-level partners, made the jump. I was not alone. And this was of significance going into year two, for year one was a lonely venture.

Year Three

Something’s gotta change. Year three began much the same as year two with select-and-support. I liked the approach well enough to continue it this year, but if I am honest, I began to fall out of love with it by mid-year. Oh, I still like the ownership it creates for kids, but I felt like something was still holding them back. They weren’t as invested as I’d like to them to be, and I began to feel tuggings from year one, as I remembered the feeling of kids’ having genuine ownership of their learning. And I had an aha moment.

It was not necessarily a new revelation, for it had been lingering for some time. It was more that the idea had been lying dormant, waiting for the right conditions to come out into the open. Recently, I wrote about my revelation of going with a “feedback-only” classroom next year in my post, “Chasing Better: Dreams of a Feedback-Only Classroom” (http://www.letschangeeducation.com/chasing-better-dreams-of-a-feedback-only-classroom/).

As I wrote in the post, critiquing my “performance-learning” approach, numbers were still getting in the way of student ownership, still getting in the way of learning. So, I have decided to focus on feedback only next year. I have continued to ponder and process how this will all work, and I am pleased with what I have come up with, but I am not ready to reveal it all yet. I will do so this summer as I begin to set the stage for year four in the Project 180 classroom.

Points Converge

So, yes, one arc, Chris. All things led to here, where I think I wanted to be, where I think I jumped in three years ago, but I did not have the knowledge to keep it afloat. Funny how I keep living the circle, running the cycle, going back to where I started. But I think that’s how it has to be. I think that’s learning. I think that’s the embodiment of my mantra: Do. Reflect. Do Better. The wheels keep turnin’.

Thank you, Chris. Thank you for helping this old guy find some momentum as he limps towards the finish line. Thank you.

Today’s Trail

Along today’s trail we will experience…

…connecting through Smiles and Frowns.

…growing as writers.

…reflecting in our Journey Journals.

…hearing a Sappy Sy Rhyme.

Happy Wednesday, all. If any other readers out there want to send some wonderings/questions my way, I’d appreciate it. You can comment here or send me an email: montesyrie@gmail.com.

Do. Reflect. Do Better.