I usually had students peer conference in pairs. Sometimes I assigned them, and sometimes I let them choose--it often depends on the type of writing and the relationships in the class. These relationships often fluctuatte, as anyone who has ever taught, parented, or observed preteens knows . . . sometimes just from the start of class to the end!
I believe heavily in developing a community of learners in my classroom. I am intrigued to read more Elbow and Bruffee--as Hairston pointed out in "The Winds of Change," "they [teachers] have no way of knowing that their students might benefit far more from small group meetings with each other than from the exhausting one-to-one conferences that the teachers hold." I realize that the one-to-one conferences that Hairston references are teacher/student, but I think they could probably apply to student/student conferences as well. I'd be interested to see how it would work to set up small critique groups that change maybe only a few times a year that students would conference it and get ideas from--once the logistics were worked out. Paul Deising (in Patterns of Discovery in the Social Sciences as quoted in Stephen North's introduction to The Making of Knowledge in Composition) describes just the kind of community I think small writing groups in the larger community of the class as a whole would reflect:
A community is located by finding people who interact regularly with one another in their work. They read and use each other's ideas, discuss each other's work, and sometimes collaborate . . . Although they do not use exactly the same procedure in their work, there is a great deal of similarity, and the differences are accepted as variant realizations of the same values.
How long are your classes? I teach on a block schedule at the high school level and find my students peer edit on a very superficial level. They always compliment each other instead of really editing. I think this is due to their own insecurities at times. Every once in a while I'll have a student who really edits like crazy, but most of the edits end up being wrong! It is difficult for me to see the benefit in peer editing when I don't have enough time to teach the specifics, nor do I have the time to make sure each student has mastered the specifics enough to edit someone else's work. I love your ideas behind the community of learners though. I think a modeled critique, not so much editing partnership, would be really beneficial at any level!
ReplyDeleteI taught 40 minutes classes. At the middle school level, my aim in peer editing was more of building a community and revising for clarity and style rather than actual editing for grammar, etc (though I did let them do that last)--if that makes sense. We did oral reading, so often, just having another student read the writing out loud to the writer helped the writer hear spots in the piece that needed extra work. I found that often, my seventh graders were a little "too" honest sometimes. At other times, largely due to the social upheaval at that age, the editing session would flop.
ReplyDeleteWhat I really would have liked was time to conference with each writer myself. I tried, once, but it took almost four days to get through every student and it was a nightmare logistically. As you mentioned, time really is key--and there never is enough of it. I think peer editing is like anything--the more you practice, the better you get. Bound by time and curriculum demands, however, there just often isn't enough time.
I like the idea of building community. I agree that the editing of grammatical errors often falls apart. I have my students whisper read their work aloud and I have a partner read aloud for them so they can hear what they have written. I have conferenced with all students almost every semester on at least one paper and it does take FOREVER. I do find it to be meaningful for some though. I really like the ideas in "The Winds of Change." I like the practice and holistic development of writing rather than the linear approach.
ReplyDeleteI am with you all regarding building a community. However, my ideals of what that learning community looks like have changed much over the past few years.
ReplyDeleteIn regard to superficial feedback and students just saying, "good job!" to another's work, I have made more progress this year than in any of the previous three. From day one I modeled adequate and helpful feedback, and created focused peer review activities that really allow for nothing less, unless of course the student doesn't care to receive a grade for peer review.
I too, wondered how I could extend the peer review activities beyond my usual partner based design to a small group. I wonder about the logistics/procedures that could be used and the added time consumption.
P.S. I love the the cartoons! :)
I also love this cartoon! I remember in a teaching interview when I was asked my thoughts on peer conferencing. Having only had student teaching experience at that point and therefore not much empirical knowledge of the topic, I told them what I thought they wanted to hear. I can't recall exactly what I said, but it was all in favor of peer conferencing and how it can help students build analytical skills and gives them practice in editing, revising, etc. But, one of my interviewers, the chair of the English department, sharply retorted, "But it's like the blind leading the blind, isn't it?"
ReplyDeleteAlthough flustered for a moment, I mumbled my way out of it. Anyway, this comment often came back to me when observing the peer conferences in my classes. I look forward to learning more about how to better help students effectively critique each other's work.