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What an unconference is not

Unconferences, by their very nature, are changing and unorganized at the systemic level. Meaning, there is no definitive standard by which something can be called unconference. There has been a commercial educational company that has been setting up a business and calling it an unconference that really rubs me the wrong way. I have [...]

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The Grading and Assessment Conundrum

This past weekend, I had the honor of meeting Mary-Beth Hertz at #ntcamp. While there, we had a session on grading and she has written a thoughtful follow-up post that fits in well with the summer series on assessment. Her post is title, “The Grading and Assessment Conundrum.” Here is an excerpt from her [...]

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Reflections on #ntcamp

I got home from a great day at New Teacher Camp, which ironically was mostly veteran teachers, about an hour ago and would like to get some thoughts out while the experience is still fresh in my mind.

First off, thanks to Andy Marcinek, Kristen Swanson, Gerald Aungst, and Rich Kiker for setting up and [...]

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Joe Bower’s Abolish Grading Movement

Joe Bower is a very passionate person. He believes whole-heartedly in getting rid of grades. I do too, but it has taken me longer than Joe to get there. This is a guest post written for his blog, For the Love of Learning. He is trying to get stories of people who have gotten [...]

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Summer Guest Blogging Series: Assessment Practices

A few months ago, I invited about a dozen people to write guest posts on this blog on the topic of practical methods to inspire change. I was so impressed by the level of writing and insight, that I have been wanting to do it again ever since. Lately, there has been a lot [...]

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Inspiring Students Without Grades

When I talk with other teachers about getting rid of grades, there number one fear is about not being able to get the students to actually do or care about the work. I know we have all been entrenched in the system of schooling for most of our lives, but when we reflectively look [...]

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Facebook Proposal

I was just asked to put together a proposal for the Board of Education and the superintendent on why the school should have a presence on Facebook. What do you think? Is there anything you would add or change? Thanks for the help.

Objective: To present a case outlining reasons that Frelinghusen Middle School should [...]

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Why You Should Attend #ntcamp

This Saturday, I am travelling about 2 hours to spend my day off at the Boys’ Latin Charter School in Philadelphia at an education conference. Sounds boring, right? Well, if that is your first thought, you have never been to a really good unconference. An unconference is generally where anyone can come for free [...]

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What Should Grades Look Like?

A 4:06 this morning, I received a great comment on my syllabus from Alfonso Gonzelez (@educatoral) that I felt merited a longer response than would fit as a comment. The comment was in reference to what my grades will actually look like since I will be using standards-based grading next year. Here is his [...]

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Information Technology Syllabus

After my principal told me I could come up with my own curriculum to submit for her approval, I decided to go ahead and spend much of today working on my syllabus for 6th grade information technology. It includes the scope of the course, an explanation of standards based grading, and expectations of both [...]

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