Hello #TeachWriting I am your guest host tonight. Please introduce yourself with your name, grade level, location and level of comfort using peer review. Qs https://t.co/SmnEdYmby7
Welcome to #TeachWriting, our bi-weekly chat about the teaching of writing. Tonight's leader is @scottmpetri, and we're talking about peer feedback! Take it away, Scott!
I am a high school teacher in So Cal and have been doing a lot of experimenting in my classroom with peer review. I'm looking forward to learning from the #TeachWriting community.
Ben from the Chicago area, currently teaching 6th grade. Will be splitting science/social studies and reading/writing next year. I'd say that I'm okay with peer feedback, but not super comfortable. #TeachWriting
Hello #TeachWriting We are looking for teachers to write 1,500-2,000 word articles for our upcoming Social Studies Review issue on Current Technology Trends for History& Social Studies. DM me for more info. #CAsocstudies@aviblack56
Yes, we've got talking down. It's where they're asked to be careful readers of each other who provide helpful feedback beyond "fix that comma" that can be challenging. I've gotten there a few times, but it takes a big investment. #TeachWriting
A1 I use peer review to check 1 or 2 components of a writing project. Does it have a catchy title? Did they include parenthetical cites? Something students can fix before turning in a draft. #TeachWriting
Hi #teachwriting! Jim from NJ where I am a HS #theatreed teacher & researcher; also teach #youngplaywrights. Peer review is a part of playwriting process for my students
A1. The fact is I've struggled to incorporate peer review in my social studies classes. For me, it seems to work better in an elective (psych) or a non AP class. #teachwriting
A1 - I've most often used it as part of writing workshop. Kids usually do best when they have a "regular" peer feedback partner or "writing buddy" they trust. Lots of modeling can get most kids toward substantive feedback. #TeachWriting
A1: 6th ELA, I pair Ss, especially in mentoring relationships to help with formally structured writing. #TeachWriting We also have a peer review across grade levels where 7th and 8th give my Ss feedback. Teaches empathy with learning.
A1. That's a really good idea. Having peers just check for one component of their peer's work (catchy title, for example). Thanks @scottmpetri#teachwriting
How about asking them to rewrite a title or rephrase the main ideas in the introduction? Sometimes I project three different thesis sentences and ask them to use PollEverywhere to pick the best one. #TeachWriting
A1 - I think building mini-lessons or some structure involving whole-class (or maybe small group too) conversations about student work where you model and encourage specific, substantive feedback about meaning or larger concerns helps. #TeachWriting
You want to give them feedback while they are writing something, not when they think they are done. Looking at one or two components gives them something to fix. #TeachWriting
A1 #TeachWriting
How open-ended can successful peer editing be? Do students need to have explicit instructions to look for particular things, or can they judge the effectiveness of another student's writing as a whole.
A1 I use peer review to check 1 or 2 components of a writing project. Does it have a catchy title? Did they include parenthetical cites? Something students can fix before turning in a draft. #TeachWriting
A1. Recently I produced a doc that had dozens of APUSH style LEQ questions. I then posted this to the AP US History teachers facebook page. Students all over started answering the prompts. This I shared with some of my students. A peer review of sorts. #teachwriting
Q2. When it comes to peer review, I'm very new to all this. So this question is something I can't really answer. Looking forward to hearing what you all have to say. #teachwriting
A1. Teaching playwriting (grades 4-12) peer review comes at all stages of writing. Peers act as audience, providing insight & answering writer questions. #teachwriting
I collect their papers at the end of the class period and hand them out myself. If I run out, I can always give them someone's from another class period. Students like seeing two sets of comments. #TeachWriting
A2 - I think kids - especially in middle school - have a simplified, straightforward notion of what makes writing "good." They seek that easy path, often without conscious work avoidance. They don't see the complexity or the scale of importance. #TeachWriting
A2. Feedback needs to be constructive. I prep Ss in the process of giving feedback by modeling, asking writers to provide questions. #teachwriting#youngplaywrights
A2 - Maybe it's more pronounced in middle school, too - the partners thing. I think they need to get beyond the "I don't like what HE thinks about my paper" drama to be open and willing to learn, and listen. Once you've established the skills and culture. . . #TeachWriting
A3 I have seen students work in ineffective pairs where there is not an equal balance of effort, but overall studies show HS students like peer review https://t.co/LT1eIJlFzR#TeachWriting
