iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by Stacie Oliver

Jason Himsl (he/him/his) @jasonhimsl.bsky.social · 18/06/2025

This is just about a perfect collection of personal essay #MentorTexts - a *wide* variety of topics from authors who are diverse in just about every way imaginable. Great work from @theguardian.com. #EduSky www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...

theguardian.com

A moment that changed me | The Guardian

<p>Writers reflect on a moment when their life turned on its axis<br></p>

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Stacie Oliver @stacieoliver.bsky.social · 17/04/2025

Today 1 of my students told me that she is going to send me an email in a few years after she has become a teacher and taught her 1st #ungraded class. 😀

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Stacie Oliver @stacieoliver.bsky.social · 07/04/2025

I introduced Gr 11s to Hexagonal Thinking (the gift that keeps on giving) last week & asked them to work together to find connections between the 'big ideas' they've found in their group novels so far. 1 student liked it so much he used the format for his post-activity reflection. Really cool!

Hexagonal hive titled "1956 Hexagonal Thinking Web Reflection," featuring categories like Personal Growth, Challenges, Creativity, and Collaboration, each with descriptive text.

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Stacie Oliver @stacieoliver.bsky.social · 25/03/2025

1 of my Gr 9s has spent almost 2 months pretending to read during our daily 15mins of choice reading time. Hasn’t read a sentence.Today, we started Long Way Down as a class. At the end, he asked if he could use his 15 mins tomorrow to keep reading it. By George, I think we have a reader!!!

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Stacie Oliver @stacieoliver.bsky.social · 19/03/2025

Yesterday in Gr 9, we were talking about if, and/or how, the film Moana 2 challenges stereotypes. 1 student raised her hand and said, "Yes it does because she is her own hero." 😍

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Stacie Oliver @stacieoliver.bsky.social · 04/03/2025

Jason, this is 🔥. Thank you, thank you, thank you. So many of us will benefit from your generosity here!

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Stacie Oliver @stacieoliver.bsky.social · 27/02/2025

Today was a GREAT day. Civil Rights activist, 2-time Emmy-Award winning writer, producer, director & educator Paul Saltzman came to work with Ss to identify ways to strengthen our school's sense of belonging & community. Ss were in awe of him (so were we). Action plan tomorrow! (Photo permission ✅)

Photo of Paul Saltman sitting on a chair in foreground between 2 tables with group of students surrounding him in front of a library bookshelf.

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Stacie Oliver @stacieoliver.bsky.social · 25/02/2025

Hey @theresameikle.bsky.social, look what arrived yesterday afternoon! Excited to share with colleagues. 😀

3 copies of T. Meikle's, "Assessment in Action" book sitting on brown butcher paper with horseshoe-shaped tesk and laptop in background.

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Stacie Oliver @stacieoliver.bsky.social · 19/02/2025

Another fantastic share from the always generous @jasonhimsl.bsky.social

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Stacie Oliver @stacieoliver.bsky.social · 19/02/2025

Introducing UNgrading to 9s & all week. 1 Ss' body language has strongly suggested they are not overly impressed. As they left today, I commented that it seemed the 'struggle is real' & the response was a vehement, 'Every Day!' But then they added: 'But this is inspiring me.' I was shocked!

media.tenor.com

a blue background with yellow letters that read happy day

Alt: a moving two-tone blue background with white and yellow letters that read "Happy Day"

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Stacie Oliver @stacieoliver.bsky.social · 07/02/2025

Gr 11 Enriched went to Library today. Librarian pulled books - contemporary, challenging, high-interest, etc. I mentioned there was talk about classics. Led to discussion about Wuthering Heights & how we might read it differently now vs when we were Ss' age. We now have a book club with us & 7 Ss 😍.

