Stacie Oliver
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stacieoliver.bsky.social
Stacie Oliver
@stacieoliver.bsky.social
1.3K followers 900 following 120 posts
Secondary English teacher who loves literature, CRRP, UNgrading & amplifying student voice. She/her. 🇨🇦
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stacieoliver.bsky.social
Ooh, gotcha. Let's try again! I ♥️ Love That Dog as a mentor text! I just did it with 3Cs last semester and they produced some pretty cool writing (not all poetry). Have also used it with 3U Enriched. Takes no time at all to read. I have a class set I can send you if you'd like :)
Sharon Creech's Love That Dog novel title on a bright yellow book background.
April 22, 2025 at 12:31 AM
stacieoliver.bsky.social
❤️
S's Reflection: So far in this course, I have worked very hard to ensure that I am always putting my best work forward. I am consistently triple checking my assignments and asking for peers to give me feedback on my work. I feel that I have grown as a student from the first time I walked into room 217 compared to who I am now 66 days later. In the past I struggled to connect to stories and reading always seemed like a struggle. After reading Long Way Down however, my attitude about reading changed completely. I found this novel so captivating because I had never seen anything like it before. The way Jason Reynolds illustrated the very real idea of violence through verse is what I was fascinated by in particular. I did not really know what it meant to "grow as a learner" at the begining of this semester, but now I know exactly what that means and how to do it. Growing as a learner is being able to understand that making mistakes is part of the process. This means that mistakes can help you in your journey to becoming an outstanding student. In order to grow as a learner I needed to be able to understand when I make a wrong turn and use feedback as a tool to correct my course. As I reflect on my own learning abilities in February compared to now, I feel that I did not know what I really needed to become my a better learner, a growing learner. I now know, that being a good student does not mean being perfect every single time. It means trying your best every time and putting effort and commitment in all tasks. So far in my learning journey, I believe that I have been trying my very best to learn each day and really take in feedback in order to apply it for future assignments. I have learned how to correctly construct opinion paragraphs and what makes it a strong piece of writing or not. I would like to continue to do my best during the remainder of his class by being curious and paying close attention to details while striving to acquire new knowledge each day.
April 14, 2025 at 12:47 PM
stacieoliver.bsky.social
I introduced Gr 11s to Hexagonal Thinking (the gift that keeps on giving) last week & asked them to work together to find connections between the 'big ideas' they've found in their group novels so far. 1 student liked it so much he used the format for his post-activity reflection. Really cool!
Hexagonal hive titled "1956 Hexagonal Thinking Web Reflection," featuring categories like Personal Growth, Challenges, Creativity, and Collaboration, each with descriptive text.
April 7, 2025 at 10:55 AM
stacieoliver.bsky.social
Today was a GREAT day. Civil Rights activist, 2-time Emmy-Award winning writer, producer, director & educator Paul Saltzman came to work with Ss to identify ways to strengthen our school's sense of belonging & community. Ss were in awe of him (so were we). Action plan tomorrow! (Photo permission ✅)
Photo of Paul Saltman sitting on a chair in foreground between 2 tables with group of students surrounding him in front of a library bookshelf.
February 27, 2025 at 11:56 PM
stacieoliver.bsky.social
Hey @theresameikle.bsky.social, look what arrived yesterday afternoon! Excited to share with colleagues. 😀
3 copies of T. Meikle's, "Assessment in Action" book sitting on brown butcher paper with horseshoe-shaped tesk and laptop in background.
February 25, 2025 at 10:31 AM
stacieoliver.bsky.social
During our #ungrading intro, I always show Ss a clip of Tomi Adeyemi talking about her writing process www.youtube.com/watch?v=5mVZ...

I ❤️ how much it resonates with them. This is the moment where they start to understand that any good writing starts as a "deformed potato"...even for the pros.
Image of deformed potato transforming into french fry with student reflection about their own writing process. Black text on white background,
January 31, 2025 at 10:05 PM
stacieoliver.bsky.social
This cracked me up. 😂
Grade 9 student reflection on personal writing goals on pink background.
January 30, 2025 at 1:48 PM
stacieoliver.bsky.social
Student portfolios are in & now the fun of going through them all begins. Starting with Grade 11 College Prep students today.
Had to lol at 1 response to the ?: "Have I seen a difference in my work because of feedback?"
