CHANGEd: What if we really utilized learning portfolios? 60-60-60 #30

My amazing mother keeps a HUGE Tupperware container full of stuff that I made in my childhood. Oh…your mother does that too? What if we really utilized learning portfolios to do the same in schools? I can imagine using the wonders of technology to archive and catalog various artifacts of learning as students travel through [...]

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CHANGEd: What if we crowd sourced assessment? 60-60-60 #29

Those who know me well understand that I think more school curriculum should be geared toward grand challenges and innovation opportunities. With such project-based learning comes the need for “authentic assessment with real-world audiences.” What if we crowd sourced assessment? What if more student work was published in 2.0 ways so that the work could [...]

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CHANGEd: What if students self-assessed more and initiated progress reporting? 60-60-60 #28

I know what it’s like to be “talked around.” You know, when others discuss your strengths and/or shortcomings, but they leave you out of the conversation…the one who needs to be involved the most is more “third party.” When school progress reports initiate with adult-to-adult conversation, I wonder if we are talking around our students. [...]

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CHANGEd: What if we allowed more immediate 2nd chances? 60-60-60 #27

At schools around the country, conversations are happening about summer study and remediation. Student fails a course…send ‘em to summer school. Many educators seem not to worry over such remedy. Yet, the same many often bristle at second-chance assignments or assessments. What if we allowed more immediate second chances? What if we tactically intervened instead [...]

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CHANGEd: What if we buried the zero? 60-60-60 #26

Zeroes in school grading are interesting practices. When schools shifted from letter grading (A-B-C-D-E/F) to number grading with percentages, an interesting thing happened statistically because of misalignment of the categorical stages. A zero in an average can have a disastrous effect. What’s more, how exactly does a zero communicate to youth the powerful lessons of [...]

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