Irascibly optimistic. Ungrading. Critical Digital Pedagogy. Professor at U of Denver. Owner of PlayForge. Co-founder of Hybrid Pedagogy. Author of Undoing the Grade and An Urgency of Teachers. One of Hazel’s dads. he/him. https://www.jessestommel.comhttps://bsky.app/profile/jessifer.bsky.socialhttps://bsky.app/profile/jessifer.bsky.social/post/3mnxxsak7us2u“The honest work of education was helping students see that most of education isn’t honest work. And then helping them to thrive regardless.” ~ Sean Michael Morris https://www.seanmichaelmorris.com/my-selfie-with-paulo-freire-or-honest-work/11 Jun 2026 00:28 +0000at://did:plc:d7nbyphknqzdg4zthttj2a67/app.bsky.feed.post/3mnxxsak7us2uhttps://bsky.app/profile/jessifer.bsky.social/post/3lsmq3ehs5c22“Turnitin monetizes student intellectual property and contributes to a culture of suspicion in education.” I’m quoted in a recent article from @themarkup.org @calmatters.org and @chronicle.com https://themarkup.org/artificial-intelligence/2025/06/26/ai-detector-california27 Jun 2025 22:50 +0000at://did:plc:d7nbyphknqzdg4zthttj2a67/app.bsky.feed.post/3lsmq3ehs5c22https://bsky.app/profile/jessifer.bsky.social/post/3lqd5yzjuh22mSo far, my review of Bluesky is that it is everything that was unpleasant about 2015 Twitter and not much of what was truly great. I’m still not sure why it ever made sense to clone the structure of a platform that had so thoroughly combusted. I’m here for now, and will attempt to remain open.29 May 2025 16:43 +0000at://did:plc:d7nbyphknqzdg4zthttj2a67/app.bsky.feed.post/3lqd5yzjuh22mhttps://bsky.app/profile/jessifer.bsky.social/post/3lpuyrkwok22aCan we do assessment differently, in ways that increase access, support greater inclusion, improve learning outcomes, and enhance the experience of teaching and learning? https://www.jessestommel.com/the-practice-of-ungrading/24 May 2025 01:32 +0000at://did:plc:d7nbyphknqzdg4zthttj2a67/app.bsky.feed.post/3lpuyrkwok22ahttps://bsky.app/profile/jessifer.bsky.social/post/3lprs2m7cdc2iIt’s been almost two years since I’ve written something entirely new about ungrading. Really glad to have this out in the world. It’s a simple piece but it gets to some incredibly practical aspects of this work that I haven’t written about before. [contains quote post or other embedded content]22 May 2025 18:53 +0000at://did:plc:d7nbyphknqzdg4zthttj2a67/app.bsky.feed.post/3lprs2m7cdc2ihttps://bsky.app/profile/jessifer.bsky.social/post/3lprpll45hc2j"The work of ungrading is to push back on the culture of grades and quantitative assessment that reinforces hierarchies between students and teachers, while reducing both to a set of crude (often inscrutable) data points." https://www.jessestommel.com/the-practice-of-ungrading/22 May 2025 18:09 +0000at://did:plc:d7nbyphknqzdg4zthttj2a67/app.bsky.feed.post/3lprpll45hc2jhttps://bsky.app/profile/jessifer.bsky.social/post/3lpmis4q7bk2q“If education is going to prevail in its mission, it will require those who teach to lead the way. And I believe it can start with small things, like the choices you make when designing your next class, or the sentences you write on your syllabus…” https://seanmichaelmorris.ghost.io/the-pedagogy-we-practice/amp/20 May 2025 16:24 +0000at://did:plc:d7nbyphknqzdg4zthttj2a67/app.bsky.feed.post/3lpmis4q7bk2qhttps://bsky.app/profile/jessifer.bsky.social/post/3lp4wpf5wrc25Very excited that I was invited to contribute to the latest issue of Teaching Media from @jcmsjournal.bsky.social — edited by @lisawj.bsky.social and @jennblaylock.bsky.social and featuring pieces by @jeanketterling.bsky.social @briannajc.bsky.social and more. https://quod.lib.umich.edu/j/jcms/teachingmedia/14 May 2025 11:51 +0000at://did:plc:d7nbyphknqzdg4zthttj2a67/app.bsky.feed.post/3lp4wpf5wrc25https://bsky.app/profile/jessifer.bsky.social/post/3lo4qzafbg222“Rather than focusing on financial education on the ‘Big Three,’ this study suggests improving financial well-being by helping students access public benefits and other material supports.” https://educationnorthwest.org/publications/financial-knowledge-and-basic-needs-insecurity-among-undergraduate-students01 May 2025 16:44 +0000at://did:plc:d7nbyphknqzdg4zthttj2a67/app.bsky.feed.post/3lo4qzafbg222https://bsky.app/profile/jessifer.bsky.social/post/3lmiq4oyty22zWhen 30% of students have accommodations requests, I think: 1) why are disability services units so underfunded? 