Been thinking a lot about grades again. Maybe it’s due to my stroll down memory lane as I work through old 180 posts for the book (Wow. What a journey. Why did I write so many posts?). Maybe it’s due to the end of semester being right around the corner (time for kids to write their stories). Maybe it’s due to grades being the antithesis of learning (Really, it’s that I think about learning a lot and grading comes along for the ride, an ever-annoying tag-along) . Whatever the reason, grades occupy space–too much space–in my mind.

And so, I reflect. About my do’s as I seek my do-better’s. This weekend, such a reflection yielded these tweets.

I believe kids are learning with or without us. The trick, the art, is finding ways to create opportunities that bring us together to create the “with.” But that may mean we have to venture off the traditional path, for one path, which is often the academic, does not fit all. And it seems for those whom it fits the least (the at-risk kiddos) we resolve to remediate them in the one realm that doesn’t suit them–may never suit them: academics.

How can I help kids find value in ELA beyond the academic? And if that value strays beyond, how far can we let it stray? I believe, earnestly, that there is value beyond the academic when it comes to what ELA should really be about–communication (accessing and delivering information). In a nutshell, for time is short this morning, each kid can learn something of value from their experiences with ELA. That’s not the problem. The problem is when we try to grade it, which inevitably makes the academic lens the “look-through.” I think, though, we need to look beyond. And to that end we need to see each, which leads to my wonders about my next “better.”

It is not fully-formed–it’s just a seed at this point. And I have no time to explain it, but my early thinking on this–to address the grading dilemma–is that I make a C the lowest possible grade in my class in an effort to “C” each in their learning experience, to provide a path of possibility.

I will share more thinking in the coming days. Out of time. Sorry.

Happy Tuesday, all.

Do. Reflect. Do Better.