Assess THAT with Tom & Nat! (Assessment, Feedback, Grading, and Learning)
Tom Schimmer
100 episodes
1 week ago
The Tom Schimmer Podcast is a show about learning, leadership, and life. Primarily, it’s a podcast that focuses on current topics in K-12 education. Each week, Tom Schimmer (a best-selling education author, keynote speaker, and consultant) will lean on his 30 years of experience to keep listeners informed and entertained on the prevailing stories dominating the conversations about teaching and learning. This podcast also focuses on educational leadership by exploring how leaders can truly engineer a culture of continued professional growth. Occasionally, this podcast will explore the pursuit of success and happiness as it relates to any walk of life. Through a mix of interviews, commentary, current news stories, questions from listeners, and other segments, listeners will be well-equipped to meet the needs of learners regardless of what role they serve.
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The Tom Schimmer Podcast is a show about learning, leadership, and life. Primarily, it’s a podcast that focuses on current topics in K-12 education. Each week, Tom Schimmer (a best-selling education author, keynote speaker, and consultant) will lean on his 30 years of experience to keep listeners informed and entertained on the prevailing stories dominating the conversations about teaching and learning. This podcast also focuses on educational leadership by exploring how leaders can truly engineer a culture of continued professional growth. Occasionally, this podcast will explore the pursuit of success and happiness as it relates to any walk of life. Through a mix of interviews, commentary, current news stories, questions from listeners, and other segments, listeners will be well-equipped to meet the needs of learners regardless of what role they serve.
26 - Motivation and Assessment: Designing the Conditions for Learning with Josh Ogilvie
Assess THAT with Tom & Nat! (Assessment, Feedback, Grading, and Learning)
1 hour 1 minute
1 week ago
26 - Motivation and Assessment: Designing the Conditions for Learning with Josh Ogilvie
In this episode, Tom & Natalie are joined by CAC consultant Josh Ogilvie for a thoughtful and energizing conversation about the relationship between student motivation and sound assessment practices. Josh challenges the idea that motivation is something students either have or don’t have, and instead invites us to look closely at the conditions we design in classrooms (e.g., through purpose, choice, feedback, and assessment) that either invite students in or quietly push them out. Together, they unpack common misconceptions about engagement and explore why motivation is often a signal about design, not effort or character.
They also dig deeply into physical education as a powerful yet often misunderstood context for assessment. Josh shares why assessment in PE is uniquely emotional and visible for students, how traditional grading practices can unintentionally undermine confidence, and what more human, learning-focused assessment can look like in practice. Whether you teach PE or not, this conversation offers practical insights into how assessment can build agency, confidence, and motivation, rather than compliance, and why getting these details right matters more than we often realize.
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PROFESSIONAL LEARNING EVENTS
-Mar. 18-21, 2026 (Tom) EARCOS Teacher Conference (Bangkok, TH)
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Assess THAT with Tom & Nat! (Assessment, Feedback, Grading, and Learning)
The Tom Schimmer Podcast is a show about learning, leadership, and life. Primarily, it’s a podcast that focuses on current topics in K-12 education. Each week, Tom Schimmer (a best-selling education author, keynote speaker, and consultant) will lean on his 30 years of experience to keep listeners informed and entertained on the prevailing stories dominating the conversations about teaching and learning. This podcast also focuses on educational leadership by exploring how leaders can truly engineer a culture of continued professional growth. Occasionally, this podcast will explore the pursuit of success and happiness as it relates to any walk of life. Through a mix of interviews, commentary, current news stories, questions from listeners, and other segments, listeners will be well-equipped to meet the needs of learners regardless of what role they serve.
