Teaching History with Mrs. Byars

I tweeted a late night thought this week that I really didn't think anyone would notice. It's a tweet I almost deleted because I was afraid people would take it the wrong way, I was worried that it would be misunderstood and it was literally a tweet about my actions being misunderstood. Sometimes I worry that sharing the ‘wins’ in my class comes across as bragging but really I LOVE when other Ts share the things that go well in their class or the amazing things they’ve tried! I learn so much from celebrating the success of other teachers. Let’s all keep sharing! — Mrs. Byars 🌎 👩‍🏫 (@mrsbyarshistory) March 26, 2019 I did not expect the number of retweets, comments, or likes this tweet would get and the response to it has left me feeling two very different things. First, I feel uplifted by the support of #edutwitter to continue sharing out the things that happen in my classroom, the lessons I create, and the work I am doing. And at the same time, I also feel reall

Over the past several years I have read a lot of books and articles on grading practices and while I have written a lot about what I am doing in my classroom I feel the need to share some of the books that inspired me and still help me on the path to more equitable grading practices that encourage learning over points. So today, here are three books that helped me establish my grading practices.  Rethinking Grading by Cathy Vatterott  This book remains one of my favorites. It is published by ASCD which is an organization that has tons of resources on grading practices and assessment. Vatterott does an incredible job of addressing the culture, why, and how of grading practices and has the research and examples to back her claims. This book does an excellent job of explaining how going standards-based means you don't just shift how you grade, you also have to shift how you teach.  "Standards-based grading is not just about changing grading—it's a

It is the week before Spring Break and my students and I are hitting that annual frenzy and exhaustion that usually hits hardest those last 5 days before we get one whole week off. In planning this week, I knew I needed to level up, I needed to bring something exciting and engaging while also ensuring my students were learning and reviewing content and skills. I knew I needed something fresh, high energy, and out of the box. So I turned to Twitter and saw so many amazing and inspiring things: Ready to change the game in your classroom? #QRBreakIN puts a high energy twist on old school centers. Shout out to @gimkit and @quizizz in this video as teams work together to crack the codes and level up their superhero teams! Feeling the #EDrenaline Rush with @FCPS1News pic.twitter.com/wRhMZDLm38 — John Meehan (@MeehanEDU) March 21, 2019 First, there is this guy, John Meehan does these AMAZING lessons called #QRBreakIN that take the board games students know and love and