Providing Effective and Efficient Feedback

Kris Fry

Spring 2018

Adapted from WRIT 1301 Presentation

Credit must be give to:

Wade Laughlin, Kim Corbey, Kris Fry, Marie McKeighan, Kristin Meister &

Stephanie RollagYoon

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Share your thoughts…. a “quick write”

1. Beyond improving student writing, what additional skills can students gain by participating in writing conferences with peers and teachers?

2. How will these skills help them succeed in college and the workplace?

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Write out your response before we share aloud.

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Good vs. Great

Using the sentences you just wrote on the benefits of writing conferences, please do the following:

Circle any words you consider to be “lame” or “generic.”

Circle concrete examples of tragic word choice.

Using your brain, your table partner’s brain or a thesaurus, change two of your good but tragic words to saucy great ones.

Make a list!!

Every teacher has their own passion and area of expertise beyond the writing basics.

What are the concrete writing skills that students in your classroom can master and focus on in their own writing and in turn transfer to peer editing?

List. Share & discuss with elbow partners.

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Create a common language for KEY CONCEPTS

Format

Topic Selection: Passion

Thesis Statement

Hook

Point & Support

Word Choice

Transitions

Sensory Details

Sentence Fluency

Documentation

What’s on your list?

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You could make this list with your students!

“Substitute ‘damn’ every time you’re inclined to write ‘very’; your editor will delete it and the writing will be just as it should be.” Twain

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Our goal: The Gradual Release of Responsibility

~Doug Fisher and Nancy Frey (2007)

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Our job is to inspire confidence and guide writers to excel. Roots.

I always tell my students that my goal is for them to be independent and gradually rely less on me to complete a well written paper. Wings.

SWBAT:

• Effectively utilize outside resources for feedback
• Identify and articulate specific areas of need, in order to get the most out of a writing consultation

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How can you empower your students to think above and beyond and outside the writing box?

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How can you apply this technique in your classroom?

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What is the common language?

Peer Feedback

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Kristin Fry

White Bear Lake High School

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“Students think revision is cleaning up after the party.

They have it wrong.

Revision is the party”

By poet Billy Collins

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(Mary Buckelew 2017)

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Revision Set-up

Students need to be educated on the revision process and given specific components of writing to critique. Teachers can empower students by providing them a common vocabulary. For example:

Read through this paper and analyze word choice.

1.Circle boring, overused words and provide suggestions.

2. Where can the writer add descriptive words?

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Writer’s Prep

For all drafts and final submissions have students identify key areas of focus for each assignment. This helps with editing, revising, and correcting!

1. Underline thesis
2. Highlight transitions in yellow
3. Bold topic sentences & clinchers
4. Highlight saucy word choice in pink

Revision using Google Docs

1. Create a table with every student’s name. Include an extra column for their thesis statements, essential questions, guiding argument...
2. Change the share settings so everyone can edit.
3. Have students cut and paste their own thesis statements into the table.
4. Classmates will read all of the thesis statements and make a “comment” and provide suggestions on how to strengthen the thesis statement.

Thesis Draft & Student Feedback

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What techniques are strong writers using?

Train students to read like professionals.

Encourage students to read as if they want to become better writers. Whether they are reading a professionally published text or a classmate’s essay, urge them analyze what works and what doesn’t work whenever they are reading.

Have regular class discussions on what they discover.

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The handout has some additional activities that promote collaboration and reflection beyond editing.

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Peer Response Beyond Editing

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Thanks to Stephanie Rollag Yoon,

Director of Minnesota Writing Project

Writing Roundtables by Joanna Imm

Create KEY CONCEPTS mini-lessons from your list and apply them to the Writing Roundtable.

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Writing Roundtables Presentation

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Writing Conferences

(Paper 2--Lucky Child)

Why do one on one writing conferences?

1. Writing is discovery--sometimes that discovery occurs when someone helps the writer prod the words out. (Harris, 2015)
1. “Tell me what comes to mind here.”
2. “What were you thinking/seeing/feeling when you wrote this part?”
3. “What else comes to mind here?

(Harris, M. (2015) Teaching one to one: the writing conference. Retrieved from https://wac.colostate.edu/books/harris/)

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Why do one on one writing conferences?

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2. Writing and drafting is messy--we can help guide students through the revision (Harris, 2015)

• “Let’s talk this awkward sentence out together.”
• “I know you feel overwhelmed that you have completely changed your topic, (or thesis), but let’s make a plan for how to proceed from here.”
• “I’m not sure what to suggest here, but come back to this part and ask yourself: how does this fit into my argument?”

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Why do one on one writing conferences?

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3. Again, authentic writing is messy--students also need empathetic support to persist when they feel “stuck”. (Harris, 2015)

1. Personal space to acknowledge that they are frustrated/confused is powerful, especially for an advanced high school writer. Notably, often their relief is visible--they smile; they want to talk more about their writing; they literally utter a sigh of relief.
2. One student told me that having a writing conference was better than psychotherapy!
3. Supports transition to college writing--asking for help, feedback, seeking resources

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Writer/Instructor Conferences

Students sign up for one on one conferences (15-20 min.) on a google doc where I have indicated my before/after school availability.

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Ground Rules:

1. First come, first served
2. Don’t mess with anyone else’s appointment
3. Sign up for no more than one slot/week

Conference Set Up

Student’s Role

1. Submit draft electronically, but bring hard copy to write notes on.
2. Writer initiates the conversation and closes the conversation: “I would like feedback on….” “By the end of the conference, I think I have made progress on….”
3. Keep the conversation going; don’t expect teacher to make “corrections” throughout the whole piece of writing.

Instructor’s Role

1. Let writer begin conversation.
2. Find ways to affirm that the writer is charge; instructor is a sounding board.
1. Read passages out loud to writer, both strong and weak
2. Switch spots and have student sit at computer and make sentence level revisions--”whispering revisions, rather than reading in normal voice”
3. Offer input and suggestion as a reader/writer, not as grader/evaluator.

UMN Center for Writing

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UMN Center for Writing

UMN Student Writing Support Video Intro

Student Writing Support (sws)

Multicultural Center for Academic Excellence

Multicultural Center for Academic Excellence

Peer Research Consultants (through MCAE)

UMN Libraries: Peer Research Consultants

Peer Research Consultants

Introduce students to available resources.

Excerpt from Student Writing Support Resources for Instructors:

http://writing.umn.edu/sws/instructors.html

Provide prompts to help students clarify their specific requests.

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