STEP 5: Peer-to-Peer Feedback Discussion (Summer 2016)

Be Kind

     Get to the Point  I like..., I think..., I believe that...

     NO:  Nice work, but...

Be Helpful (not repetitive/don't copy someone else's feedback/look for something else)

      Tell them WHAT they need to improve or fix.

BE specific - no general comments, DO NOT use "Nice job"

      Tell them exactly where the spelling errors or punctuation errors are, etc.

I think selecting the more appropriate times for peer-to-peer feedback is vital.  At the high school level, students tend to be more focused on the completion of the process rather than the quality of feedback.  Some of that falls on my shoulders, but I think another aspect of that is that feedback activities are most effective when the student realizes its worth.  Sometimes they are disengaged with the opportunity to get feedback, which is why I suggest using it with a bit more sparingly than sometimes is done.

I think every feedback session I've experienced had some form of each of the characters from the video (although my colleagues were not quite as extreme) and managing that environment is difficult.  Maybe the progression as the year goes on is to establish a protocol (norms) that can be as simple as "what would Mr. Johnson think/write about this product" before turning in could be the most effective use.  We frequently do lab partners, where the expectation is that these types of conversations are being had - and both receive an equal grade on the product, which is justified in that both had equal opportunities for feedback and discussion to arrive at an acceptable response.  I wonder if an accountability aspect is something that could make the peer-to-peer more effective?  Not sure what that looks like in practice though, for not all feedback is worthy of revision.

Peer feedback, in my experience, has hinged on me. There has to be clear guidelines for the students, a rubric or something like it to focus students so it doesn't turn into a "Good Job!" party.

The successful implementation of peer to peer feedback fundamentally comes down to classroom management and classroom environment. Students need to feel safe to be honest but they also need to be given the tools and be shown/taught how to give valuable feedback. This isn't something, I believe, that can be done on day one of the new school year. It's an entire shift in teaching practice - if it's to be done right.

I really like the RISE model and will look into setting up some norms or developing a rubric that would correlate to Physical Education.  

I really want to use more peer-peer assessment in my class on a daily basis.  I feel students are very defensive when it comes to constructive feedback in PE class. Often I get the defensive kid or the kid who doesn't like sports anyways so the motivation can be very low.   I teach a class where students perform in front of an audience daily.  I want to involve my students in setting up the norms because it creates a culture that may give students confidence. It is a teaching shift, it can be done by students practicing the norms they have created and practicing giving feedback that is valuable to their partners. 

I do a lot of peer feedback when students are writing. This generally occurs when students are editing and revising their papers. The students generally pick a partner to peer edit with and this person isn't always a friend but rather a peer who is in the same spot in the writing process.

The Rise Model looks very interesting - I am going to make a poster of this and discuss possible sentence examples to use when giving peer feedback. I do this but I forget to review often, I do a good job of giving reminders the first couple of times we give peer feedback but I think I need to remind students of things to comment on more often. 

I have found success by giving students a detailed checklist.  We move as a class to each step of the checklist to avoid 'speedy sam' students.  This seemed to give all students adequate time to be specific about the task on the checklist. 

I would really like to develop a plan for training my students to give good feedback, and I am intrigued by creating a rubric for student's feedback to each other (and a method for me to give students feedback on their feedback). I'd like to combine this feedback training with specific goals for the students to provide peer feedback on in a loop throughout a writing unit. 

I liked the ideas of being kind, being detailed, staying focused.  In my experience, I have had to give a very detailed lists for students to follow.  I have also modeled what I expected.  Without giving good support, direction, and examples of how to this, kids won't do well.  

If you allow students to help develop the norms, I think it will help them internalize the importance of the review process.  

If students can become successful at peer reviews, they are going to expect more from our feedback as well.  We can learn from our students.  

Certainly my feedback should always be specific, kind, and helpful! I can imagine that norming feedback heavy on the front end could benefit us all in the end. 