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Stacie Oliver @stacieoliver.bsky.social · 02/02/2025

At this point in the year, I usually post a whack of links to student portfolios (with permission). Due to unforseen events (👀 at you never-ending sinus infection), it won't be possible this time. To make up for it, see 1 from Y12 Enriched. Brilliance. I could never do this! tinyurl.com/2937un9b

tinyurl.com

English Portfolio

Course Reflection

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Stacie Oliver @stacieoliver.bsky.social · 31/01/2025

During our #ungrading intro, I always show Ss a clip of Tomi Adeyemi talking about her writing process www.youtube.com/watch?v=5mVZ... I ❤️ how much it resonates with them. This is the moment where they start to understand that any good writing starts as a "deformed potato"...even for the pros.

Image of deformed potato transforming into french fry with student reflection about their own writing process. Black text on white background,

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Stacie Oliver @stacieoliver.bsky.social · 27/01/2025

Student portfolios are in & now the fun of going through them all begins. Starting with Grade 11 College Prep students today. Had to lol at 1 response to the ?: "Have I seen a difference in my work because of feedback?"

Yellow text box with blue outline on grey background containing student response about the impact of feedback on their work.

Student response: found this question to be true as in my work from now compared to the start of the term, my work looked like a drunk third-grader wrote my assignments.
But now, I've seen improvements in my work, so they don't look like that anymore. If I keep on receiving Feedback like this, then I can see myself putting out some very good assignments.

Below response: White text box with word IMPACT in black font.

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Stacie Oliver @stacieoliver.bsky.social · 23/01/2025

There are always moments during the semester when I wonder whether #UNgrading is "working" for Ss. Sometimes it's really hard to tell & I start to question myself. And then portfolios start rolling in. These snippets from the "Learning Journey" stories of a few 9s help reinforce that it is.

Image 1 on yellow background: Student reflection on UNgrading = I liked doing ungrading now at the start of the year I was questioning it and just wished you would give us a grade, but it was a change from having a teacher just handing you your grade…you gave me a lot of good feedback and change my perspective on how I view grading…I have learned a lot about how to be a better writer, reader, communicator, and just being a better person in general.

Image 2 on black background: From watching my favorite movie Moana to reading my favorite book The Hate U Give I have realised that English class is not about getting grades but getting FEEDBACK, if I could have feedback for all my assignments instead of grades I would be super happy. I learned to annotate, write a decent opinion paragraph and, most importantly know how to use feedback to my advantage. When I started English on the first day of school I was happy until I heard that we would not be getting number grades but feedback, I was confused, But here I am wishing I could have input on my report card instead of digits.

Image 3 on green background: One of the biggest changes I’ve experienced is my confidence in sharing my ideas. In term one, I was hesitant to speak up in class or even share my thoughts on paper because I wasn’t sure if they were strong enough. But now, I’m more willing to contribute to class discussions and share my opinions. I’ve learned that my ideas are valuable, and it’s okay to make mistakes as long as I’m learning from them. This has been a huge step for me because I used to be nervous about putting myself out there, but now I feel more comfortable doing so.

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Stacie Oliver @stacieoliver.bsky.social · 23/01/2025

👇,👇, and more 👇 please. SO good.

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Stacie Oliver @stacieoliver.bsky.social · 20/01/2025

An important part of our Gr 12 seminar process is the peer feedback requirement. Presenting groups receive pages and pages of thoughtful, constructive, and genuine comments on their work, while audience develops their ability to provide effective feedback. A valuable exercise for all.

Example of peer feedback provided on a Gr 12 seminar presentation connecting Frederik Backman's Beartown and Nella Larsen's Passing

Slide Text:
Q. What lengths would one go to, to preserve their position of power?

I feel like the answer to this question is quite obvious, but it also is not specific enough. Because the simple answer is, people would go to great lengths to preserve their power. Maybe going further into why people go to such great lengths would be a good addition.
(Ignore this point, they added this further into the seminar.)

I really liked the activity because it allowed us to do some analyzing of different quotes ourselves from your group novel.

I liked how on the slides you had both Kevin and Clare side by side so that we could compare and contrast really easily.

