grading panacea / grading Pangea

Blog-neighbor The Science Goddess recently gave a talk on standards-based grading at the National Science Teachers of America conference. It was well-attended, which surprised her.

Instead, I had well over 100 people crammed into the room---sitting in the aisles, up at the presentation table and standing in the doorway straining to listen. I'm not sure how many others turned away when they saw the throng...and I know the fire marshal wasn't poking around because the number of people was well over the posted room occupancy. Wowser.

The experience was very validating---not so much for me personally as for the topic itself. Grading has arrived. When I talked to a few of the attendees about their "hardcore" attitude of staying to the end, they said that this was an area of need for them and I was the only one on the schedule talking about it. Others who chose to stay after the presentation to talk to me mentioned that they were trying to do some of these things at their schools---but it was a lonesome experience. It is indeed hard to implement something like this on your own. I got asked about presenting at other schools. Would I come? Would I talk to more than just science teachers? Would I answer the phone/e-mail if there were questions? Of course. But how sad is that people are all out there struggling on their own little islands of grading.

At my school, a miniature book club has met a couple times to discuss progressive grading practices. I get the same sense that TSG does: right now, standards-based grading is an archipelago in a vast, old-school ocean. But as teachers and principals get excited about it, and as word keeps spreading, within a decade I think we'll see a continent born.

the future of science in the Olympia School District

Is up to you:

A community roundtable forum Monday will help shape what science instruction will look like in the Olympia School District in the future.

Curriculum director Debbi Hardy said the discussion will cover more ground than what's covered in the district's K-12 science.

The forum won't just focus on the science curriculum or the new science standards that are being developed by the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction. It will discuss the way that science is taught, she said.

"This conversation Monday night is a bigger conversation" than just curriculum, Hardy said. "The purpose of this forum is to talk about what our community really values about science and science education. To have the kind of dialogue that will help us as we look at our whole system."

The event runs from 6:30 to 8:30 at the Olympia High School commons, Monday, October 6th.

My two cents: science is fun, and the pace of discovery and change in various disciplines has ratcheted up in recent decades. All teachers should cross-pollinate a little science lovin' into all content areas.