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Paradigm Breakers Collective
45 members • Free
1 contribution to Paradigm Breakers Collective
Aug 22 •
Welcome Paradigm Breakers- Tell us about yourself!
If you're here, you're probably tired of the traditional system and are ready to question what everyone else takes for granted. This is where we build the coalition of educators who refuse to accept "that's just how education works." Let's start with introductions that matter: Your Education Origin Story Tell us: - What moment made you realize something fundamental was wrong with traditional education? - When did you first catch a glimpse of what education could be when it truly serves human development? - What unspoken norm in education drives you absolutely crazy? - What transformation are you hoping to create in your classroom, school, or community? What I hope this community becomes: A coalition of paradigm breakers who co-create the tools, frameworks, and courage needed to prove that transformational education isn't just possible—it's inevitable when enough of us work together. Drop your story below! We're not just chatting online- we're building a movement. And every movement starts with brave individuals willing to share their truth and vision for something better. Let's revolutionize education together! Feel free to add new topics, ask questions, share resources, celebrations, and areas for growth. This is OUR platform for the dialogues that will break the paradigm!
2 likes • Aug 23
Hello everyone! I'm excited to be here and have the opportunity to learn from everyone! Growing up, I did well in school but didn't have a good experience. I have a good memory and that enabled me to perform well in school although only the things I was actually interested in stuck with me long-term. After all, studying is really just about getting things into short-term memory to game the test, then you can forget it all immediately after, right? I didn't really question things until I was a teacher and realized that I wasn't really helping students the way I hoped to be. I was beholden to curriculum and had to keep moving forward to get through it all, even if many students were left behind. I played around with different pedagogical approaches, such as gamification, Building Thinking Classrooms, mastery-based learning, and project-based learning, and tried changing up my assessment approach with standards-based grading. I started to see glimpses of what I wanted my classroom to be, but it never really came together until I truly stepped back during COVID and started to come up with a completely new game plan! On coming back from the pandemic, I threw out everything I could. The only remnant was that law requires us to provide midterm and final grades, but I wanted the grade to actually be meaningful for once so I built the structures for my new classroom with students. We looked at what it means to learn, how traditional K-12 made them feel, how they tried to take advantage of the system, and what it did to them if they couldn't. Students chose what outcomes would be important to them for the rest of their lives (turns out it's the skills, not the content) and we came up with how to assess in a way that actually promoted growth. We decided that portfolios would be the best way to create a safe shelter from grades where they can try and fail and try again. When we did need to come up with a grade, students developed the criteria, and at reporting periods they self-assess and advocate for themselves and we have conferences around their learning.
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@chris-sarkonak-6405
Passionate about changing education and student agency! My classroom focuses on portfolio-based, collaborative grading in a model built WITH students!
Active 12h ago
Joined Aug 23, 2025
Manitoba, Canada