If you are reading the quote that the town knows, I feel like you should also read aloud the quote of what the town doesn't know about Kevin.

I really liked how you used a close friend's perspective to show an honest angle of these main characters, as most of their lives they are keeping secrets.

I didn't really understand how the objectification aspect went into the seminar question.

There were a lot of quotes and not analysis for each one, so they might not all have been necessary to prove their point.

The final quote from Beartown was amazing it like shook me because it is so true, after all the work to gain power on the fall down you will think of and feel sad about every single hard step you took to get to the top.

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Stacie Oliver @stacieoliver.bsky.social · 17/01/2025

Revisited @iamnoadaniel.bsky.social's assessment ep ft. @raspberryberet3.bsky.social, (me) & 3 of my former Ss. Listening 2 it a year later was surreal. Great reminder to keep fighting 4 change. & my Ss? CHEF'S KISS 🥰. Work doesn't get easier, but does feel like it's worth it. tinyurl.com/2854l8om

tinyurl.com

Proficiency Scales Instead of Grades - voicEd

All students from kindergarten to Grade 9 in British Columbia public schools will now be assessed with a proficiency scale instead of letter grades.A statement from the Education Ministry says that st...

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Stacie Oliver @stacieoliver.bsky.social · 15/01/2025

Day 1 of Grade 12 Enriched seminars. Goal is to connect core class novel (Beartown) to another text from "The Canon" 🙄 (Ss choices = 1984, Crime & Punishment, Dorian Gray, Jane Eyre, Little Women, Anna Karenina, Huck Finn, The Odyssey, Passing, Dracula, Handmaid's Tale, Maurice). Bar was set high!

Images of 4 slides (black backgrounds) from Grade 12 seminar presentation.

Slide 1: Title Slide introducing topic of Perception vs Reality

Slide 2: Big Question guiding presentation. "In what ways does perception influence reality? Which is more important?

Slide 3: "If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?" (George Berkeley, 1600)

Slide 4: Existence
a. Shrodinger's Cat summary
b. Link to Beartown - "When Maya shoots Kevin, there is no bullet in the gun. Kevin doesn’t know that, and the impact of the gun is the same, it doesn’t matter what the reality is."
c. Link to 1984 - Does Big Brother really exist? Does it matter? Winston asks if Big Brother really exists. The party has the same impact on its citizens either way. It does not matter what the reality is.

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Reposted by Stacie Oliver

Nick Covington @covingtonedu.bsky.social · 12/12/2024

So why do education systems and practices that alienate, isolate, burn-out, and dehumanize persist? Who does that benefit? And why can't we seem to do better?

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Stacie Oliver @stacieoliver.bsky.social · 12/01/2025

1 thing I really appreciate in @theresameikle.bsky.social's Assessment in Action is how authentic it is, just like the author herself. Centring students from start to finish, the evidence-based strategies in this book help educators empower Ss to become invested & engaged in learning. A great read!

Theresa Meikle's, Assessement in Action: Just-in-time feedback to clarify goals, make progress visible, uncover misunderstandings, and move student learning forward stting atop a laptop in a secondary school English classroom.

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Stacie Oliver @stacieoliver.bsky.social · 11/01/2025

Gr 9s are developing their annotation skills as we prepare to move into literary paragraphs next week. Some great critical thinking skills from many students!

Annotation 1 Big Idea = Identity followed by student reaction to chosen passage through colour-coding, highlighting strategies, and commentary.

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Stacie Oliver @stacieoliver.bsky.social · 07/01/2025

@theresameikle.bsky.social, lookee what was waiting for me at school today! Can't wait to dive in 😍.

Author Theresa Meikle's, Assessment in Action propped up on laptop in a secondary school English classroom.

