what i see
suggestions
questions
Here is where you observe
No judgement
I prefer point form
Sometimes I do mention things I don't see
This isn't about what you like or don't like
be literal
be descriptive
be metaphorical
I typically phrase suggestions one of two ways
For things they do well, I suggest that they "continue to ..."
For things they could improve on
I suggest that they "consider next time to ..."
Again, I prefer point-form
Here is where I ask insightful questions
to encourage my students to reflect upon their learning
stay away from questions that have one word answers
or have right or wrong answers
The whole idea is to invoke thoughtfulness
applications
you can use this as:
a teacher assessment
student self-assessment
student peer assessment
a teacher's self assessment of an exemplar
a guide for your two-way verbal conversations
or a guide for one-way written comments
here is how i replace grading
here is why we need to abolish grading
passion
do this and you'll get that
learning becomes a chore
you mean we did this for nothing
work
am I smart?
&
why am I smart?
internal
external
difficulty
natural ability
luck
effort
growth mindset
vs
fixed mindset
what am I learning
vs
how well am I doing
good
how do we best help them be good?
gaofen dineng
=
high score but low ability
gaokao
yong zhao
catching up or leading the way
carol dweck
mindset
focus
1. grades
2. comments
3. grades + comments
ego
vs 
task
ruth butler
Push
how motivated are you?

vs

how are you motivated?
lazy
or 
rational
why waste my time proving how good I am over and over again, when I could be getting better.
risk aversion
limits pushing
serve
grades breed selfishness
artifical competition
subconscious curve
neighbours are 
competitors
collaborative inequalities
credit inequality
learning inequality
collaboration > competition
ideas
imagination
&
creativity
REproduce
or
produce
when i get 80%, I stop
pursuit of intellectual exploration
outperforms
distraction of achieving good grades
learned helplessness
superficial
and
shallow
persist
mistakes
&
failures
you will never create
something new if you
are not prepared to be
wrong
something that should
have never happened

or

something to learn from
high achievers persist towards
high grades
low achievers persist towards avoiding low grades
avoid
quit
Rather than do things
to kids, I work with them.
Students should experience their
successes and failures not as 
reward and punishment but as 
information
john wooden
10 of 12
.800
88-0
3 years
2,326
6.6
6.9
80
will i get an A?
rubrics
Part I: Abolish Grading
Quitting smoking
Part II: Replace Grading
www.joebower.org
Grading without grading
averaging averages
1.collect stuff - portfolio - performance - electronic
2.professional judgement - observe
3.how are kids learning? ask them!
always watching & listening
grading without grading
what we see everyday > how they test
eerily accurate
Gather & Share
never need tests for gathering

never need grades for sharing
zyhuanguan
mitakes are our friends