Shows
Schoolutions: Curious Educators. Evidence-Based Strategies. Classrooms Where Every Child Thrives.BONUS: What Happens When You Break Teaching Traditions?In this S5E15 Schoolutions Teaching Strategies BONUS, I unpack the question: What if the teaching traditions we follow aren't actually required? This week's bonus episode explores the revolutionary concept of "stepping aside" in education—not stepping away, but repositioning yourself so students can drive their own learning.In this reflection on Sarah Zerwin's groundbreaking work, we examine phantom policies (those teaching traditions we follow even though we're not required to), explore why we often work harder than our students, and discover practical strategies for student-driven learning that actually work.Key Topics Covered:💫Phantom polic...
2025-12-1216 minSchoolutions: Curious Educators. Evidence-Based Strategies. Classrooms Where Every Child Thrives.Launching Students into High-Level Work They Care AboutIn this S5E15 Schoolutions Teaching Strategies conversation, join me with teacher and author Sarah M. Zerwin as she shares strategies from her book Step Aside: Strategies for Student-Driven Learning with Secondary Readers and Writers (Illustrated by Jane Zerwin).🚗 The Driving Course Metaphor: Student-driven learning isn't about abandoning students—it's like teaching someone to drive. You don't toss them the keys; you sit beside them, teach the rules, create a safe course, and strategically step back while staying present.📝 The Power of the Humble Post-it Note: Discover how Original Thought Annotations (OTAs) using simple sticky notes ca...
2025-12-0845 min
Schoolutions: Curious Educators. Evidence-Based Strategies. Classrooms Where Every Child Thrives.BONUS: Coaching, Teaching, & Classroom Management Strategies Sparked From My Conversation with Tyler Rablin (❤️Olivia Wahl)In this bonus episode, I delve deeper into transformative approaches to feedback and assessment in education. Building on my conversation with Tyler Rablin (S4E13), I share crucial insights from my recent experiences coaching middle school teachers and explore why less is often more when it comes to student feedback. I challenge traditional notions of mastery-based assessment, advocating instead for a growth-focused approach that recognizes each student's unique learning journey.Drawing from respected educational research and my hands-on coaching experience, l discuss why formative assessment should be viewed as an...
2024-12-0618 min
Learner-Centered SpacesSarah Zerwin says to let the students drive their learningUpcoming book: https://www.routledge.com/Step-Aside-Strategies-for-Student-Driven-Learning-with-Secondary-Readers-and-Writers/Zerwin/p/book/9781625316554Linked in: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarah-zerwin-78719956/Shout outs: Cornelius Minor, Tricia Ebarvia, Felicia Rose Chavez, Zaretta Hammond, Katie Wood RayRecommend a guest here Music by AudioCoffee: https://www.audiocoffee.net/
2024-12-0127 min
Our ClassroomEpisode 104 | Shifting From Traditional Grading to Student Driven Assessment w/ Sarah M. ZerwinToday we’re delving into a transformative approach to grading and assessment in education with our special guest, Sarah M. Zerwin. Sarah is a high school English teacher at Fairview High School in Boulder, Colorado, with three decades of experience, and the author of the eye-opening book "Pointless, an English Teacher's Guide to More Meaningful Grading."
In this episode, we explore radical yet practical strategies for shifting grading power from teachers to students. Sarah shares her unique practice of allowing students to select their final grades based on collaboratively created grade descriptions, promoting transparency, student agency, and se...
2024-09-0442 minSchoolutions: Curious Educators. Evidence-Based Strategies. Classrooms Where Every Child Thrives.S3 E7: Patterns of Power: Authentic Grammar Instruction in High School with Holly Durham & Travis LeechThis conversation with Patterns of Power grammar extraordinaires Holly Durham and Travis Leech will leave you ready to dive into authentic grammar instruction! Let go of ineffective worksheets and skill-and-drill grammar instruction as Holly and Travis describe the Patterns of Power Process with a focus on grades 9-12. They explain why traditional grammar instruction focuses too often on rules and what’s right or wrong instead of a true understanding of usage. In Kylene Beers’s words, “...master teachers, Jeff, Travis, and Holly, make things such as colons and commas, apostrophes and appositives, phrases and fragments, become more than things...
2023-10-3047 min
Third Rail ClassroomEpisode 7: What is the Most Equitable Way to Calculate Students' Final Grades?Rapidly approaching the end of the school year, Alex and John turn to a key question: how to calculate final grades for students? It might seem like there’s an obvious answer, which is to take the average of all of the points earned and divide by the number of points possible. For generations of students and teachers, this was the ONLY way to calculate a final grade, and it is still the most common, but is it the most equitable? John and Alex share their approaches, and in the second part of John’s interview with Dr. Sara...