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Reposted by Stacie Oliver

Chanea Bond @heymrsbond.com · 22/12/2024

Okay #poetrypeople Sharing my favorite poems to teach and what I focus on. Please do the same! First, is “Fuck your Lecture on Craft, My People are Dying” by Noor Hindi. #EduSky docs.google.com/presentation...

Fuck Your Lecture on Craft, My People Are Dying
BY NOOR HINDI
Colonizers write about flowers.
I tell you about children throwing rocks at Israeli tanks seconds before becoming daisies.
I want to be like those poets who care about the moon.
Palestinians don't see the moon from jail cells and
prisons.
It's so beautiful, the moon.
They're so beautiful, the flowers.
I pick flowers for my dead father when I'm sad.
He watches Al Jazeera all day.
I wish Jessica would stop texting me Happy Ramadan.
I know I'm American because when I walk into a room
something dies.
Metaphors about death are for poets who think ghosts
care about sound.
When I die, I promise to haunt you forever.
One day, I'll write about the flowers like we own them.

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Stacie Oliver @stacieoliver.bsky.social · 19/12/2024

At the beginning of the semester, I polled Gr 9s about how they felt about reading. 18 of 27 students answered "not a fan - hate it", 7 were "meh" & 2 "loved it". Pretty depressing tbh. With about a month left in the course, thought it might be interesting to see if anything has changed...

Padlet whiteboard with yellow background. Foreground: Gr 9 posts containing their independent novel titles + authors, a gif expressing their opinion about the text, an example from the book and a rating out of 10 of how much they enjoy reading now vs September (ratings outlined in red)

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Stacie Oliver @stacieoliver.bsky.social · 15/12/2024

In June, I asked Ss if they were willing to share their porfolios. Got an email today (little late to to the party, lol) granting permission along with a reflection on the impact of being in an Ungraded class last year. A timely reminder of how important this work is and motivation to keep going.

Screenshot of student email that grants permission to share their portfolio from last year's English class. Student also shares thoughts about how being in a graded classroom this year has been a difficult transition as they feel they are now "chasing grades" rather than focusing on learning and growing. Student also reflected that "we don't always appreciate how valuable something is until it's gone."

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Stacie Oliver @stacieoliver.bsky.social · 12/12/2024

Grade 11 College Prep Ss are starting a personal writing unit. As an intro, we read Sharon Creech's, Love That Dog to see how powerful mentor texts can be as 8yr old Jack uses them to work through the grief of losing his beloved dog. 11s then used Jack's poem as THEIR inspiration. Cool results! 😍

3 Images in top left-hand corner: Left: William Carlos Williams' "The Red Wheelbarrow" Middle: Cover of Love That Dog, a novel by Sharon Creech. Right: 8yr old Jack's poem inspired by "The Red Wheelbarrow".

5 additional images: Grade 11 college prep students' original poem inspired by the protatgonist Jack in Love that Dog.

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Stacie Oliver @stacieoliver.bsky.social · 12/12/2024

Gr 9s are making cases for their Top 3 Group Novel choices. Those opinon paragraph writing skills from the last unit are coming into play! #iteachEnglish

Written by 3 different grade 9 students: Group novel #1 text choice + rationale as to why they wish to read it.

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Stacie Oliver @stacieoliver.bsky.social · 05/12/2024

A4. In addition to recommending the work of many of you here, I've started sharing 'real-world' examples of the learning process in all its messy glory to highlight the disconnect between how we view/treat 'failure' in school vs in real-life. tinyurl.com/26ghywzz tinyurl.com/2255aryq #UngradingChat

tinyurl.com

"THERE IS NO FAILURE IN SPORTS" 💪 Giannis Antetokounmpo delivers INSPIRING MESSAGE after Bucks exit!