Yellow text box with blue outline on grey background containing student response about the impact of feedback on their work. Student response: found this question to be true as in my work from now compared to the start of the term, my work looked like a drunk third-grader wrote my assignments. But now, I've seen improvements in my work, so they don't look like that anymore. If I keep on receiving Feedback like this, then I can see myself putting out some very good assignments. Below response: White text box with word IMPACT in black font.
January 27, 2025 at 11:22 PM
stacieoliver.bsky.social
There are always moments during the semester when I wonder whether #UNgrading is "working" for Ss. Sometimes it's really hard to tell & I start to question myself. And then portfolios start rolling in. These snippets from the "Learning Journey" stories of a few 9s help reinforce that it is.
Image 1 on yellow background: Student reflection on UNgrading = I liked doing ungrading now at the start of the year I was questioning it and just wished you would give us a grade, but it was a change from having a teacher just handing you your grade…you gave me a lot of good feedback and change my perspective on how I view grading…I have learned a lot about how to be a better writer, reader, communicator, and just being a better person in general. Image 2 on black background: From watching my favorite movie Moana to reading my favorite book The Hate U Give I have realised that English class is not about getting grades but getting FEEDBACK, if I could have feedback for all my assignments instead of grades I would be super happy. I learned to annotate, write a decent opinion paragraph and, most importantly know how to use feedback to my advantage. When I started English on the first day of school I was happy until I heard that we would not be getting number grades but feedback, I was confused, But here I am wishing I could have input on my report card instead of digits. Image 3 on green background: One of the biggest changes I’ve experienced is my confidence in sharing my ideas. In term one, I was hesitant to speak up in class or even share my thoughts on paper because I wasn’t sure if they were strong enough. But now, I’m more willing to contribute to class discussions and share my opinions. I’ve learned that my ideas are valuable, and it’s okay to make mistakes as long as I’m learning from them. This has been a huge step for me because I used to be nervous about putting myself out there, but now I feel more comfortable doing so.
January 23, 2025 at 10:01 PM
stacieoliver.bsky.social
An important part of our Gr 12 seminar process is the peer feedback requirement. Presenting groups receive pages and pages of thoughtful, constructive, and genuine comments on their work, while audience develops their ability to provide effective feedback. A valuable exercise for all.
Example of peer feedback provided on a Gr 12 seminar presentation connecting Frederik Backman's Beartown and Nella Larsen's Passing Slide Text: Q. What lengths would one go to, to preserve their position of power? I feel like the answer to this question is quite obvious, but it also is not specific enough. Because the simple answer is, people would go to great lengths to preserve their power. Maybe going further into why people go to such great lengths would be a good addition. (Ignore this point, they added this further into the seminar.) I really liked the activity because it allowed us to do some analyzing of different quotes ourselves from your group novel. I liked how on the slides you had both Kevin and Clare side by side so that we could compare and contrast really easily. If you are reading the quote that the town knows, I feel like you should also read aloud the quote of what the town doesn't know about Kevin. I really liked how you used a close friend's perspective to show an honest angle of these main characters, as most of their lives they are keeping secrets. I didn't really understand how the objectification aspect went into the seminar question. There were a lot of quotes and not analysis for each one, so they might not all have been necessary to prove their point. The final quote from Beartown was amazing it like shook me because it is so true, after all the work to gain power on the fall down you will think of and feel sad about every single hard step you took to get to the top.
January 20, 2025 at 11:20 AM
stacieoliver.bsky.social
Day 1 of Grade 12 Enriched seminars. Goal is to connect core class novel (Beartown) to another text from "The Canon" 🙄 (Ss choices = 1984, Crime & Punishment, Dorian Gray, Jane Eyre, Little Women, Anna Karenina, Huck Finn, The Odyssey, Passing, Dracula, Handmaid's Tale, Maurice). Bar was set high!
Images of 4 slides (black backgrounds) from Grade 12 seminar presentation. Slide 1: Title Slide introducing topic of Perception vs Reality Slide 2: Big Question guiding presentation. "In what ways does perception influence reality? Which is more important? Slide 3: "If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?" (George Berkeley, 1600) Slide 4: Existence a. Shrodinger's Cat summary b. Link to Beartown - "When Maya shoots Kevin, there is no bullet in the gun. Kevin doesn’t know that, and the impact of the gun is the same, it doesn’t matter what the reality is." c. Link to 1984 - Does Big Brother really exist? Does it matter? Winston asks if Big Brother really exists. The party has the same impact on its citizens either way. It does not matter what the reality is.