2) can we make radical decisions to reimagine the pedagogy of our courses to meet the needs of all students? 3) what funding can we advocate for to support faculty development efforts?11 Apr 2025 00:09 +0000at://did:plc:d7nbyphknqzdg4zthttj2a67/app.bsky.feed.post/3lmiq4oyty22zhttps://bsky.app/profile/jessifer.bsky.social/post/3llicq2pcis22Super excited to be a part of this collection. Lots of amazing folks and perspectives represented. Thanks to @lisawj.bsky.social and @jennblaylock.bsky.social and many many others who contributed! (My own piece comes out soon in part two.) #ungrading [contains quote post or other embedded content]29 Mar 2025 02:44 +0000at://did:plc:d7nbyphknqzdg4zthttj2a67/app.bsky.feed.post/3llicq2pcis22https://bsky.app/profile/jessifer.bsky.social/post/3lijzjuglb22dDo not obey in advance. https://educationcivilrights.com/blog/f/regulation-by-intimidation-ocrs-title-vi-dear-colleague-letter19 Feb 2025 14:50 +0000at://did:plc:d7nbyphknqzdg4zthttj2a67/app.bsky.feed.post/3lijzjuglb22dhttps://bsky.app/profile/jessifer.bsky.social/post/3lhzpj2jk3k2wLooking forward to being back in Vancouver for Digital Pedagogy Lab next week. I’m co-teaching about alternative assessment with the inimitable Martha Burtis. https://bccampus.ca/event/digital-pedagogy-lab-kpu-save-the-date/13 Feb 2025 03:08 +0000at://did:plc:d7nbyphknqzdg4zthttj2a67/app.bsky.feed.post/3lhzpj2jk3k2whttps://bsky.app/profile/jessifer.bsky.social/post/3lhhw5qwboc2uOn Wall-E: It knows we're watching it now, 17 years later. It winks at our nostalgia. The movie knew it would become a relic of the past about the future. The cynicism and hopefulness remain intact. It still asks us to listen, even if we didn't the first time. https://media.tenor.com/ujtysPw05X8AAAAC/wall-e-waving.gif?hh=298&ww=42506 Feb 2025 01:19 +0000at://did:plc:d7nbyphknqzdg4zthttj2a67/app.bsky.feed.post/3lhhw5qwboc2uhttps://bsky.app/profile/jessifer.bsky.social/post/3lhhufzhrss2y"It's not every day that you find out you're responsible for three billion deaths." ~ Sarah Connor https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cy081nqx2zjo06 Feb 2025 00:47 +0000at://did:plc:d7nbyphknqzdg4zthttj2a67/app.bsky.feed.post/3lhhufzhrss2yhttps://bsky.app/profile/jessifer.bsky.social/post/3lglzi6lv422lBut, also, you don't have to be silent in the face of bullying. This is why I hate the phrase, "don't feed the trolls." Yes, you don't need to engage, and it's often not useful. But call it out. Point to the systemic shit that fuels and amplifies bullies. [contains quote post or other embedded content]25 Jan 2025 23:04 +0000at://did:plc:d7nbyphknqzdg4zthttj2a67/app.bsky.feed.post/3lglzi6lv422lhttps://bsky.app/profile/jessifer.bsky.social/post/3lglzcvgz6s2lBlock and mute. Realizing I could just hit block is the best thing I've learned on social media. Bullies, bigots, people who make up shit, and people who incessantly shift goal posts just to incite you to engage. The algorithms on many platforms are tuned to rage-bait. We don't have to play along.25 Jan 2025 23:01 +0000at://did:plc:d7nbyphknqzdg4zthttj2a67/app.bsky.feed.post/3lglzcvgz6s2lhttps://bsky.app/profile/jessifer.bsky.social/post/3lglusercc22bCriticism of technology has a history. We have to look back as we look forward. Our pushback on insidious tech (and especially edtech) has to be as nuanced as possible. 🧵25 Jan 2025 21:40 +0000at://did:plc:d7nbyphknqzdg4zthttj2a67/app.bsky.feed.post/3lglusercc22bhttps://bsky.app/profile/jessifer.bsky.social/post/3lg45azuym22eFor folks who want it gathered in one place, a thread with links to (and excerpts from) my public writing on #ungrading… [contains quote post or other embedded content]19 Jan 2025 15:29 +0000at://did:plc:d7nbyphknqzdg4zthttj2a67/app.bsky.feed.post/3lg45azuym22e