2023-05-1339 minSchoolutions: Curious Educators. Evidence-Based Strategies. Classrooms Where Every Child Thrives.S2 E31: Using Micro Mentor Texts: Standing Next to & Teaching Beautiful Writing with Penny KittlePenny Kittle lives by her words, "When you stand next to beautiful writing, your writing is just kind of set free." Penny shares how her latest book, Micro Mentor Texts: Using Short Passages From Great Books to Teach Writer's Craft offers a process for studying and teaching on the shoulders of incredible authors as mentors to transform student writing.Ep. Mentions:Donald MurrayDonald GravesThomas NewkirkTom RomanoBook Love FoundationMatt de la PeñaKelly Gallagher-180 Days & Four Essential StudiesAndrea Davis PinkneyRebekah O'DellKwame Alexander (My Mother's Fried Chicken Was a Link to My Past—and My Daughter's Future)All Par...
2023-04-2437 minThird Rail ClassroomEpisode 6: Do Some Grading Policies Hurt Students?At the halfway point in the school year, Alex and John take some time to reflect on how their new approaches are going and have a discussion on why it might be appropriate to assign an "Incomplete" to a student rather than a "D" or an "F." Next, they talk about some very common grading practices: taking off points for late work, giving a "0" for plagiarism, assigning group grades, and grading for participation. Then, John interviews Dr. Sarah Zerwin, the author of Pointless, an English Teacher's Guide to More Meaningful Grading. And they end the way they always do w...
2023-04-1039 min
APLC Change Maker Conversations in EducationLifting Literacy in the Classroom: A conversation with Brent GilsonIn this episode, we welcome Brent Gilson, a high school teacher with experience teaching at every division level in his career. This conversation includes several titles and authors for your students and offers suggestions for professional reading. We explore some of the challenges and methods to support bringing your students and ourselves into reading, what you might do to share or book talk in your classroom, and how best to use time in the class when students are reading. Genuine assessment, empowering student voice, and being open to multimodal approaches to showcase learning are just a few of the g...
2023-02-071h 05
The EduGals PodcastSparking Excitement and Curiosity for Learning - E108This week, we are diving deeper into the UDL (Universal Design for Learning) framework by exploring multiple means of engagement in the classroom. Specifically, we are focusing our discussion on how to spark excitement and curiosity in the classroom.If you like what you hear, we would love it if you could share this episode with a colleague or friend. And make sure you subscribe so that you don’t miss out on any new content! And consider supporting the show by buying us a coffee or two!We would love to hear from you – leav...
2022-11-2925 minSchoolutions: Curious Educators. Evidence-Based Strategies. Classrooms Where Every Child Thrives.How to Stop Point-Chasing & Start LearningIn this S2E6 Schoolutions Teaching Strategies conversation, Sarah M. Zerwin reveals why traditional grading systems are failing our students and how to create classrooms where real learning thrives. Discover how one master educator transformed her classroom by eliminating the "points for compliance" system that's been damaging student motivation and engagement for decades. Sarah shares practical strategies that work across all grade levels and content areas.🔥 What You'll Learn:• Why traditional grading systems reward compliance over learning• The historical origins of our broken educational measurement system• How to shift from evaluation to meaningful feedback that insp...
2022-10-1744 min
Phenomenal Teaching with PEBCGrade Less…Know More with Dr. Sarah Zerwin & Jenn BraunerDo you find yourself wondering how you will ever grade that giant stack of papers? Wondering if there might be other ways to support your students’ progress or monitor their understanding? What would happen if we eliminated the points for compliance exchange, students advocated for their own grades, and grade books essentially became “point-less”? Would student agency increase, would students’ reading and writing lives and habits reflect those needed to be successful communicators in the real world, could teachers grade less but know more about their students? Dr. Sarah Zerwin and PEBC Lab Host Jenn Brauner join Michelle Morris Jones on th...
2021-11-3043 min
#EduCrush32 – Pointless Assessment Practices (w Sarah M. Zerwin)For too long, the purpose of assessment has been to collect points for a gradebook. As a high school English teacher, Sarah Zerwin decided to uphold a better purpose for assessment: learning. On the episode, Sarah discusses many “point-less” assessment practices such as emphasizing reflection, dialogue, and process. Listen to learn how to shift from a culture of compliance towards a culture of authentic engagement. View full show notes: https://educrushpod.com/podcast/pointless-assessment-practices
2021-10-0452 min
#EduCrushPointless Assessment Practices (w Sarah M. Zerwin)For too long, the purpose of assessment has been to collect points for a gradebook. As a high school English teacher, Sarah Zerwin decided to uphold a better purpose for assessment: learning. On the episode, Sarah discusses many “point-less” assessment practices such as emphasizing reflection, dialogue, and process. Listen to learn how to shift from a culture of compliance towards a culture of authentic engagement. Sarah's book: "Pointless: An English Teachers Guide to More Meaningful Grading" View full show notes here!
