Just the facts: how I do grades (not, kinda, not really) and assessment fall 2022 edition

I saw this the and thought it's a great way to start me sharing about how I do grades and assessment, since we're at the end of the semester and maybe people are looking for ideas for next semester.

I teach at a roughly 2100 student small liberal arts college/historically Black college/university. I teach English, mostly composition classes, with a 4/4 load, often teaching an overload of 5, with classes typically of 30-40 students. Our classes are face to face, we sometimes have one online class. These usually have higher caps (40, 45). My general education classes generally have four modules, four major writing assignments, and a final portfolio instead of an exam. 

• In my GE classes we do almost all the work in class. We have smaller practice assignments in class that are prep for or pieces of larger assignments. We have workshop days in the computer lab for working on larger projects. I do this work in class because I believe students need time to work when there is help available, when they can ask questions. I've taught students how to take screenshots, insert or embed videos, change margins, but I've also sat down and read drafts, offered feedback, asked questions.
• If the majority of students haven't done the reading then that's what we do in class, with discussion turning into guided notes and then them discussing in groups as they finish.
• I rarely lecture, most of my classes are seminar/discussion based, and I love those classes but I also love these workshop days. Because these one on ones, these chances to read drafts, listen to conversations, these are such a great opportunity in a classroom and I think far too few make space for it so desperate are we for coverage, to fill the time, be busy, be "rigorous." But sometimes, often writers need to time to just sit, and think, and draft, and bounce ideas off someone.

At the end of each module a major assignment is due, in Composition the modules are designed around genres, so they have an argumentative, or narrative piece due. They choose what they want to write on, they have to figure out who the audience is, and how to write/create for that audience.

• For the module on rhetorical analysis they had to choose a social issue, watch a documentary to use as a source, write a memo that explained the history of the solution and suggest solutions, they also had to choose someone to write it to who could actually do something about it.
• We watched 13th in class in case they didn't have time to watch something on their own or have access and we talked about all the issues covered in it they could use.
• For their module on informational writing Composition I students created a PowerPoint for a specific audience of students, chose a Black North Carolinian as a topic, and created a presentation. Composition II students wrote a research paper, either on a Black North Carolinian or if they had a paper due for another class, wrote that paper.
• We talked about how layout, images, format should complement the information
• We talked about how you cite in a presentation or paper is different
• We talked about why we cite, the purpose
• They evaluated sources, learned to interact with them
• For narratives they picked what they wanted from the narrative choice board

They get used to be answering questions with "well what do you think?" and "as long as it has to be to do what was asked." While we read a lot of models in class, and they often research their own examples to use, we talk about what genres, formats should include and why generally, and have one on one conversations about what their work should do specifically but there are no rubrics, no checklists to follow. Because everyone chooses their own topics everyone's work is different.

I will always read drafts, and resubmissions, mainly because as a huge fan of Don Murray, I tell them over and over that the real learning and work happens in revision. The ones that do always have an "a-ha" moment of, "you were right!" Not everyone does, a lot of students' schedules barely have time to do the assignment a first time let alone drafts and drafts.

Students can grade conference with me in person on the day assigned or email me their work and reflection. They always get feedback. Part of their reflection is to argue for what grade they think the assignment earns. I rarely push back on the grade. Our scale is a C meets the minimum requirements, a B shows revisions, and an A goes above and beyond and I often give them the quote of "I know it when I see it." If they argue for a grade higher than I see, I ask them how they revised, or how they went above and beyond. I rarely have to take it farther than that.

Next semester I've keeping the module assignments but only providing feedback, no grades.

I'm keeping the final portfolio, I really like it, but after each module we're going to spend time on it versus at the end. I also have now, based on this year, a clear list of lessons, skills, to make sure I teach more explicitly next year.

In the past with my upper level English classes I've done a close reading midterm paper, a presentation on a topic of their choosing, and a final paper, with the idea that each is a piece of the final paper. I've also done just a final portfolio of "what did you learn this semester?" I won't really be teaching anymore upper level English classes so I'm focusing on my GE classes, but I mention it because I've used the same grade conferencing, reflection, no or limited or self-determined grade approaches at all levels and had success. The students like it, the flexibility helps them focus on learning and gives them help for their other classes. It takes some a bit, mainly because I think they're waiting for the catch, but they figure out pretty quick there is none.

I usually do check in surveys weeks 4, 8, 12, next year since they ask us to provide progress report and midterm grades I'm going to have them do reflections in weeks 3, 7, 12, on how they're doing in class, have them present evidence for the grade I should post. They'll do something similar for the end of class.

This allows me to totally separate grade reporting from work.

The only class I haven't figured out to do this in is my online World Literature class. Blackboard Ultra got rid of the complete/incomplete for turning in assignments, it's a pain to do it a different way, but I'm still thinking through this.

I do not have an attendance policy. I report attendance in the system my university requires, I keep sign in sheets for each class, but there is no penalty. I tell students they are adults, I trust them to make the decisions they need to, that they will see coming to class is important, but I understand if they have to prioritize other things.

There are no deadlines, no late work. I do set one hard deadline about a week or so before the end of class for turning in any missing work from the semester, mainly so they can have an end point to stop and focus on other things.

I do not get an avalanche of work at this time, which is always the grading bogeyman people bring up. I get a mix of students who come to office hours to grade conference in person or do it in class on workshop days, and students who email with reflections. It's not much. For example, the deadline is today, yesterday I read and gave feedback to everything in my inbox in about an hour. Today because their narratives were also due, it took me a little longer, but that was during class when I was also doing in person conferences as they were ready. Any time, but especially here in the Apocalypse Times this has allowed students to recover from weeks of illness, mental health issues, family emergencies, tragedies. There is help if they need it, there is no judgment, whether or not they end up being able to make things up.