Having norms for feedback allows for more productive feedback. It helps student better interact with their peers in the learning process.

A lot of interested material about feedback.  I think that most important thing is that it needs to be specific.  The part I struggle with is finding the time to give good specific feedback.

I totally agree with all of those who stated that providing effective feedback needs to be taught.  It might me taking a little more time in the beginning, but it will be more beneficial throughout the entire process.

Even though I teach mostly seniors I think that keeping it simple can work well.  I like the Be Kind, Be Helpful, Be Specific model.  As the year progress you could increase the complexity if you wanted/needed.

To be totally honest, I am kind of struggling to see how I would use this more than twice in a semester.  I can think of two projects off of the top of my head that I can see this working well with.  Like Scott mentioned in a different forum, with my course a lot if it is either right or wrong.

Feedback norms should change throughout the year as students grow and become better at providing feedback. This change is proof of student growth.  Students need to be taught how to provide beneficial feedback.   2 stars and a wish may be good to use at the beginning of the year, but with growth, this can change.

In order to use peer to peer feedback I think that you need lots of practice.  It will look different at the beginning of the year and maybe even take less time once the common practice is established. I feel that this is hard to implement in a math classroom because of efficiency issues.  The one area that it might apply best is when working with story problems.

I really liked the idea of "Two Stars and a Wish".  I think this will help students be motivated as it is short and to the point.  I know my daughter hates peer-to-peer feedback in classes because she usually ends up with someone who doesn't care or who is overly critical.  I think giving specific requirements for the feedback is necessary for kids. 

I believe that to have quality peer-to-peer feedback requires having established norms and excellent classroom management skills.  If you want the peer-to-peer feedback to be valuable, you need to take the time to teach your students how it should and should not be done.  The resources provided are excellent starting points and something that I will incorporate in the coming school year.

I have been reading through some of the responses within this section.  I think it is clear that different levels of students require different ways/forms of peer editing.  Regardless of the age, however, I believe peer feedback needs to be taught and then guided in the beginning stages.  I like the idea of the ladder or rise guide for feedback. It is a clear path for students to take while trying to provide feedback that contains keys to effective feedback. 

I think the video does a great job of pointing out what not to do in any peer feedback discussion.  

I like keeping the norms for peer feedback simple, be respectful, be helpful, be specific, and be effective.  From there I think the students can help in developing what goes under each of these categories and help in the development of the norms they will be using for peer feedback.

I think the norms of peer feedback can stay the same for all levels but the type of work that you are providing feedback on will obviously change based on the level of the students.  The expectations the teacher sets will also change based on the level of the students and how comfortable they are with the norms and how to provide good peer feedback.

No matter what norms you use in the classroom, I think it is important to model how peer feedback works and what it should look like for your students through the feedback I provide as a teacher.  

I could definitely see using peer-to-peer feedback and I know that I would have to teach it purposely and specifically to the students.  

I would like to try coming up with a collective set of peer feedback norms as a class before we tackle any sort of peer editing or feedback. Students always seem to adhere better to an action plan that they took part in creating. I think that a clear set of objectives (I cans), student-friendly rubric or checklist, and student generated set of norms would set the stage for some great feedback and reflective learning experiences. I will definitely try this in the upcoming year.

The Ladder of Feedback would work very well in my classroom.  Having clear guidelines would help students make comments with purpose.  I have found that when students are focused on certain areas, they are more successful because their job becomes apparent. 

Student participation in feedback will help students individually and as a class better understand the value of feedback and increase their own willingness to accept feedback.  I think students can create these norms through modeling good feedback practices for one another.  Good feedback practices should include modeling feedback to one another.  

