How to Go Gradeless -- Assessment That Makes Learning Visible "What's my grade? What's it worth? Is there extra credit? Is this for a mark?" It's time to shift the conversation and make learning visible. Now, you can easily stop reducing students to a number, letter, or any label that misrepresents learning. Now, you can help children see the value in every single assignment. Today, you can make assessment a rich, ongoing conversation that inspires learning for the sake of learning, rather than as a punishment or a reward. All you have to do is go gradeless. Throw out your grade book tomorrow! In Hacking Assessment: 10 Ways to Go Gradeless in a Traditional Grades School, award-winning teacher and world-renowned formative assessment expert Starr Sackstein unravels one of education's oldest mysteries: how to assess learning without grades -- even in a school that uses numbers, letters, GPAs, and report cards. While many educators can only muse about the possibility of a world without grades, teachers like Sackstein are reimagining education. In this unique, eagerly-anticipated book, Sackstein shows you exactly how to create a remarkable no-grades classroom like hers, a vibrant place where students grow, share, thrive, and become independent learners who never ask, "What's this worth?" Learn what formative assessment really looks like. Summative assessment is typically an end-of-unit exam or standardized test, but what is formative assessment? Many teachers struggle with the concept. Hacking Assessment not only explains what formative assessment is, it provides blueprints for implementation and examples from educators around the world, who use this strategy successfully every day. Read It and You Can Take These Actions Immediately: <ul>
<li>Shift everyone's mindset away from grades</li> <li>Track student progress without a grade book</li> <li>Communicate learning to all stakeholders in real time</li> <li>
Maximize time while providing meaningful feedback</li> <li>Teach students to reflect and"self-grade"</li> <li>Deliver feedback in a digital world</li> <li>Create cloud-based learning archives</li> <li>
Inspire Students to share their work openly</li> </ul>
This is not your average assessment book Hacking Assessment won't bore you with outdated research or unrealistic strategies. In her captivating, conversational style, Sackstein provides practical ideas woven into a user-friendly success guide with actionable steps for creating an amazing conversation about learning that does not require a traditional grade. Each chapter is neatly wrapped in this simple Hack Learning Series formula: <ul>
<li>The Problem (an assessment issue that plagues education)</li> <li>The Hack (a ridiculously easy solution that you've likely never considered)</li> <li>What You Can Do Tomorrow (no waiting necessary)</li> <li>Blueprint for Full Implementation (a step-by-step action plan for capacity building)</li> <li>The Hack in Action (yes, someone has actually done this)</li> </ul>
Teachers around the world are going gradeless, and you can too Scroll up and click the Add to cart button; read Hacking Assessment now, and go gradeless tomorrow.

Hacking Assessment: 10 Ways to Go Gradeless in a Traditional Grades School (Hack Learning Series)

Education & Teaching

Sackstein, Starr

Schools & Teaching

Times 10 Publications

What happens when students actually choose to learn outside the classroom?
They become independent, lifelong learners, who never need to be told: "do your work." 
It's easy when you say Goodbye to traditional homework
The research is done, the results are in, the debate is over. Kids hate homework, most parents hate homework, and many teachers only assign homework because administrators say it's school policy. Now, traditional homework is being hacked. Learning outside the classroom is being reimagined, and student engagement is better than ever.
A new vision of out-of-school learning
World-renowned author/educator Starr Sackstein has changed how teachers around the world look at traditional grades. Now she's teaming with veteran educator, curriculum director, and national presenter Connie Hamilton to bring you 10 powerful strategies for teachers and parents that promise to inspire independent learning at home, without punishments or low grades.
In Hacking Homework, Sackstein and Hamilton show you how to:
<ul>
<li>Work around the policies and Break Up With Daily Homework</li>
<li>
Teach Organization and Responsibility in Class so it translates to home</li>
<li>Ramp up accountability and time management skills</li>
<li>
Establish positive relationships to motivate learning</li>
<li>Customize Assignments to Meet Student Needs</li>
<li>
Be flexible with timelines</li>
<li>Encourage Students to Play, so they'll want to work</li>
<li>
Support innovation and creativity</li>
<li>Spark Curiosity Before the Lesson</li>
<li>
Make connections that generate interest in learning outside the classroom</li>
<li>Use the Digital Playground and harness social media for learning</li>
<li>
Amplify Student Voice and Incorporate choice in how kids learn at home</li>
<li>Team Up With Families and model instructional strategies for parents</li>
<li>
Display Growth and empower students to track their improvement and display their progress</li>
</ul>
Expert educators love Hacking Homework
"Starr Sackstein and Connie Hamilton have assembled a book full of great answers to the question, 'How can we make homework engaging and meaningful?'" -Doug Fisher &amp; Nancy Frey, authors/presenters
"I hope this book finds its way into the professional library of every classroom teacher and that it is also read carefully by administrators, policymakers and parents." -Ken O'Connor, author/presenter
Are you ready to say Goodbye to traditional homework? Start Hacking Homework today.

Hacking Homework: 10 Strategies That Inspire Learning Outside the Classroom (Hack Learning Series)

Hamilton, Connie

Educators, you can continue to make an impact after you're ready to leave the classroom! This handy, comprehensive resource will help you explore alternative career paths in education that will still allow you to use the skillsets and unique qualifications you developed as a teacher or leader.Bestselling author Starr Sackstein begins by helping you decide whether you want to move into another position or leave altogether. She then shows you how to seek opportunities, take risks, network, and prepare for interviews. Next, she presents a wide variety of career pathways for educators, including school and district-based options, consulting work, EdTech opportunities, publishing jobs, higher education, and more!Starr also answers frequently asked questions such as how much you should charge and whether you need additional degrees. Throughout, there are fascinating case studies highlighting people who have left to do alternate jobs and their top takeaways. An accompanying video series offers even more advice from a wide variety of educators who have switched roles. With this helpful guide, you'll feel empowered to courageously restart - and continue to leave a legacy in education.

