Tears for Peers

I begin with a peer review story:

Sometime during the first half of my first year of teaching, I designated a class period for peer reviewing drafts of student poems. We’d only attempted peer reviews once or twice before, and the task hadn’t been received or completed with much enthusiasm or effort. In my 2nd period class, they broke into partners and set to work, using the detailed handout I had made as a guide. I circulated throughout the room, listening and observing, and I heard one of my students, Andrew, say to his partner, “Well, I really like how you phrase this line, but I wonder if it would be even more emotional and effective if you move it to the last stanza.” I almost fell over. It may not sound like much, but these are the same students who tended to zip through peer reviews by providing feedback like “Your paper is good” or “I liked it.” So when I heard Andrew offer such a precise, thoughtful suggestion for another student’s work, I could barely contain my joy. I actually got teary-eyed – no joke. I told Andrew what a great job they were doing and thanked them for their effort, and he said, “Are you crying, Ms. Spooner?” and then my overemotional involvement in peer reviews became a running joke for the rest of the year.

Unfortunately, incidents like the Andrew peer review were few and far between when I attempted to have my students do peer reviews. I’m hoping for a bit more effort and involvement from my English 1000 students, particularly since I do plan to make peer reviews an integral part of the writing process. I really appreciated Fiona Paton’s article (290+) for its practical and helpful peer review guidelines. Her article helped me realize the importance of introducing peer review with more than just a brief explanation on the day we were going to do it in class – I really think the key to getting students to do good peer reviews is making them realize they can be helpful to both parties and that the reviews are NOT just busy work. I love her policy of not accepting a finished paper without “a previous draft and written feedback from someone in the class” to go along with it. I’m going to do that. Also, her brief comment about how “a class that is based on graded writing assignments…can never elide (and shouldn’t pretend to) the authority of the teacher” (294) was refreshing. I often feel as though so many of the pedagogical articles I read advocate the giving of all the agency and power to the students, and while I recognize the intentions behind such moves, I just don’t feel many of those suggestions are realistic as long as the teacher is still the one dishing out grades.

Also, Cahill’s reflective article was interesting because I’d never even thought of trying to get the students to create their own peer review questions – I just assumed that they needed the guidance of my detailed handout. I might try to implement her suggestion: start with more guided peer reviews and then wean the students off of the guides as the semester progresses, prodding them to become more active and conscientious peer reviewers as they gain experience doing so. Good stuff.

Question: Do any of my fellow future 8010 teachers want me to e-mail them the peer review handouts I have on file? I don’t claim that they’re perfect, but they’re a decent start, and you can modify them to fit your own needs. Just let me know.