Thank you so much for these reflections. Flexible deadlines terrify me, largely because I teach at a conservatory, where academic work often is de-prioritized in favor of practicing and rehearsing (which I get). I’m in my third semester of using a token system (they get three, and up to two can be used for 48 hour extensions on assignments). What I like is that a) it isn’t about me having to be “nice” or “mean”—they have them if they need them—and b) I think it has actually encouraged some students to look ahead and redeem the token for the extension prior to 11:58pm of the day it is due.
Thanks! It's important to recognize, as you are, that what makes sense in some situations does not make sense in others, and you have to do what's best for YOUR students, not just students in the abstract.
Your journey toward simplification resonates deeply, particularly the shift from 60 standards down to 12. Sometimes trimming away excess creates space for what actually matters. I'd be curious how students perceive the difference -- do they notice the reduced workload or just absorb it naturally? The point about flexible deadlines creating more problems than they solve is interesting, though I suspect it varies by student population.
So my current students who have the 12 learning standards are a different class, a different cohort of students than the ones who had the 16 or 20 or 60. So there is no difference to perceive, for them. However, when I mention sometimes that I used to have 16 standards, they look at me as if I were crazy to have 16 instead of 12, and they are appreciative that there's only 12.
Reading about how your alternative grading approach has evolved is incredibly helpful as I continue to shift my approach. Not grading asynchronous work caught my eye because I teach only asynchronous courses. I've been compiling a list of resources about alt-grading in online courses, and I've found it helpful to consider both what can be done in that setting as well as what is more difficult. Thanks for your framing of only grading in-class work. Makes me thoughtful.
Thank you so much for these reflections. Flexible deadlines terrify me, largely because I teach at a conservatory, where academic work often is de-prioritized in favor of practicing and rehearsing (which I get). I’m in my third semester of using a token system (they get three, and up to two can be used for 48 hour extensions on assignments). What I like is that a) it isn’t about me having to be “nice” or “mean”—they have them if they need them—and b) I think it has actually encouraged some students to look ahead and redeem the token for the extension prior to 11:58pm of the day it is due.
Thanks! It's important to recognize, as you are, that what makes sense in some situations does not make sense in others, and you have to do what's best for YOUR students, not just students in the abstract.
Your journey toward simplification resonates deeply, particularly the shift from 60 standards down to 12. Sometimes trimming away excess creates space for what actually matters. I'd be curious how students perceive the difference -- do they notice the reduced workload or just absorb it naturally? The point about flexible deadlines creating more problems than they solve is interesting, though I suspect it varies by student population.
So my current students who have the 12 learning standards are a different class, a different cohort of students than the ones who had the 16 or 20 or 60. So there is no difference to perceive, for them. However, when I mention sometimes that I used to have 16 standards, they look at me as if I were crazy to have 16 instead of 12, and they are appreciative that there's only 12.
Reading about how your alternative grading approach has evolved is incredibly helpful as I continue to shift my approach. Not grading asynchronous work caught my eye because I teach only asynchronous courses. I've been compiling a list of resources about alt-grading in online courses, and I've found it helpful to consider both what can be done in that setting as well as what is more difficult. Thanks for your framing of only grading in-class work. Makes me thoughtful.
Asynchronous is very hard. I wrote about my adjustments to teach an asynch class here: https://gradingforgrowth.com/p/alternatively-graded-discrete-math
Thanks for sharing!