2021-10-0452 min
Life of the School Podcast: The Podcast for Biology TeachersLOTS123 - UnGrading w/Johanna BrownToday we discuss how we remove or reduce grades from our classrooms. Joining me for this conversation is Lee Ferguson from Texas and Johanna Brown from Washington State.Show Notes:- Johanna gave a shout out to Katy Dornbos as one of the teachers who helped out on her journey to being a gradeless teacher.- Johanna put together this google doc with a collection of ungrading resources.- We discussed the book Ungrading: Why Rating Students Undermines Learning (and What to Do Instead) Edited by Susan D. Blum. We also discussed the following resources:- The Teachers Going Gradeless...
2021-07-191h 17
Third Eye EducationSarah Zerwin: Pointless Grading for a Purposeful FutureSarah Zerwin and Phil Olson discuss moving any classroom to a feedback and growth oriented environment by removing points from assignments.
Let Third Eye know what you think: https://twitter.com/ThirdEyeEd
2021-06-2137 minLife of the School Podcast: The Podcast for Biology TeachersLOTS115 - My Classes Are PointlessThis episode is a presentation I made with Paul Strode at the 2020 NABT Conference. You can follow Paul on twitter @pkstrode.Some useful resources from this talk include:Kohn, A. (2012). The case against grades. The Education Digest, 77(5), 8.Strode, Paul K. (2020). My Classes are Pointless. Mr. Dr. Science Teacher blog, https://mrdrscienceteacher.wordpress.com/2017/08/28/my-classes-are-pointless/, accessed 7 October 2020.Zerwin, Sarah M. (2020). Pass/Fail or No Grades During Online Pandemic Teaching? A gift. Heinemann blog, https://blog.heinemann.com/pass/fail-or-no-grades-during-online-pandemic-teaching-a-gift, accessed 7 October 2020.Zerwin, Sarah M. (2020). Point-less: An English Teacher’s Guide to More Meaningful Grading. Heinemann, Portsmouth NH.We would love feedback! DM...
2021-03-2249 min
Write Answers: a Production of the Ohio Writing Project016 More Meaningful Grading With Dr. Sarah M. ZerwinIn this episode of Writer Answers, Liz Reilly and Noah Waspe talk to Sarah Zerwin about the thought processes behind her new book Point-less: an English Teacher’s Guide to More Meaningful Grading.
Find today’s guest on Twitter: @SarahMZerwin
Order Point-less: An English Teacher’s Guide to More Meaningful Grading
https://www.heinemann.com/products/e10951.aspx - Published by Heinemann.
Sarah’s website: https://sarahmzerwin.wordpress.com/
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Learn more about the Ohio Writing Project: http://miamioh.edu/cas/academics/departments/english/academics/graduate-studies/ohio-writing-project/
OWP: Teachers teaching teachers - Find your writing and teaching home with OWP's Masters...
2021-01-1151 min
Empower Students Now45. How To Quit Grading So Much And Make It More Meaningfulhttps://amandawritenow.com/how-to-quit-grading-so-much/So, you want to know how to quit grading so much? Or maybe you just want your grading process to be more systematic and meaningful for students. Well, listening to this episode is the first step to making both of these things happen!My mission is to make teachers’ lives easier. I resigned from teaching because of COVID-19. After making this huge decision one question has been on my mind constantly…how can I help teachers?Let’s get honest here. Teaching during a pandemic is mind-numbing, tedious, and terrible! Sitting on a screen with students or hav...
2020-10-2421 min
Grow Beyond GradesEpisode 24 - Pointless with Sarah M. ZerwinSarah M. Zerwin teaches Senior Language Arts and AP Lit at Fairview High School in Boulder, Colorado, and author of the book Point-Less: An English Teacher’s Guide to More. You can follow her blog The Paper Graders and on twitter at @SarahMZerwin
Topics include:
What led to the idea that points get in the way of learning.
How to identify learning targets and communicate them to students.
How to establish a culture of feedback and maintain it throughout the year.
How to report a final grade at the end of a term.
2020-09-2633 min
The Book Love Foundation PodcastA Conversation with Liz Prather and Sarah Zerwin - Season 4, Episode 4Welcome to The Book Love Foundation Podcast! And thank you for joining us in this celebration of teaching and the joy of learning. In this episode, Julia Torres holds a conversation with Liz Prather and Sarah Zerwin on their teaching journeys and ways to disrupt literacy instruction as we currently know it.Click here to view the episode transcript.
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2020-07-3021 min
Teaching UnscriptedGrading without Grades? Moving to a Points-Free System with Sarah ZerwinIn this episode, we're joined by Sarah Zerwin, author of the upcoming book Point-less: An English Teacher’s Guide to More Meaningful Grading. She suggests moving away from something many of us can’t imagine teaching without: grades.Her book takes on students’ obsession with grades by replacing traditional letter grades with descriptive feedback on their work.Sarah talks about the journey she’s taken to move from traditional grading, to letting go of points completely, and what can other teachers expect if they go on the same journey?© Heinemann Publishing 2020See Priva...
2020-03-1222 min