Making an Impact Outside of the Classroom

Routledge

Mishaps that resulted in tears and a constant questioning of my choice to switch careers are the short story of my earliest teaching memories. Fortunately, looking back, I can laugh at the many foibles of that experience - It's with love that I invite you new or older teaching professionals to embrace this miraculous journey. This book will help ease the growing pains of being a teacher offering professional reflection and connection. You are not alone!

Teaching Mythology Exposed: Helping Teachers Create Visionary Classroom Perspective

lulu.com

In this essential guide, Starr Sackstein - a National Board Certified Teacher - explains how teachers can use reflection to help students decipher their own learning needs and engage in deep, thought-provoking discourse about progress. She explains how to help students set actionable learning goals, teach students to reflect on and chart their learning progress, and use student reflections and self-assessment to develop targeted learning plans and determine student mastery. Filled with practical tips, innovative ideas, and sample reflections from real students, this book shows you how to incorporate self-assessment and reflection in ways that encourage students to grow into mindful, receptive learners, ready to explore a fast-changing world.

Teaching Students to Self-Assess: How do I help students reflect and grow as learners? (ASCD Arias)

ASCD

In Peer Feedback in the Classroom, National Board Certified Teacher Starr Sackstein explores the powerful role peer feedback can play in learning and teaching. Peer feedback gives students control over their learning, increases their engagement and self-awareness as learners, and frees up the teacher to provide targeted support where it's needed.Drawing from the author's successful classroom practices, this compelling book will help you<ul>
<li>Gain a deeper understanding of what meaningful feedback looks like and how it can be used as a tool for learning.</li>
<li>Establish a respectful, student-led learning environment that supports risk taking and honest sharing.</li>
<li>Teach students to be adept peer strategists who can pinpoint areas of needed growth and move forward with specific strategies for improvement.</li>
<li>Develop cooperative student expert groups to help sustain effective peer feedback throughout the year.</li>
<li>Use technology to enhance collaboration, streamline the learning and revision process, and strengthen students' digital citizenship skills.</li>
</ul>
The book also includes extended reflections that express, in students' and teachers' own words, the approach's powerful effect on their practice. Invite students to be your partners in learning, and enrich your collective classroom experience.

Peer Feedback in the Classroom: Empowering Students to Be the Experts

"Learn how approaching assessment through the lens of social and emotional learning can help ensure fair, equitable assessment; enhance learning; and improve students emotional health"--

Assessing with Respect: Everyday Practices That Meet Students' Social and Emotional Needs

The single greatest authority on student learning is the student doing the learning-but the right structures must be in place for students' voices to be clearly heard and truly valued.Conventional formative and summative assessment are most often conducted through one-size-fits-all quizzes and tests that yield narrow, predetermined categories of data about students' academic progress. But if we want a truly accurate look at what, how, and to what extent students are learning, who better to consult than the obvious experts on the matter: the students themselves.In this lively and comprehensive guide, veteran teacher and author Starr Sackstein provides the tools needed to help students compile and present evidence of learning through portfolios and student-led conferences-from templates and rubrics to personal testimonials, reflection questions, and activities. The book features ¿	Forms-applicable across grade levels and content areas-for unpacking standards, co-constructing success criteria with students, evaluating current classroom practices, and more. ¿	Real-life perspectives and scenarios from educators in the field who have embraced portfolios and student-led conferences over standardized tests and letter grades. ¿	Practical, experience-based guidance for building classroom and schoolwide learning cultures that promote both learner agency and academic achievement.The resources, recommendations, and reflections in Student-Led Assessment allow educators at all levels to develop systems and protocols for ensuring student ownership of-and pride in-their own hard-won achievement.

Student-Led Assessment: Promoting Agency and Achievement Through Portfolios and Conferences

The Power of Questioning: Opening up the World of Student Inquiry

Teaching and learning cannot happen without questions. Inquiry is the offspring of curiosity and creativity. Questions are incredibly powerful tools that open the world up. In the age of Google, the way we teach needs to change and students need to be reconnected with their early childhood curiosity. Let’s put that control back into kids’ hands by teaching them to question better. The Power of Questioning will help you to make students partners in their own learning.

Reference

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

Teaching and learning cannot happen without questions. Inquiry is the offspring of curiosity and creativity. Questions are incredibly powerful tools that open the world up. In the age of Google, the way we teach needs to change and students need to be reconnected with their early childhood curiosity. Let’s put that control back into kids’ hands by teaching them to question better. The Power of Questioning will help you to make students partners in their own learning.

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Sackstein, Starr. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Sackstein, Starr

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Sackstein, Starr. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Hacking Assessment: 10 Ways to Go Gradeless in a Traditional Grades School (Hack Learning Series)

Hacking Homework: 10 Strategies That Inspire Learning Outside the Classroom (Hack Learning Series)

Making an Impact Outside of the Classroom

Teaching Mythology Exposed: Helping Teachers Create Visionary Classroom Perspective

Teaching Students to Self-Assess: How do I help students reflect and grow as learners? (ASCD Arias)

Peer Feedback in the Classroom: Empowering Students to Be the Experts

Assessing with Respect: Everyday Practices That Meet Students' Social and Emotional Needs

Student-Led Assessment: Promoting Agency and Achievement Through Portfolios and Conferences

The Power of Questioning: Opening up the World of Student Inquiry

The Power of Questioning: Opening up the World of Student Inquiry