Danny, Middle School Humanities Teacher

“I stopped including students’ classwork performance in the grade. I let them know that we do classwork, and I expect them to do it, because it will help us practice and prepare for the test. They do it, I give them feedback, and that’s it. No one’s copying off each other, and I save myself lots of time that I used to spend entering every classwork assignment every day.

“I used to think classwork should be part of the grade. Now I don’t because classwork should be a safe zone for students.  Put yourself in that situation. Let’s say the classwork was learning how to cook lasagna, and I don’t know how to cook. The teacher’s giving me all these ingredients, and I don’t know what I’m doing. I’m not going to show mastery that day on an exit ticket. It’s going to take me time, it’s going to take me practice, practice, and more practice, but I’ll be able to cook it when the “test” comes. Classwork should a safe zone for students to practice the material so when it comes to actually testing them, they can do it.”