Although we tout education theories like “inquiry-based learning” or having a “student-centered curriculum,” the reality is that students slowly lose their agency or any sense of control over their learning as they move through the ranks.

Taking away grades signals a fundamental change in the power dynamics of a classroom, and students need to be supported in order to thrive.

I am a teacher. I am a room. I am a space to fill. I am a culture to create. I am a world to shape.We are teachers. We are rooms. We are spaces to fill. We are cultures to create. We are worlds to shape.

This episode features an interview with Bennette Jester, high school student, author of the website My Grading Story and advocate for student voice in learning.

We should be focusing on “better” practices, as what is “best” today may not be best for the children we teach in the future. With that in mind, we need to continue to be on the lookout for teaching practices that we feel are right and good for the children we have in front of us.

So the question is: How do we, people who are interested in making education better for students, help traditional schools adopt some of the things that made my education so far fantastic?

With feedback, students know exactly where they stand and what to do to move forward. That is empowering.

This episode features an interview with Andrew Burnett, middle school math teacher and advocate of The Thinking Classroom model developed by Professor Peter Liljedahl from Simon Fraser University in British Columbia.

Having spent a good deal of time learning about creating a gradeless classroom, I returned to the classroom ready to make a change.

In a gradeless classroom, students are expected to be creative, take risks, fail, and learn from their mistakes in the name of improving themselves and gaining knowledge. In my classroom, students assess their own work and one another's.

Last summer I made the plunge to finally go gradeless. I was ready for my classroom to be centered around learning, not grades. I had visions of motivated students, a continuous flow of feedback, and energy for reviewing student work.

Much of the evidence for the gradeless movement focuses on its positive effect on students, as it should. However, when reflecting on the impact of deciding to shift away from traditional grading practices, I realize how much it taught me.