136 - Grading for Physicists, Not Point Collectors - with Chris Sarkonak

About this episode

Chris Sarkonak discusses his journey from traditional grading to a student-centered, skills-focused approach in physics education.

Chris Sarkonak—high school physics and math teacher in Brandon, Manitoba and a PhD student in educational assessment—joins Boz and Sharona to describe his winding journey from traditional grading to standards-based grading, back again, and ultimately toward a student-centered, skills-focused, largely ungraded approach shaped by COVID-era conferencing, Building Thinking Classrooms, and the “ungrading” ecosystem of ideas. Chris shares how removing itemized grades reduced competition and unlocked real collaboration, how he structures learning with labs-first experiences, vertical whiteboards, “note-making” instead of note-taking, and spaced, skills-based check-ins, and how students co-create a “What does a grade look like?” document to anchor end-of-term self-assessment conferences with real criteria—not vibes. The punchline: his expanded, more diverse physics program isn’t “watered down”—students match (or beat) prior exam averages, earn strong AP Physics pass rates with minimal traditional test prep, and even crack provincial top-10 rankings in elite national-level contests, prompting colleagues to ask how to make their classrooms work the same way. Links Please note - any books…

People in this episode

Hosts: Sharona Krinsky, Robert Bosley

Guest: Chris Sarkonak

Topics covered

• grading practices
• student-centered learning
• standards-based grading
• collaboration in education
• ungrading
• physics education

Keywords

• grading
• ungrading
• student collaboration
• physics education
• standards-based grading
• COVID-era teaching
• skills-based assessment

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: (Un)Grading Spectrum, This is How Learning Should Feel, Skills-Based Grading (Simplified)

Places: Brandon, Manitoba

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