January 15, 2025 at 11:19 PM
stacieoliver.bsky.social
1 thing I really appreciate in @theresameikle.bsky.social's Assessment in Action is how authentic it is, just like the author herself. Centring students from start to finish, the evidence-based strategies in this book help educators empower Ss to become invested & engaged in learning. A great read!
Theresa Meikle's, Assessement in Action: Just-in-time feedback to clarify goals, make progress visible, uncover misunderstandings, and move student learning forward stting atop a laptop in a secondary school English classroom.
January 12, 2025 at 1:26 PM
stacieoliver.bsky.social
Gr 9s are developing their annotation skills as we prepare to move into literary paragraphs next week. Some great critical thinking skills from many students!
Annotation 1 Big Idea = Identity followed by student reaction to chosen passage through colour-coding, highlighting strategies, and commentary.
January 11, 2025 at 12:14 AM
stacieoliver.bsky.social
@theresameikle.bsky.social, lookee what was waiting for me at school today! Can't wait to dive in 😍.
Author Theresa Meikle's, Assessment in Action propped up on laptop in a secondary school English classroom.
January 7, 2025 at 12:18 AM
stacieoliver.bsky.social
The original responses from September.
Screenshot of Gr 9 responses to the question: "If someone asked me if I like reading, my reaction would be...". Answers provided in the form of a .gif
December 19, 2024 at 12:49 AM
stacieoliver.bsky.social
At the beginning of the semester, I polled Gr 9s about how they felt about reading. 18 of 27 students answered "not a fan - hate it", 7 were "meh" & 2 "loved it". Pretty depressing tbh. With about a month left in the course, thought it might be interesting to see if anything has changed...
Padlet whiteboard with yellow background. Foreground: Gr 9 posts containing their independent novel titles + authors, a gif expressing their opinion about the text, an example from the book and a rating out of 10 of how much they enjoy reading now vs September (ratings outlined in red)
December 19, 2024 at 12:43 AM
stacieoliver.bsky.social
In June, I asked Ss if they were willing to share their porfolios. Got an email today (little late to to the party, lol) granting permission along with a reflection on the impact of being in an Ungraded class last year. A timely reminder of how important this work is and motivation to keep going.
Screenshot of student email that grants permission to share their portfolio from last year's English class. Student also shares thoughts about how being in a graded classroom this year has been a difficult transition as they feel they are now "chasing grades" rather than focusing on learning and growing. Student also reflected that "we don't always appreciate how valuable something is until it's gone."
December 15, 2024 at 11:20 PM
stacieoliver.bsky.social
Grade 11 College Prep Ss are starting a personal writing unit. As an intro, we read Sharon Creech's, Love That Dog to see how powerful mentor texts can be as 8yr old Jack uses them to work through the grief of losing his beloved dog. 11s then used Jack's poem as THEIR inspiration. Cool results! 😍
3 Images in top left-hand corner: Left: William Carlos Williams' "The Red Wheelbarrow" Middle: Cover of Love That Dog, a novel by Sharon Creech. Right: 8yr old Jack's poem inspired by "The Red Wheelbarrow". 5 additional images: Grade 11 college prep students' original poem inspired by the protatgonist Jack in Love that Dog.
December 12, 2024 at 10:28 PM
stacieoliver.bsky.social
Gr 9s are making cases for their Top 3 Group Novel choices. Those opinon paragraph writing skills from the last unit are coming into play! #iteachEnglish
Written by 3 different grade 9 students: Group novel #1 text choice + rationale as to why they wish to read it.
