Take a look at a new book, Grading Harder Not Smarter, offered by ASCD and authored by Myron Dueck. Knowing that school is right around the corner may have you thinking about assignments and grading. What could you do differently? How can you motivate kids to learn? Dueck makes it very clear that the journey to productive assessment and grading is not easy and mistakes are made. But we should also have the confidence to move past the mistakes or missteps and look beyond to doing what’s best for students.

He identifies four key lessons to focus on: 1) Teachers should grade smarter, not harder 2) We are often better coaches than teachers 3) Learning is  more important than grades and 4) Relationships are crucial. If nothing else, this book should encourage us to reflect on our own grading practices and help us to make adjustments that benefit students. I encourage you to take a look.