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

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Reposted by Stacie Oliver

Michele Bannister @astrokiwi.bsky.social · 04/12/2024

I keep trying to write something eloquent and just being tired. History matters. Philosophy matters. Languages and literature matter. Indigenous studies matter. Arts and humanities and social sciences matter. All of them. Signed, a physicist

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Reposted by Stacie Oliver

Robert Talbert @roberttalbert.bsky.social · 02/12/2024

Today at Grading for Growth, it's a guest post from faculty in Quebec, about how they are activating alternative grading in the CEGEP environment, an approach to secondary/higher ed unique to that province. We love international perspectives! gradingforgrowth.com/p/workshops-...

gradingforgrowth.com

Workshops and a community of practice in Quebec for knowledge transfer

Making alternative grading practices known in post-secondary francophone Quebec

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Stacie Oliver @stacieoliver.bsky.social · 29/11/2024

Was looking for the address of a former student today when I came across this email from 2023. A great reminder of my #Ungrading 'why' & motivation to continue despite the many challenges that can sometimes feel like...a lot. 😀 #alternativegrading

Hi Ms Oliver!
I hope you’re doing well! I have one week left of my first year of university and I wanted to update you and also show you one of my projects:) I have officially been accepted to creative industries at ____ which means that I will me majoring in creative industries with a specialization in fashion starting in September. Without your continued support throughout high school I do not think that I would have the confidence to pursue such a “non traditional” major when I was “supposed” to go into law. A LOT of things from your course have benefited me in this first year, and you should tell your students that university professors are using elements of ungrading and they should take it seriously, because profs and TAs don’t give as much feedback as you do! I am currently taking “refashioning history” and my final for this class is a project on a reclaimed beauty, style or dress trend, involving a paper and a digital artifact. I decided to focus on street wear and my paper is heavily influenced by our class discussions of Dr Dre’s halftime show. This is the video I created! I have pulled so much from your course and as I was editing this video today I thought, “I better send this to Ms Oliver, she would like this” lol. Let me know what you think!
Again I hope you are doing great!

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Stacie Oliver @stacieoliver.bsky.social · 28/11/2024

I wrote a comment on an "in progress" personal response (feedback was to be given at a later date). Student came up to my desk this morning to tell me how much of an impact that ONE WORD made. Was a good reminder not to take the trust they put in us for granted. #Ungrading #📖 #EduSky

Image 1: Screenshot of student response to Beartown (class novel).
Image 2: Screenshot of student indicating response is ready to be viewed + teacher responding, "Powerful."

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Stacie Oliver @stacieoliver.bsky.social · 26/11/2024

That moment when a Grade 9 shows you they have embraced the self-reflection process 😍 📖 #alternativegrading #EduSky

1st and 2nd draft attempts of an introductory paragraph based on Nicola Yoon's short story, "Super Human" interspersed with student self-reflection.

Commentary 1: "Nothing to do with the topic thingy, but I really loved this story. The writing was top-tier excellence, and the plot was also amazing. I just really, really liked it."

Commentary 2: (first person pronouns, blocky in parts, not good writing overall, but this was meant to write fast so I could work off of it)

Commentary 3: (this is the best I can do at the moment, but I’m not entirely sure if this is how an essay intro paragraph is supposed to look. I kind of rambled, and I’m not sure if that’s OK. I also don’t like how I did the “basically” part, but I’m unsure as to what else I could put there. I was thinking of “thus”, but I’m not entirely confident that I would use it correctly)

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Stacie Oliver @stacieoliver.bsky.social · 24/11/2024

When I started #Ungrading 2.5 years ago, I knew it was going it was going to be a game changer for our classroom. What I didn't realize at the time was just how much it was going to humanize it too.

Image of a Gr 12 personal response to a task requiring Ss to create a visual of the setting in the novel, Beartown, based on the descriptions in the first 3 chapters.
1. Student's response touched on how she developed a deeper understanding of the story and engaged more with the text s a result of having to create a visual representation.

2. Student made a text-self connection as she spoke about how the task reminded her of her own family's journey of immigrating to Canada and the challenges they faced with respect to power and wealth disparity, bias, and outsiders vs insiders.

