150 - Finding Joy in Teaching Again with Kimberly Ellen Hall and Dan Guberman

About this episode

The episode discusses how alternative grading can enhance joy in teaching and transform relationships between instructors and students.

In this episode, Sharona and Boz are joined by Dan Guberman and Kimberly Ellen Hall to reflect on a recent Grading for Growth post exploring how alternative grading can make teaching more joyful. The conversation moves beyond the usual student-centered arguments for grading reform and instead examines how abandoning points-based systems can fundamentally transform instructors’ relationships with their work, their students, and even themselves. Drawing on experiences from music conservatories, art schools, mathematics classrooms, and online humanities courses, the group discusses everything from attendance and student motivation to embodied learning, handwritten reflection, and the emotional exhaustion caused by traditional grading systems. Along the way, they explore how alternative grading shifts classroom conversations away from compliance and toward genuine engagement, why arts education offers important lessons for all disciplines, and how grading reform can open space for creativity, connection, and meaningful learning. Links Please note - any books linked here are likely Amazon Associates links. Clicking on them and purchasing through them helps support the show. Thanks for…

People in this episode

Hosts: Sharona Krinsky, Robert Bosley

Guests: Dan Guberman, Kimberly Ellen Hall

Topics covered

• alternative grading
• joy in teaching
• grading reform
• student engagement
• arts education
• embodied learning

Keywords

• grading
• education
• teaching
• student motivation
• compliance
• creativity
• learning

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Grading for Growth, The Center for Grading Reform

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