yea for peer reviews?
My report for this class also deals with peer reviews, so I hope I’m not being too selfish if I blog about some of the questions / difficulties I have in regards to this topic. One of the things I couldn’t help but notice was the fact that the first two essays seem to contradict each other in some ways. Paton recommends “a great deal of structure…Response sheets with questions or prompts are a good way of focusing students while helping them internalize the principles you are trying to teach” (294). Cahill, however, says, “I provided them with very general directions: talk to one another, share concerns, help direct your partner’s reading, and be prepared to discuss strengths as well as possible revisions” (306). This seems to be lot of what I’ve found for my report; teachers seem to recommend both ways of conducting peer reviews. About the only consistent thing I’ve found is a general sense that peer reviews are so very hard to make successful.
Part of the reason I wanted to write on this subject is that I did have some very good experiences with peer reviews as an undergrad. Through my classes, I was able to find a few friends that, even after the class was over, we still sometimes would seek feedback from one another on other writing. I’m beginning to suspect that I was the exception. I also think that I may be just selectively remembering the good peer reviews and forgetting the ones that were not helpful. So, I would also not mind hearing from you about your experiences with peer review. My personal experiences have convinced me that peer reviews can be a wonderful thing. However, I think the fundamental problem with trying to theorize about them is that we are trying to develop a method to get every student to give his or her best response every time, and I’m just not sure that can be done.
Part of the reason I wanted to write on this subject is that I did have some very good experiences with peer reviews as an undergrad. Through my classes, I was able to find a few friends that, even after the class was over, we still sometimes would seek feedback from one another on other writing. I’m beginning to suspect that I was the exception. I also think that I may be just selectively remembering the good peer reviews and forgetting the ones that were not helpful. So, I would also not mind hearing from you about your experiences with peer review. My personal experiences have convinced me that peer reviews can be a wonderful thing. However, I think the fundamental problem with trying to theorize about them is that we are trying to develop a method to get every student to give his or her best response every time, and I’m just not sure that can be done.
posted by jhertlein | 5:03 PM
1 Comments:
Hi, Jennifer,
So, I tried peer editing--which was purely peer editing. I used many different types of peer conferencing worksheets. Which actually worked for a time, until students start feeling like it is busy work. They are once again just filling in blanks, so after awhile, I quit that too. There were several things that really helped:
1. I had to get them out of the rough draft-final draft mind set. I spent time talking about 1st, 2nd, 3rd. I used Elbow and Belanoff's model. The first is ideas--strictly ideas--read it out loud--no evaluative comments--only comments on ideas. It's the bones. The 2nd draft conference is the muscle. You start thinking about whether an audience can understand you or not. 3rd is the skin. Check for the surface problems--spelling, grammar, ,and punctuation. I also require first, second, and third draft conferences. But now I only require notes on the drafts. I do this in a very structured way in the beginning. For instance, B and E say that on the second draft, you should go through and label each paragraph with the main idea and also the effect you are going for. This helped students to get in the habit of writing on their drafts. Now, I am fascinated by peer conferencing. It works when you teach students how to talk to one another. We talk about what a helpful comments looks like and what it sounds like, and I model in front of the classroom with a student. I tell them that I am influenced by the writing center model of conferencing, which to me, is more of a conversation. Talking aloud about the writing--getting them to talk about writing and choices rather than evaluative comments makes a huge difference. I think I passed out the audience and response map. I give them lots of opportunities to read what they write to each other--without response. The person listening only needs to say "thank you." This helps students to get used to sharing their writing because they are very fearful of being evaluated. There you go. I could talk all day... :)
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