Peer Revision

1. Peer Revision Getting and giving useful feedback

2. What is feedback? • Feedback is a: • Response • Reaction • Comment • Criticism • Advice • Opinion • Pointer Feedback is a response about a text given to help make future decisions about how to improve that text.

3. Feedback should be…specific • The more concrete the feedback is, the more useful it will be to the person receiving it. Instead of saying: • Mike sometimes your explanations weren't clear. • Joan, I thought you did an excellent job. Say: • Mike the third sentence of paragraph two was vague. I had trouble understanding what you meant by, “doing a lot of stuff.” • Joan, you described the problem effectively, used transitions smoothly, and clearly communicated your interest and enthusiasm. These techniques made your text interesting to read.

4. Feedback should be…descriptive • Focus on the effect the text had on you, rather than on how good or bad you perceive it to be. Say: • In my experience, essays are written in third person. Instead of saying: • It’s wrong to write an essay in first person. The statement could be a generalization that may or may not be true in all cases. Begin most feedback with, “In my opinion . . . “ or, “In my experience . . . .”

5. Feedback should be… actionable • Commenting on the quality of someone’s handwriting is only likely to discourage him/her. • However, if the person’s writing is impossible to read, you might say, “Barbara, you might want to type your work, and that will help make your text easier to understand as well.”

6. Feedback should be…focused • Choose one or two things the person can concentrate on. • People can usually act on only a few pieces of feedback at any one time. If they are overwhelmed with too many suggestions, they are likely to become frustrated. • When giving feedback, call attention to those areas that need the most improvement.

7. Receiving Feedback • There are many students and only one teacher. • Students learn as much from each other as they do from a teacher (sometimes more!). • Many hands make light work. • The more eyes that have seen your text and given you feedback on it BEFORE the teacher sees it, the better the final product will be because many small errors will have been corrected.

8. Receiving Feedback • Be open to what you are hearing. • Being told that you need to improve yourself is not always easy, but it is an important part of the learning process. • Although you might feel hurt in response to criticism, try not to let those feelings deter you from using the feedback to your best advantage.

9. Receiving Feedback • Take notes. • If you can, take notes as you are hearing the other people’s comments. Then you will have a record to refer to, and you might discover that the comments you thought were the harshest were actually the most insightful and useful.

10. Receiving Feedback • Ask for specific examples, if you need to. • If the critique you are receiving is vague or unfocused, ask the person to give you several specific examples of the point (s)he is trying to make.

11. Receiving Feedback • Judge the feedback by the person who is giving it. • You don’t have to agree with every comment. • Think about the person’s credibility when assessing the validity of her/his statements. • Ask other people if they agree with the person’s critique.

12. Feedback techniques • 2 stars and a wish • Hamburger

13. Feedback techniques- 2 stars and a wish • One thing the writer did well • A different thing the writer did well • Something you wish the writer would change to improve the text

14. Feedback example- 2 stars and a wish • You described the problem effectively. • You used transitions smoothly. • I had trouble understanding the third sentence of paragraph two. Explain what you meant by, “doing a lot of stuff.”

15. Feedback techniques- hamburger • One thing the writer did well • One thing the writer could do to improve the text • A different thing the writer did well

16. Feedback example- hamburger • You described the problem effectively. • I had trouble understanding the third sentence of paragraph two. Explain what you meant by, “doing a lot of stuff.” • You used transitions smoothly.