Ravi Smith
Teach Blue Fellow
Optimal learning doesn’t require a lot of direct instruction. Students are largely able to learn by engaging in work with each other. Guide on the side > Sage on the stage.
Problem of Practice
The families that I serve have largely become accustomed to traditional grading systems, where they receive assignment based grades that typically show the percentage correct of that given assignment. I employ a standards based system where grades signify a level of mastery of a given learning objective or standard. The development of mastery for given learning objectives is typically an ongoing matter without a convenient end point for reporting, as the level of mastery often goes up after a given time where I decide to report. This has resulted in a general lack of understanding of where students stand in their development when students and parents view grades from my class in the system. Because of district reporting requirements, I often report mastery levels that are still in process, leading families to believe that there are failed assignments in a traditional sense, as opposed to learning objectives where mastery has not yet been obtained.
About Ravi Smith
Ravi currently teaches 10th Grade Engineering and Integrated Math 2 at the School at Marygrove. He is also a track and Cross Country coach and the Anime Club sponsor.
Accounts from Ravi Smith
When Ravi develops a new grade-reporting system, the power of mastery learning is able to have its impact.
Even if educators conclude a new classroom policy is yielding improved results, a student might experience it differently. It says something about the School at Marygrove that one student felt he could stage a protest of in-class deadlines. That prompted an authentic conversation, which in turn prompted a realization for Ravi.
Sometimes we start reinventing the wheel and then discover others have been at work reinventing that same wheel. Research can help us understand the work of like-minded practitioners. From there we can take another look at our problems of practice.
In a school that continues to employ traditional grading as the mode, using a standards-based grading system can present some substantial challenges.