3. Finally, student commented about how the fact that this class is Ungraded allows Ss to be creative and original and appreciate others' work, rather than comparing their product to their classmates as they do when they feel they are in competition with each other for grades.

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Reposted by Stacie Oliver

Rosanna @rosannaarquette.bsky.social · 22/11/2024

Buy all banned books as presents

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Stacie Oliver @stacieoliver.bsky.social · 21/11/2024

Yes, yes, and more yes to every bit of this.

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Stacie Oliver @stacieoliver.bsky.social · 21/11/2024

I love how this Gr 12 Enriched student chose to communicate her Learning Journey for Term 1. #Ungrading

Page 1 pic of a graphic created to illustrate and communicate how student feels about #Ungrading. She details how it has not only allowed her to improve her learning, knowledge, and skills, but also, allowed her to connect with people on a deeper level and take even bigger risks than she took last year.

Pg 2 of graphic focuses on how #Ungrading has helped her on a personal level as well. eg. Not comparing herself to others anymore, broadening her interests, and thinking outside the box

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Stacie Oliver @stacieoliver.bsky.social · 21/11/2024

A student used AI to respond to a prompt asking them why they shouldn’t use AI to do their English work for them. 🤦‍♀️ On a positive note, I have a new example to use for my next irony lesson. #edusky

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Stacie Oliver @stacieoliver.bsky.social · 21/11/2024

Q4. I try to set up my courses so that students have ownership over their learning from the start, so that when we have to have the grade pitch discussions (boo), it becomes an extension of the mindset they have hopefully already developed. Grade pitch process feels...yucky. #ungradingchat

Title: The Artist Analogy

Image on left = Picture of an art studio with caption, "Google Classroom = Your Studio (where you create your art)

Image on right = Picture of an art gallery with caption, "Google Site/Portfolio = Art Gallery (where you showcase your work)

Screenshot of portfolio expectations for students.

Sections include "Personal Goals", "Conferencing & Feedback", "Reading, Writing, Communicating Skills", and "Learning Journey Story"

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Stacie Oliver @stacieoliver.bsky.social · 18/11/2024

Don't know where I saw this poem (might even have been here), but man oh man, is it ever great!

Hope Is Not a Bird, Emily, It’s a Sewer Rat
by Caitlin Seida

Hope is not the thing with feathers
That comes home to roost
When you need it most.

Hope is an ugly thing
With teeth and claws and
Patchy fur that’s seen some shit.

It’s what thrives in the discards
And survives in the ugliest parts of our world,
Able to find a way to go on
When nothing else can even find a way in.

It’s the gritty, nasty little carrier of such
diseases as
optimism, persistence,
Perseverance and joy,
Transmissible as it drags its tail across
your path
and
bites you in the ass.

Hope is not some delicate, beautiful bird,
Emily.
It’s a lowly little sewer rat
That snorts pesticides like they were
Lines of coke and still
Shows up on time to work the next day
Looking no worse for wear.

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Reposted by Stacie Oliver

David Buck @dbuckedu.bsky.social · 16/11/2024

Based on a wonderful suggestion from @jaustinedu.bsky.social, I've created a rough Starter Pack for those involved with #ungrading & alternative #assessment. If I forgot someone (I'm sure I have!), please forgive me & let me know if you want to be added to the list. Thanks! go.bsky.app/G6hA6Ru

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Theresa Meikle @theresameikle.bsky.social · 14/11/2024

I’m excited to share this #teacher review of my book #assessmentinaction It is exactly what I’d hoped for - a book that makes #formativeassessment manageable and powerful @profcarolcampbell.bsky.social @literacyengine.bsky.social

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Stacie Oliver @stacieoliver.bsky.social · 16/11/2024

Since I started UNgrading in '22, my fav part has always been when Ss give me permission to showcase their portfolios. See the next post for links to just a few who volunteered their work from Gr 9, 11 College Prep, & 12 Enriched classes this semester. Enjoy! #ungrading #assessment

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