At the beginning of the semester they annotate the syllabus and policies, at the end of the semester they have a general reflection but the last class is always a post-mortem, where I ask questions, ask them to look at the syllabus and policies again, knowing what they know now, what would they do? Need? Ask for? I ask specific questions about things I noticed, tell them about changes I plan on making based on their answers. It's a great day.

But back to "just the facts":

• I can tell you that I only grade during office hours, when at work.
• I do not work, or check work email nights or weekends or breaks.
• I do set aside Sundays for lesson planning for the week mainly because I like having the whole week done, the quite time to plan, but it also means when I'm in my office, I am answering student emails, reading drafts, or on Twitter. I am available to my students.

I have less work now with this sort of design and approach than I ever had before. And the work is better. Students learn more. They are more engaged. It's more fun to read their work.

I know it can be scary to try new things, to experiment. But I want to encourage anyone and everyone to jump in with both feet and do it.

End of Semester Reflection: Bad Data/No Data

I have a pattern every semester, I sit down with my notebook, think of all the issues I've encountered in my classes this semester, brainstorm causes, think of what students have said, then I reflect on what to do better, different, next semester. I never teach the same content in a class, so usually these reflections focus on policies, approaches, types of assignments. I like to have a clear idea of what I want to do next semester so I can ask students during our class post-mortem specific questions based on what I noticed. I then combine this information with what the students say in their final class reflections.

We have 2-3 class periods left, that's it, the semester is essentially done. So this past week I started my normal reflection and I realized that it's hard this semester because there is no good data.

Last week, and for the last few weeks, I've had sometimes as few as 4 students in my class, sometimes 17, out of a class of 30 or 40. Now, are they not coming because they're stressed in their other classes and focusing on those knowing that my class has grace? Are they sick? Are they just overwhelmed? I don't know. I email students, I have check in surveys ever four weeks and follow up with issues they bring up, I send general class emails about how to finish class even if you've been struggling. I've let students opt-in to submitting their final portfolio and having that be the basis for their grade. But it's mostly radio silence. 

The students showing up now, doing the work, are the ones that honestly would do well in any class. I worry that the students not coming, not working, are the ones that need it the most and I don't have enought information to know what to do or not do to help more. I worry that first generation students or students without a strong academic foundation don't know what skills they need, or the importance of attending class and find themselves in a hole that they don't know how to get out of even with offers of help.

In pandemic teaching there's just not enough data. There are too many variables. In general there is just too much going on, too much noise. Even the lip service supports seem to have disappeared as everyone just goes back to normal. Students are expected to keep going, do a normal work load, with no help, no support, barely even an acknowledgement of everything going on.

My class policies aren't punitive, there's no attendance policy, no deadlines, no penalty for work. Students have until Tuesday to make up any missing work from the semester, and will know where they stand before turning in their final portfolios due final exam week. My class content is interesting, students tell me they like it, but there's just nothing left at this point.

The fact is we're still in the middle of a global pandemic. We're still wearing masks. We're not social distancing. Students don't have as many only classes as options, and I think the wear and tear of having to come to class every day is proving to be a real strain. On top of all this trauma is cumulative, we're all carrying not just the weight of today but the weight of the last twenty months. All the loss, the grief, the anger. People are still getting sick. People are dealing with the long terms effects of Covid and the world being on fire. People are coping with the realities of having just about every structure and institution fail them in epic ways. It's a ridiculous thing to try and get up every day and function like anything is normal.

I admit I had a minute when I thought- well they're going to other classes, I'm going to get dinged for my DFW rate, maybe students NEED the structure of attendance policies and late work penalties and deadlines. Then I realized I hated all that, and it was ableist, and awful, and if anything students need me to double down on centering them and their needs, not punish them for the situation we continue to find ourselves in. And students have told me how much the policies help.

So I'm doubling down on my students. I'm keeping my no attendance, no late work penalities, no deadlines. I am going to add some language to help them see/explain why attending is so important, HOW the classwork helps them, be more explicit. But I'm going back to total ungrading. In all classes (I teach almost all GE now). I may get dinged on my DFW rates. I may still have five students in class at the end of next semester. But I'll know it won't be because I didn't support them. I'll know I did everything I could to build a structure of support. I rather be the class that gives than be the class that breaks them.

I can only do what I can with the information I have. And I don't have a lot. Some students have shared what they're going through but I teach them to advocate for themselves and teach them they don't have to share personal details or information just to be treated like a human being. I wish I had more information. I wish it was more of the norm that teachers and professors formed PLCs that met regularly and talked about their attendance, their policies, how students are doing, what trends we're seeing, what we can do. But education in higher ed seems very guarded about these conversations. People get very prickly about talking about what things are going on as though they'll be judged. SOme universities have robust centers for teaching and learning or environments where these conversations happen. But I know that in too many places we're meeting in committees on Zoom regularly but we're not talking about what is going on with our classes, sharing information, brainstorming ideas, using research to see what we can do to help. Committee meetings are rarely the conversations we need, creating action items, checking back in, reevaluating. They are almost always meetings that could have just been an email. They're information dumps.

So one thing I'm going to focus on next semester is using check ins to ask for more detailed information, to craft reflections where students can think about what's impacting them and their work. I want to codify some of my policies, explain more, and lean into the freedom for students to choose topics, use class to explore, do work that is meaningful to them.