Good morning, all. It’s been a busy summer. The book is progressing along nicely (should be ready by year’s end). I am starting a consulting business (tell you more about it later). And I got a recent No Grade November nudge from Wisconsin principal Jeff Sturdevant.

“I am looking to implement No Grade November at my school in some capacity. My question is from a starting point perspective and process perspective.”

(No Grade November. Eek. Oops. Kinda dropped the ball on NGN).

So, earlier this week, I picked it up again (sorry to anyone I let down), and I owe that to Jeff who was gracious enough to “play catch” with me, as I clarified and extended my own thinking about the challenge I issued way back in February.

Now we are down to 80 days (time flies when the ball drops, sorry). I issued a challenge, but I also pledged support, and Jeff–fortunately–reminded me of that, so in response to his reminder, I set to work. And I wanted to share some of that with you.

Below you will find some planning work I did in preparation for my conversation with Jeff yesterday morning. It is neither perfect nor polished, but it’s progress long overdue. I have also included this link to the working Google Doc from which I copied and pasted the bulk of this post’s content. I have also included a link to No Grade November page on this site.

Hope this helps for any considering NGN in any capacity. Please reach out if I can help. Thank you, Mr. Sturdevant for your help.

Planning for NGN

Participant Levels

No science here. Just floating an idea for what participation might look like.

Level 1: I am interested in participating in NGN, but I am not ready to dive in. I just want to get my feet wet. 

Level 2: I am eager to jump into NGN, but I am not sure if I am ready to dive in too deeply.

Level 3: I have been swimming in this end of the pool for some time, and I am ready to take a deep dive into NGN.

Recommendations and a Requirement

NGN recommends making the focus “Learning about learning,” not “getting rid of grading.”

NGN recommends inviting, not requiring, staff to participate.

NGN requires reflection.

NGN recommends pausing students’ grades.

NGN recommends allowing students to improve paused grades (by various means: late work, retakes, corrections, etc.).

NGN recommends maintaining emphasis on priority standards for the term.

NGN recommends timely and detailed communication with all stakeholders.

NGN recommends adapting plans and resources to find the right fit for your school, classroom, etc.

Possible Paths

Below are some ideas, some “possible paths,” for the “how” of NGN, ranging from level-one entry to level-three and beyond. Regardless the path, there are two key factors to consider as you move ahead with your plans.

One, reflection is a requirement for any approach you take. It’s a must. I would even suggest that if you do not plan to make daily reflection a part of the process, you shouldn’t participate in NGN. Please see “Thoughts on Reflection” (below) for some more ideas around using reflection.

Two, there is no right way or wrong way to do this (with the exception of reflection). There is only your way. Your approach has to fit you. It may be one of the paths below. It may be one you adapt. It may be a combination. It may be none of the paths below. Heck, you may choose a different path for each week of month. The point is, regardless the path, the pursuit is the same: learning about learning without grading. And remember, because we are learning about learning, which involves risk taking and mistake making, the worst and best that will happen is we learn.

That said, the paths below are simply some ideas that have come to my mind as I have tried to support the work of NGN. They are neither polished nor perfect. They are just some proposed paths for those who might need a seed or two to get started. As such they are general summaries which invite adaptation. 

No Count	Most online gradebooks have a “no-count” feature. Here, participants can still “grade” the same as they normally do, but they will set all entries in the grade book as no count. Kids and parents will still see how they would have done with grades, but the entries for this period of time will not impact their “paused grade.” Benefits/Opportunities: Minimal change required. Minimal disruption to the norm. Still utilizes online grade book. Limitations/Challenges: Maintains a close connection to grading, thus limiting the experience.
Report Only	This approach relies on a simplified reporting system which reports completion. The idea here is that it still communicates work/progress without the encumbrance of points and percentages. For example, a super-simple method here might be 1=Complete and 0=Incomplete/Missing. Or 2=Complete, 1=Incomplete, 0=Missing. Lots of possibilities here. Benefits/Opportunities: An intentional step away from grades. Minimal change. Adaptable. Still utilizes online grade book. Limitation/Challenges: Puts emphasis on completion. Must create a reporting system.
Pointless Practice	As the title suggests, no points for practice. Teachers will still provide daily practice opportunities but there will be no points, no record, no report. The idea here is to open the door to discovering the value of practice as a learning step towards better performance, not a means to accumulate points.  Benefits/Opportunities: Allows for greater exploration of learning away from grading. Less record keeping. Limitations/Challenges: Requires “letting go” of convention. Involves “risk” and trust.
Assessment Only	Here the idea is to only report assessments, which becomes a matter of course to the “pointless-practice” approach. It reports performance. Teachers can utilize their existing system, with the grade book set to no-count. Or teachers can create a modified system. Either way, assessments are the focus, which are ideally used then to determine next steps in the learning process. Benefits/Opportunities: Places emphasis on assessments for (as) learning. Allows for use of existing approaches and online grade books. Limitations/Challenges: Traditional views/use of assessments may get in the way.
Self-Assessment	This approach invites kids to self-assess. Ideally, that would include everything–practice and assessments. The goal here is to create a space of ownership where kids come to see themselves as stewards of their learning through having the responsibility of assessing and reporting their own learning. Lots of options here. One possibility could be creating keys, scoring guides, rubrics, etc. for all practice and performance and letting kids self-determine levels of completion and performance.  Benefits/Opportunities: Huge step away from traditional grading practices. Creates ample opportunities to deeply dialog about roles and responsibilities with learning.  Limitations/Challenges: Huge step away from traditional grading practices.
Self-Assessment with Focused Feedback	Here the self-assessment approach includes a self-determined feedback focus. So, kids will not only self-determine completion and performance, but they will also identify a place in their performance where they need feedback.  Benefits/Opportunities: Takes self-assessment to the next level by situating the kids in the driver’s seat of the feedback cycle. Again, creates ample opportunities to deeply dialog about roles and responsibilities with learning.  Limitations/Challenges: Huge step away from traditional grading practices.
Feedback Focus	This approach is about making feedback the focus. No points. No marks. Only feedback as THE responsive means to progress. At its most basic, it invites the kids to do (practice or performance) so teachers can respond with forward feedback (feedback that moves the learner forward in their learning experience). It can be as big or as small as it needs to be; however, it should be tailored for each individual to match where they are in the experience. Many, many options here for exploring the power, purpose, and possibility of feedback. Benefits/Opportunities: Invites innovative approaches to the learning experience. Huge step away from traditional grading practices. Creates ample opportunities to deeply dialog about roles and responsibilities with learning.  Limitations/Challenges: Huge step away from traditional grading practices. Invites innovative approaches to the learning experience.
Pursuit Project	Into the great, wide open. Here the suggestion is to take the project path for the sake of pursuing the process of learning, not just the products of learning. In fact, it may very well be that a product is never completed, just pursued. It might be best if teachers acknowledge the limited time frame and encourage kids to truly learn about learning in their journey. The options are endless here to take the grade-level priority standards and develop a project approach to learning without grades. Really, this is probably a path for those who are already swimming around in the work of de-emphasizing grades, who already have ideas for making this work. Benefits/Opportunities: It’s wide open.   Limitations/Challenges: It’s wide open.

