Earlier this evening I wrote in my teaching journal about two particularly successful lessons from this past week. These lessons were journal worthy because they were peer-review sessions, which I've tended to view skeptically. I've generally been uncertain as to the value of peer review. Having observed students over the years, the quality of the feedback is clearly variable and I don't have any evidence to suggest that it makes a tangible difference. On this occasion though, I was quite pleased with feedback my students provided one another. So, for the time being, my concern eased.
Having completed my journal entry, I picked up an article on verbal, written, and peer feedback that I'd begun reading earlier today, and I was reminded by the author of why I've been so hesitant to devote class time to peer review. In this article, the author, Melissa Francis, noted that students themselves were skeptical of the value of peer feedback. Students wondered whether their peers knew what to say, suspected that their classmates might be reluctant to be honest, and were concerned that their friends might be wrong because they themselves were still in the midst of the learning cycle.
So now I'm back to where I began. To schedule peer-review sessions, or not to schedule peer-review sessions: that is the question.
The article, if you're interested, is listed below;
Francis, Melissa. "But Will It Improve Their Writing? The use of Verbal, Peer and Written feedback as Formative Assessment." Journal of Classroom Research in Literacy, 4 (2011), pgs.15-23.
Having completed my journal entry, I picked up an article on verbal, written, and peer feedback that I'd begun reading earlier today, and I was reminded by the author of why I've been so hesitant to devote class time to peer review. In this article, the author, Melissa Francis, noted that students themselves were skeptical of the value of peer feedback. Students wondered whether their peers knew what to say, suspected that their classmates might be reluctant to be honest, and were concerned that their friends might be wrong because they themselves were still in the midst of the learning cycle.
So now I'm back to where I began. To schedule peer-review sessions, or not to schedule peer-review sessions: that is the question.
The article, if you're interested, is listed below;
Francis, Melissa. "But Will It Improve Their Writing? The use of Verbal, Peer and Written feedback as Formative Assessment." Journal of Classroom Research in Literacy, 4 (2011), pgs.15-23.