6/30: Wesch and the revitalization of grading policies

In Wesch's video "What Baby George Taught Me About Learning," he describes the experience of watching his child repeatedly fall off the bottom step of their staircase. Inspired by his son's persistence and resilience, Wesch has an epiphany: why not restructure our academic grading system in order to accommodate the different strengths and learning styles of our students? 

Last year at my school, we used a curriculum whose principal metaphor was a mountain. Posters of mountains decorated the walls of our classroom; some teachers went as far as to create stickers of each of their students and move them up the mountain as they completed assignments. In it of itself, the metaphor is wonderful. As Wesch says, why not encourage success? Why not have successful students help the ones who are struggling? 

The problem with putting this metaphor into practice is that is does not serve all students. Students need to see value in climbing the mountain or they aren't going to try to do it. We, as teachers, need to work harder to make content more relevant and important to our students' lives. 

Wesch, in his talk, does not present new ideas. Differentiation is not a new concept for any teacher. Neither is group work. Neither are failing students. Neither is the value of social-emotional skills like curiosity, self-awareness, and growth mindset. Definitely neither is the idea that a disengaged student or a child sleeping in class is about you as a teacher. We constantly adapt our lessons to best fit the individual needs of our kids (wasn't distance learning proof of that?) just as we constantly try to dig deeper into our students' lives to find out what kind of social and emotional help they need. Obviously, our current, inflexible grading policies are not working, but that realization isn't enough of an impetus for change. How can we, as teachers, adapt their assignments so that grading becomes more equitable? How can we differentiate rubrics to allow for a praxis of learning and growth?