As a teacher/activist, Julia Torres's work is grounded in empowering students to use the Language Arts to fuel resistance and positive social transformation. Ms. Torres facilitates workshops and professional conversations about anti-racist education, social justice, and culturally sustaining pedagogies.
Equity
Social Justice Education w/ Dan Scratch – TG²Cast Episode 9
This episode features an interview with Dan Scratch, high school social studies teacher, author of the website Teaching for Equity and Social Justice, and advocate of teaching for social justice.
Going Gradeless in Urban Ed
It’s generally assumed that with regard to grading practices, we have to provide consistency for students so that everything is fair, and students are consistently evaluated with regard to their achievements, no matter what school they attend. The fact is that this is pretend. Consistency is illusory.
How to Build Castles in the Air
Grades undergird nearly everything we do in education. By threatening late penalties and administering one-shot assessments, we focus our famously distracted students on the task at hand.
Playgrounds and Personalization w/Mariana Morales Lobo – TG²Cast Episode 7
This episode, I interview Mariana Morales Lobo, who taught high school in Madrid and Barcelona for 15 years, and who now works as a consultant in education, training teachers and helping school leaders implement innovation. One of her main areas of interest is “reinventing playground” spaces, considering the ways these supposedly neutral spaces can be made … Continue reading Playgrounds and Personalization w/Mariana Morales Lobo – TG²Cast Episode 7
Why I Don’t Grade with Jesse Stommel – TG²Cast Episode 2
This episode features an interview with Jesse Stommel, Executive Director of the Division of Teaching and Learning Technologies at University of Mary Washington. He is Co-founder of Digital Pedagogy Lab and Hybrid Pedagogy: a digital journal of learning, teaching, and technology. In addition to his focus on digital and critical pedagogy, Jesse has been a gradeless … Continue reading Why I Don’t Grade with Jesse Stommel – TG²Cast Episode 2
Equity in the Gradeless Classroom Roundtable
Does going gradeless automatically guarantee an equitable classroom? Could gradelessness produce inequitable outcomes?
From Hostility to Community
In our dream we have limitless resources, and the people yield themselves with perfect docility to our molding hand. The present educational conventions fade from our minds; and, unhampered by tradition, we work our own good will upon a grateful and responsive rural folk. We shall not try to make these people or any of … Continue reading From Hostility to Community
School Without Scoreboards
Sports as Metaphor Formative assessment and standards-based learning enthusiasts often seize on the metaphor of coaching to describe a better approach to feedback, assessment, and grading. I myself have employed this metaphor many times. Here’s a post I wrote a few months ago: This feedback cycle is not unlike the process used by coaches to prepare players for an upcoming … Continue reading School Without Scoreboards
The Grade Divide
Take a moment to think about the purpose of grades. What comes to mind? Historically speaking, grades were verbal reports from the teacher to parents about what students knew and could do, as well as areas in which they could improve (Brookhardt et al). Percentages and letter grades entered the academic scene in the early 20th century, … Continue reading The Grade Divide
Teachers Going Gradeless 