How to Hold and Grade Better Class Discussions

Grading class conversations can be a nightmare. I usually just avoid grading it, but I always have trouble getting everyone to participate and honor the community of classrooms. So here are a few ideas that I have come across to help alleviate these discussion grading dilemmas.

A group classroom grade is an interesting way to grade discussions. Classrooms that build a culture of we are all in this together seem to run themselves. This approach also allows students to work together like an orchestra where everyone contributes and plays their part to create a symphony. When they don’t, it will sound like a cacophony of noise. Here is what we use in our class for grading discussions.

There are also a few great discussion apps and websites out there that help keep track of student participation. One app is called Equity Maps. It is a paid iPad only that can voice record and map the class conversation. It makes students aware of how much they participate or don’t participate. You can even compare demographics of contributing voices like male, female, and nonbinary.

Another website that is great for online discussion is called Parlay. It gives students pseudonyms of famous and smart people in order to give students anonymity in the discussion, but the teacher knows who the students are. This allows for students to offer more ideas and sharing out of the box thinking because they will not be judged by their peers and they can receive honest feedback with this system. This is also a great discussion tracking website for introverted students or for students who need more time to process ideas before sharing them.

For more information, check out this article.