A2. I also prepare them by saying we talk in terms of "good/bad", but what we see/hear/feel/think as a result of press's writing. Offering feedback is helping the writer communicate. Emphasis on communication. #teachwriting#youngplaywrights
Agreed. Wrtr has to tell to reader their goal then rdr responds w/feedback on that. Gives it great focus or else rdr is all over the map. can be disconcerting to wrtr. Wrtr is in control, in charge of setting focus for conference (makes wrtr less vulnerable too) #teachwriting
Agreed. Too much focus on the write answer. What if it's a narrative piece? Is the story exciting, engaging. Have them rate it and justify their rating. #TeachWriting
A3 - Over the years that I did this, I think I was most successful when I was fortunate enough that I had some writers already concerned about words and meaning. They helped a lot - kept the climate positive (I was so excited) and made kids want to be part of it. #TeachWriting
Argh. So done with grading narrative. Feel like it kills something in the child to get a B+ after they risk pouring their deepest truths on paper...Would love good answers to this! I just want to thank them for telling their truth, not give a grade! #teachwriting
A3. This is a very interesting chat so far. I'm learning much. Above all else, I'm thinking how I wish there would be a website with articles written by high school social studies teachers describing how they are integrating writing into their classroom.@KQEDedspace#teachwriting
This is why I keep coming back to portfolios, as imperfect and messy as they can be in middle school. Some day I'll make this work - then the grade is about the process and the reflection, not necessarily about the individual products. #TeachWriting
Coming from a teacher with 180 papers title Vietnam War Story, I politely disagree. The importance of a title is it makes someone want to read it. #TeachWriting
I think we need to dramatically downscale the quantity of work that teachers grade and focus on feedback that improves the quality of the work. Too many tasks are one and done. #TeachWriting
A4 I have the nicest students that find ways to compliment their partner's work. Highlight this when you see it. Tweet it. Blog about it. Shout it from the rooftop of the school. #TeachWriting
A4: My Ss are still young. They need guidance on how to be honest without being hurtful. Great lesson on empathy. I always require that they find SOMETHING positive to say. #TeachWriting
A3. Not a fan of the portfolio. No one ever looks at a portfolio therefore not real motivation for students to write. Writing for a real-world audience, now that's something different. #teachwriting
Sometimes. Unfortunately, the kids who need to do this the best are often the worst at explaining their thinking in writing in the first place. It's helpful when I'm structuring feedback, but I'm not sure that it makes an immediate difference to writers. #TeachWriting
In reply to
@LeslieLaud, @SteinatDavis, @scottmpetri
You will get there. I have done a lot of work analyzing student reflections this year. I model by doing thinkalouds with the good ones. I see immediate improvement w next iteration. #teachwriting
In reply to
@bkuhl2you, @LeslieLaud, @SteinatDavis
Politely disagree here. Keeping my writing organized got me through grad school. Many assignments I simply repurposed. Teaching kids organizational skills is important. #TeachWriting
I try to pull one or two really good examples from each assignment and blog about them. One students just did a really nice job arguing a point about The Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong. I will tweet it later. #TeachWriting.
This is really a fishing expedition so I can enlarge my PLN. Only the ELA Ts are using Turnitin and I can't find anyone besides @historytechie that has used PeerGrade. #TeachWriting
A7 Paper version of an entry-level peer review worksheet that I used with my HS students on a Russian Revolution essay. https://t.co/pfWr2v9lM9#TeachWriting
A7 Most of my student writing is done in the Google Classroom. I create a document with exemplars to share with students about what was done well. Strip the names out for privacy. #TeachWriting
A7 I like to use the LDC rubrics, https://t.co/0HFUEgXglL but for Peer Review activities I ask students to only read/comment on one criteria. #TeachWriting
A7 Getting more than one peer to review their work appears to make students' writing even better. Two-Peer Editing Strategy https://t.co/MEhJZvaRGY#TeachWriting
Typically the more specific, the better. Use a good rubric, but focus on only one element so students can explain their thinking and not get overwhelmed. #TeachWriting
We'll be sharing an archive of tonight's chat in a few minutes, and we'll be back to do this again in two weeks! Have a good night, and hope you have a strong finish to this school year! #TeachWriting
Glad you joined #TeachWriting tonight. Thanks to @bkuhl2you & @lisahughes196 for letting me sit in. Wishing everyone an easy & peaceful end to the school year.
