This week I am issuing a challenge for teachers: Take a week off from grading. Now, for this to work you can’t just plan activities and lessons that just pushes the grading portion a week or two down the road, that isn’t taking a week off from it, it is simply delaying it. 

Instead, you are going to maximize the class time by focusing assessment and evaluation as observational and conversational data rather than a pen and paper assessment. This could take the form of games, think-pair-share activities, scavenger hunts, class discussions, debates, using small whiteboards to right answers, Kahoot or many more. The goal is to create meaningful and engaging learning activities that do not require a product that needs to be corrected at a later time but still allow you to determine what students know.

Create a chart with your student names on it and the outcomes that you are looking to meet this week. Record notes from conversations and observations with your students on how well you feel they have demonstrated a mastery of those outcomes. A sample might look like this the graphic to the right.

A point to notice here is that the criteria is relatively simple, in this case it is a 3 point scale. Use your own that will work for you but the simpler it is, the easier it will be to assess student learning in the moment. It is also helpful to use something that can translate well to an electronic gradebook (if you are using one) so your assessment criteria may have more nuance than this example shows. Also, don’t be afraid to revise your earlier assessments throughout the week since if students can demonstrate evidence of learning, then why continue to hold earlier mistakes against them?