Three Ungrading Nuggets.

Ungrading Nugget #1. 

#Ungrading, for me, is a theory. The practice looks very different for each teacher, whether they are teaching k-12 or at a university. {The practice is a privilege for some, as I acknowledge that as a full-timer, I'm allotted more freedom than a part-time teacher.} The practice looks very different depending on discipline, too. So, two English teachers at the same community college might be using the ungrading theory, but their ways of "assessment" vary from:

• their use or non-use of reflections and what those look like (questions asked) and when they are assigned (beginning, middle, end or something in between)
• their use or non-use of grading conferences and what those look like (the prep for students) and when they are conducted (midterm, both midterm and at the end, or just the end)
• their use or non-use of self-assessments and what those look like (declaration quizzes* in the LMS or rubrics or reflections attached to projects) and when they are assigned (with all projects or just some projects, etc.)
• the implementation, hopefully, of more compassionate policies, like flexible deadlines and allowing redos...

Ungrading Nugget #2.

What does Nugget #1 look like in my particular courses? Students complete activities in the LMS or in blogs or on paper and then they use declaration quizzes in the LMS to declare what they have completed. I assign beginning, middle, and end reflections where I ask students to look back on their learning, how ungrading is helping them, and how helpful the feedback from classmates and the teacher have been. 

Speaking to feedback, I use a Feedback Bootcamp (revised from the lovely Dr. Laura Gibbs' online materials) at the start of the semester, so we're all on the same page in giving and receiving feedback regarding their writing in my course. Two types of feedback - nerdy or general - can be requested from me for their larger projects; classmates use the WWW strategy when giving feedback to their classmates on those large projects via an activity called Peer-to-Peer Workshop. Random feedback is left on smaller projects by me, too.

Ungrading Nugget #3: Communicating the Theory and Communicating the Compassion.

Every time I think of a question a student or faculty member might have, I come from the angle where I ask these questions: "Is that [activity or policy] a hurdle to student learning, or is it helpful?" "Is that policy or response compassionate towards students?"

Every time I interact now with students, I am utilizing a much more gentle communication strategy. In the past, I was frustrated when they didn't check the schedule or know that the printers in the computer labs weren't wireless or didn't know how to self-assess... but now I have a Common Responses document where I copy/paste common responses to students that have already been composed with a gentler language than I've used before. Instead of allowing my angst to get the best of me, I have that document always open via Google Docs, and I simply shoot the message to them. This way, I'm less stressed and they receive the information in a timely manner (vs. if I had to rewrite every message).

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*Dr. Laura Gibbs speaks about Declaration Quizzes on her web site.

Link: "(Un)Grading: It Can Be Done In College," by Starr Sackstein