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

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-grading-podcast-6385485/136-grading-for-physicists-not-point-collectors-with-chris-sarkonak
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-grading-podcast-6385485/136-grading-for-physicists-not-point-collectors-with-chris-sarkonak.md
Podcast: [The Grading Podcast](https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-grading-podcast-6385485)
Published: 2026-02-17T11:00:00+00:00
Episode link: https://thegradingpod.com/podcast-test-page/136-grading-for-physicists-not-point-collectors-with-chris-sarkonak
Audio file: https://episodes.captivate.fm/episode/69448c12-813a-4d1b-ba26-1da3a8f234f7.mp3
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-grading-podcast-6385485/episodes/136-grading-for-physicists-not-point-collectors-with-chris-sarkonak
Duration seconds: 3333

## Resource

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 linked here are likely Amazon Associates links. Clicking on them and purchasing through them helps support the show. Thanks for your support! The (Un)Grading Spectrum, by Chris Sarkonak This is How Learning Should Fell, by Chris Sarkonak Skills-Based Grading (Simplified), by Scott Brunner, @BrunnerPhysics Hacking Assessment: 10 Ways to Go Gradeless in a Traditional Grades School, Starr Sackstein Resources The Center for Grading Reform - seeking to advance education in the United States by supporting effective grading reform at all levels through conferences, educational workshops, professional d…

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