Thoughts on Reflection

Again, this is a must–a commitment. Daily, intentional reflection has to be a part of this process– for all involved. If that’s for the classroom teacher, then it’s him and his students. If that’s for the principal, then it’s for her, her teachers, and their students. All involved have to commit to learning about learning, and reflection is a powerful tool in the learning realm.  That’s the “why.” Here are some thoughts on the “how.”

At its most basic, it can be a daily entry in a reflection journal of sorts in response to the overarching question, “What did I learn about learning today?” 

At its more novel, it can be a journey journal full of explorations, discoveries, etc. from the daily adventure in the gradeless realm of learning. 

So many practical and fanciful options. But, again, if they are going to work, then they have to fit you. As long as the experience is being consistently captured, it’s all good, but…

But capturing is not really enough. We should seek to share our discoveries, too. Here are some ideas.

• Ask a few students to share entries each day. Share your own entries.
• Ask students to write letters to other students, their parents, the principal, the superintendent, the school board about their experiences. It can even be as simple as turning an entry into a letter.
• Have students interview each other.
• Have learning summits on Fridays where everyone brings their journals as primary sources of learning from the expedition. Invite principal, superintendent, and others to participate.
• Have students complete and contribute a chapter of their learning to a classroom book about the NGN experience as a culminating piece.

Many possibilities here. The key is capturing to share.

Okay, but I am a principal, how do I participate? If you are a district/school leader and your teachers are participating, then I think for the month of November, you have to make a daily commitment to connecting with those out in the field. Maybe you visit a class or two each day. Maybe you connect with a teacher or two–or a student or two. And these intentional connections become your reflection. You are learning about learning, too. How cool would it be to take your reflection journal to a Learning Summit in a classroom to share? Or what if you hosted your own Learning Summit with your participating principals, teachers, etc.?

Communication

Communication is key. And I feel like I have a responsibility to support this. So, I have begun (and will continue) to put together “templates” for communicating to different stakeholders. Here are two that are in the works.

This first one I introduced months ago as a general notification of participation. Here’s the link to the post. Dear (Blank)

Dear (Blank), I recently came across an idea on Twitter called No Grade November. It got my attention because in my work with students, I have always wondered–and worried–about grading’s impact on learning in my classroom. And so, when I came across the idea, it called to me, and I became intrigued and inspired to try something new, even if it meant taking a big scary step away from the norm. And that is why I am writing to you. I want to take that step. I want to temporarily take grading off the table so I can learn more about learning. I want to participate in No Grade November. Here’s what it will look like… (insert plan) Sincerely, A Teacher

This second one was done in consideration of how a teacher might introduce NGN to students.

(Teacher intro to Students)All right, kiddos. So, I have a proposal. It’s a little unconventional, maybe even a little crazy, but for the whole month of November, I want to stop grading in here. No grades. No points. No penalties. We will still practice every day, and we will still have performances. We will still be working, but we won’t be working to get a grade; we will be working to learn. Together. It will be different. It will be a little messy. But our focus and purpose will be clear: we are going to learn about learning without grading. We will call it No Grade November, and this is what it’s going to look like.(insert plan)

I will continue to create and share these in the coming weeks. 

Other Thoughts

Make the learning about pursuing. Learning’s never done. We just run out of time. So, don’t put too much emphasis on completing the project. Put the emphasis on capturing the learning. 

Some kids might not do anything. Some kids are already not doing anything. But what if kids who normally do something, do less or do nothing at all? Well, here, then, is a great opportunity for them to think about themselves as learners. 

Assure others, especially the critics, that we’re pausing grading, not learning. There will be learning going on every day in our classrooms. “Please come in and join us as we learn about learning.”

Yes, it will look and feel different. It has to, doesn’t it? If it doesn’t, then why are we doing it? We have to give ourselves permission to fully immerse ourselves in the risk taking and mistake making that learning necessitates. Dare different and brave better. 

Happy Thursday, all.

Do. Reflect. Do Better.