Q: I’m a high school Honors English teacher. Most of my students are juniors. These are high-achieving students who are anxious under normal conditions and who come in to see me all the time with questions. They seem to be having a hard time emotionally without physical proximity to me and those daily reassurances, and while they’re certainly capable, the work they’ve done remotely has been far worse than usual. My grading has reflected that, so on top of everything else, they’re feeling panicky about what their second semester report card will look like. I do have “office hours,” but I think these students are not yet used to interacting in that way and many don’t avail themselves of the option. Also, when they do talk to me through video conferencing technology, they’re much quieter. It’s like I haven’t been teaching them all year and they suddenly don’t even know me! It’s a weird, awkward thing. Maybe it’s because we’ve now had a few weeks of them listening to pretaped videos of my lectures. It’s impersonal, but it’s how I’ve been told to deliver the content.
All of these kids are going to be applying to college soon, assuming the world doesn’t completely implode, and it doesn’t feel right that their GPAs are going to take a big hit when their entire life has been upended. I’m sympathetic because I know that it’s been a steep learning curve for me as well, and I personally would hate to be graded right now as I ramp up. I’m making a ton of mistakes, believe me. Unfortunately, my district isn’t shifting to a pass/fail system and I need to give these kids grades. How can I handle this in a way that feels right, is fair and adheres to the district’s policy? For the record, the principal agrees with me philosophically, and I don’t think he’s going to be sticking his head too far into my business, so I have a little leeway there.
A: Your students likely feel disconnected and powerless right now. They no longer are able to access help in the usual ways, and they’re adjusting to an entirely new way of learning. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg. As you note, their entire lives have been upended. In other words, I appreciate your instinct to protect them and help them get through a tough time, rather than pile on the pressure or fixate on grading. It’s important to be as flexible with deadlines and assignments as possible and to recognize that your students are all facing different challenges right now. I suggest that you share your philosophy explicitly. Let your students know that you may be a prerecorded face on a screen at the moment, but you still care about them. Underscore that you, too, are learning as you go and that everyone is going to need grace and flexibility.
I connected recently with Rick Wormeli, author of Fair Isn’t Always Equal: Assessing & Grading in the Differentiated Classroom (Stenhouse, 2018). He emphasized that this is a time to focus on assessment — which is low-stakes and involves gathering evidence to provide feedback and inform instruction — rather than high-stakes grading. While Wormeli, like you, is a proponent of pass/fail for the remainder of this school year, he recognizes that some districts are not giving teachers much choice in the matter. That said, there are many ways that you can arrive at a grade. As he explained, “We can still brainstorm (and let kids suggest) alternative ways to demonstrate evidence of learning and not get so hung up on whether or not they did something so much as that they demonstrated learning.” So get creative. Ask your students how they’d like to show you that they’ve mastered the content. What do they think would engage them the most? You could even offer a menu of options, such as compiling an e-portfolio of their work or delivering a video presentation or lesson to their classmates.
As for students who need extra support, don’t wait for them to sign up for office hours. Issue a personal invitation and assign them a regular time. The predictability will ease their anxiety, which in turn will improve their performance. Kids can’t focus on and absorb new information if they’re on high alert. When their anxiety does spike, do your best to reassure them that you have their back and want to see them succeed. This is a crisis, and they need to know they have an advocate, not an adversary.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Phyllis L. Fagell
Phyllis L. Fagell is the school counselor at Landon School in Washington, D.C., a therapist at the Chrysalis Group in Bethesda, Md., and the author of the Career Confidential blog. She is also the author of Middle School Matters and Middle School Superpowers, available at https://amzn.to/3Pw0pcu.
