Professional Resources for Current Projects
Teaching In Unprecedented Times
Professional Resources for Teaching Controversial Topics
In a time of multiple and overlapping crises-- the Covid 19 pandemic, a national reckoning on race and injustice, political polarization, and threats to voting rights and access-- how will you teach about current events (including the election) in this environment? Here you will find the professional resources to complete the task!
Click above image for School Board policy
External Opportunities & Resources
General Resources
Resources from Facing History
- Contracting for Remote Learning
-
Ingroup Bias; Confirmation Bias
Resources from Choices Program : Brown University
Resources from Teaching Tolerance
Webinars
- November 4: VASCD - Hitting for Contact: How to Lead Meaningful Race Conversations in the Classroom
- November 7: Brown Univ. - The Syrian Civil War
- November 9: NCSS - A Movement, Not a Moment: How to Go Beyond Read Alouds to Create An Antiracist Elementary Classrooms
- November 12: Facing History - After the Election: What's Next for US Democracy?
- November 17: Brown Univ. - The Civil War & the Meaning of Liberty
Conference & Courses
Internal Opportunities & Resources
Teaching in Unpredictable Times (Webinar & Follow-up Sessions)
Register and participate in this on demand webinar independently and then come together to debrief and discuss with your colleagues. Join Facing History and Ourselves to explore approaches to teaching the election and current events that focus on the history of voting, the health of our democracy the factors that shape our civic decision-making, the power of youth agency and voice. The workshop will feature strategies to foster civil and democratic discourse in your classrooms and share ideas to build media literacy.
More to Come November 2020!
Fostering Civil Discourse with Current Events (live, synchronous) - Teaching current events can be challenging: the news cycle moves quickly, the issues can spark strong feelings, and classroom time is tight. Yet engaging with current events is an essential part of educating young people to be informed and humane participants in a democracy. This workshop will show how to use Facing History and Ourselves resources to foster thoughtful classroom conversations and build your students’ capacities for critical thinking, emotional engagement, ethical reflection, and civic agency.
Contracting for Brave and Save Spaces in Our Classrooms (live, synchronous) - Introducing your students to sensitive subjects such as historical and contemporary antisemitism requires a supportive and reflective learning environment. In this workshop, Facing History will model pedagogical approaches and tools that are central to creating such a classroom community. You will leave with concrete strategies you can use to engage your class when discussing cases of antisemitism and racism, as well as other difficult issues.
Teaching Tolerance Guide: Let's Talk!
As you may know, we have been facilitating faculty conversations to promote civic discourse these last two weeks. We have found many resource gems in our process! We wanted to distribute these particular resources widely for teachers and other educators who are interested in having courageous conversations in their classrooms before and after the elections. Having skillfully-facilitated discussions around these significant issues allow for diverse perspectives to be heard and hold the individual safely throughout. (Click image below for guide)
Grading Practices
Professional Learning Resources for Grading Practices
Scroll past table for brief overview of three pillars of grading policy
|
Author |
Title with Link Source (Year), Description |
Accurate |
Supportive |
Consistent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Feldman |
Accurate and Equitable Grading National School Boards Association (2020) Very brief high-level overview. “Former district administrator Joe Feldman explains how traditional grading systems perpetuate inequities while also offering school board leaders practical tips to move towards more equitable grading processes.” |
Supportive | ||
|
Feldman |
EdCast Grading for Equity Harvard (2019) Podcast interview (transcript included) with Joe Feldman. “Encouraging teachers to reassess their grading practices and make the adjustments that can guide their students toward academic success.” |
Accurate |
Supportive |
Consistent |
|
Feldman |
Chapter 1 Grading for Equity Corwin (2018) First chapter of the Grading for Equity book. Gives overview, history and charge for grading for equity. |
Accurate |
Supportive |
Consistent |
|
Feldman |
Webinar Grading for Equity Corwin (2018) 1 hour recorded webinar covers the history of grading and its impact on teaching and learning as well as more equitable grading practices. “Joe Feldman describes how grading practices that are accurate, bias-resistant, and motivational can reduce those gaps, improve learning for all students, minimize grade inflation, and become a lever for creating stronger teacher-student relationships and more caring classrooms.” |
Accurate |
Supportive |
Consistent |
|
Douglas Reeves, Lee Ann Jung, and Ken O’Connor |
What’s Worth Fighting Against in Grading Educational Leadership (2017) Four common grading practices can hurt students and erode instructional culture. |
Accurate |
||
|
Anthony Miller |
Do No Harm: Flexible and Smart Grading Practices Edutopia (2016) Describes strategies to help address concerns around redoes, zeroes, not grading homework, and more |
Supportive |
||
|
Kristina Doubet and Eric Carbaugh |
The “Economics” of Grading ASCD (2020) Five ways to improve communication - and symmetry - in performance-based classrooms. |
Supportive |
||
|
Sarah McKibben interview with Cornelius Minor |
Antiracist Grading Starts with You ASCD (2020) “Pernicious grading practices start out as pernicious pedagogy. I cannot separate grading practices from pedagogy, and I cannot separate pedagogy from the history of classism, sexism, racism, and ableism in the United States.” |
Supportive |
||
|
Bryan Goodwin and Kris Rouleau |
Grading to Encourage Relearning ACSD (2020) Let’s use grading practices that reflect the science of learning. |
Supportive |
||
|
Lee Ann Jung |
Does this Count? ASCD (2020) “How do we move toward the goal of all students’ being engaged in learning, giving effort, and being conscientious about performance and deadlines without attaching grades to those behaviors? This is the million-dollar question for improving grading practices.” |
Accurate |
Supportive |
Three Pillars of Grading & Assessments
Accurate:
- Correctly describe student achievement, knowledge, and skill proficiency demonstrated in the classroom
- Align to standards for student learning
- Be separated from work habits
- Be impartial and fair, not influenced by a teacher's implicit bias or reflective of a student's environment
- Be impartial and fair, not influenced by a teacher's implicit bias or reflective of a student's environment
- Utilize mathematically sound calculations
- All grades will be unweighted, using a 4.0 scale
Consistent
- Be consistent across teams, departments, and schools
In Support of Student Learning
- Reflect individual differences and rates of learning
- Address the unique needs of special populations of students
- Make adjustments for transitional periods (including elementary to middle and middle to high)
- Encourage students to take an active role in setting goals and assessing programs
- Foster a positive self-image for the student
- Promote practices that encourage continuous engagement in learning
- Provide parents and students ongoing, credible, and useful feedback in a timely manner