5 Ways to Help Students Focus on Learning Rather Than Grades

When teachers give retakes and shift the way they talk about grades, students concentrate on the skills they’re gaining—not their scores.

By Crystal Frommert
June 30, 2021 in Edutopia

Excerpt:

The reality is they check their grades online constantly. They ask questions like:

How many points off if I forgot units?
How much will you take off for spelling?
What can I do to get my average up to an A?

After decades of this reality in my math classes, I began to reflect on how my behavior contributed to the grades-obsessed culture. I am embarrassed to admit that I used to praise students based on their grades rather than their effort and improvement. Conferences with parents generally focused on number grades rather than student learning.

As part of my reflection, I found a community of teachers at my school who also were fed up with the grades obsession. We shared strategies and resources that helped us de-emphasize grades in our classes, even though we still had to give them.