December 12, 2024 at 12:30 AM
stacieoliver.bsky.social
Was looking for the address of a former student today when I came across this email from 2023. A great reminder of my
#Ungrading 'why' & motivation to continue despite the many challenges that can sometimes feel like...a lot. 😀 #alternativegrading
Hi Ms Oliver! I hope you’re doing well! I have one week left of my first year of university and I wanted to update you and also show you one of my projects:) I have officially been accepted to creative industries at ____ which means that I will me majoring in creative industries with a specialization in fashion starting in September. Without your continued support throughout high school I do not think that I would have the confidence to pursue such a “non traditional” major when I was “supposed” to go into law. A LOT of things from your course have benefited me in this first year, and you should tell your students that university professors are using elements of ungrading and they should take it seriously, because profs and TAs don’t give as much feedback as you do! I am currently taking “refashioning history” and my final for this class is a project on a reclaimed beauty, style or dress trend, involving a paper and a digital artifact. I decided to focus on street wear and my paper is heavily influenced by our class discussions of Dr Dre’s halftime show. This is the video I created! I have pulled so much from your course and as I was editing this video today I thought, “I better send this to Ms Oliver, she would like this” lol. Let me know what you think! Again I hope you are doing great!
November 29, 2024 at 11:53 PM
stacieoliver.bsky.social
I wrote a comment on an "in progress" personal response (feedback was to be given at a later date). Student came up to my desk this morning to tell me how much of an impact that ONE WORD made. Was a good reminder not to take the trust they put in us for granted. #Ungrading #📖 #EduSky
Image 1: Screenshot of student response to Beartown (class novel). Image 2: Screenshot of student indicating response is ready to be viewed + teacher responding, "Powerful."
November 28, 2024 at 11:32 PM
stacieoliver.bsky.social
That moment when a Grade 9 shows you they have embraced the self-reflection process 😍 📖 #alternativegrading #EduSky
1st and 2nd draft attempts of an introductory paragraph based on Nicola Yoon's short story, "Super Human" interspersed with student self-reflection. Commentary 1: "Nothing to do with the topic thingy, but I really loved this story. The writing was top-tier excellence, and the plot was also amazing. I just really, really liked it." Commentary 2: (first person pronouns, blocky in parts, not good writing overall, but this was meant to write fast so I could work off of it) Commentary 3: (this is the best I can do at the moment, but I’m not entirely sure if this is how an essay intro paragraph is supposed to look. I kind of rambled, and I’m not sure if that’s OK. I also don’t like how I did the “basically” part, but I’m unsure as to what else I could put there. I was thinking of “thus”, but I’m not entirely confident that I would use it correctly)
November 26, 2024 at 10:05 PM
stacieoliver.bsky.social
When I started #Ungrading 2.5 years ago, I knew it was going it was going to be a game changer for our classroom. What I didn't realize at the time was just how much it was going to humanize it too.
Image of a Gr 12 personal response to a task requiring Ss to create a visual of the setting in the novel, Beartown, based on the descriptions in the first 3 chapters. 1. Student's response touched on how she developed a deeper understanding of the story and engaged more with the text s a result of having to create a visual representation. 2. Student made a text-self connection as she spoke about how the task reminded her of her own family's journey of immigrating to Canada and the challenges they faced with respect to power and wealth disparity, bias, and outsiders vs insiders. 3. Finally, student commented about how the fact that this class is Ungraded allows Ss to be creative and original and appreciate others' work, rather than comparing their product to their classmates as they do when they feel they are in competition with each other for grades.
November 24, 2024 at 12:14 AM
stacieoliver.bsky.social
I love how this Gr 12 Enriched student chose to communicate her Learning Journey for Term 1. #Ungrading
Page 1 pic of a graphic created to illustrate and communicate how student feels about #Ungrading. She details how it has not only allowed her to improve her learning, knowledge, and skills, but also, allowed her to connect with people on a deeper level and take even bigger risks than she took last year. Pg 2 of graphic focuses on how #Ungrading has helped her on a personal level as well. eg. Not comparing herself to others anymore, broadening her interests, and thinking outside the box
November 21, 2024 at 8:21 PM
stacieoliver.bsky.social
Q4. I try to set up my courses so that students have ownership over their learning from the start, so that when we have to have the grade pitch discussions (boo), it becomes an extension of the mindset they have hopefully already developed. Grade pitch process feels...yucky. #ungradingchat
Title: The Artist Analogy Image on left = Picture of an art studio with caption, "Google Classroom = Your Studio (where you create your art) Image on right = Picture of an art gallery with caption, "Google Site/Portfolio = Art Gallery (where you showcase your work) Screenshot of portfolio expectations for students. Sections include "Personal Goals", "Conferencing & Feedback", "Reading, Writing, Communicating Skills", and "Learning Journey Story"
November 21, 2024 at 11:53 AM