I believe peer-to-peer feedback is an good option for providing feedback to students in a timely manner.  In in order for this to be effective though we as teachers must model effective feedback and always monitor the process.  It is important for students to understand the expectations, therefore guidelines and rubrics for feedback are necessary before starting the process at any age level. It may be useful to provide students simple strategies for providing feedback.  As they become more familiar with process, more advanced strategies such RISE could be implemented.  Also in time, as students become more familiar with the process, I absolutely believe the should be participate in developing norms.  Before the assignment begins they are aware of the expectations based on the norms they have developed.  Evaluating peer work and providing feedback also gives students an opportunity to compare and evaluate their own work.  Students can ask themselves, "does my work meet the feedback I am providing to my peer?" 

I really liked the guidelines to Peer Feedback. It was great to see the to do's and the don'ts of Peer feedback. Often times the students feedback is very blah or not in depth at all.  I really like the detail it gives students.

Using models, as described in Strategies to Enhance Peer Feedback, would be very effective for projects. 

While working with students in a class especially designed for struggling learners, I find it at times difficult for them to provide helpful peer to peer feedback to others regarding content. I am not sure how to combat this in an effective manner. This is a simple video that provides helpful tips for me when giving feedback! :)

Giving feedback instead of advice is a must in order for it to be useful to students. Involving the students in the development and implementation of how feedback will happen in the classroom is beneficial. Asking if they have some ideas about how to improve their work. It must be timely, ongoing and consistent.

I think the idea of giving students feedback on their feedback could really pay off for everyone. If students are receiving better feedback they can create better work and if they can give themselves great feedback, this can happen much faster than a teacher meeting one-on-one with each student. The more I learn about this, the more I want to spend quality time teaching my students about what good feedback looks like. 

I think one of the biggest hurdles to jump over in regard to peer feedback is training students to know enough about their own work/thinking to be constructively critical of others, which takes lots of metacognition and self-reflection of what works best for each student individually. It is a process that takes the whole year for students to reap the benefits of learning how they/others learn.

Since my students typically work collaboratively towards our learning targets, I always make it a point to establish norms of peer-to-peer feedback in my classroom.  We have a discussion of the difference between criticism and constructive criticism.  I give a few examples, and though they think it's silly as I give criticising examples, the expectation is that we are all mindful that we are all learners and we need to be sensitive in the way we deliver our thoughts.  I stress that criticism is hurtful while offering constructive criticism involves both positive and correctional comments in a friendly manner to improve the outcome.  

In the lab when students create recipes in a challenge situation, they get to taste each others work and they must leave specific comments when analyzing the food.  I feel this is very beneficial because, if you like it, you have to state what you like.  If you don' t like it, you have to state what you don't like.  The focus is always on the product and we go over what "valuable" feedback would sound/look like.

Wonderful examples that could be used in a variety of assignments, however, when analyzing which method I would use most, the model approach would probably be my #1.  Students are able to view other lab group products and compare to their own.  They can analyze and discuss the differences, therefore, reviewing what went well and what could be improved on.

I think in order to be effective, students need to be trained on how the process works.  As they become comfortable with it, it naturally flows and takes little "formal" time.

Many times when students are assessing other's work, it lends to great learning.  They are able to see other's mistakes, therefore, hopefully preventing them from doing the same.  It is a win-win all around!

I have struggled with Peer to Peer feedback for a long time. Students need to be vested in what they're doing and need to feel feedback is given with trust between the individuals. If you don't have these two things, peer to peer feedback becomes another task in the process, not a valuable tool for revision and growth. Tools like rubrics good examples of student work have helped my students in the past. A Big factor with history is giving kids ample and intensive focused time for review. Also, assuring that they understand the goals and objectives of the project, lab, etc. I have had students create rubrics for their assessment of their learning and have found it to be a useful tool. Kids need guidance in this process and teachers need a willingness to let them fail in some areas, but student really learn a lot from this process and show growth. 

I think it's important that as the year progresses and students get better at this feedback process that they start to move beyond just specific compliments and critiques to the higher end of RISE - suggest and elevate. Don't just say they need to improve their word choice, show them where and how you would do it, i.e. you should use more specific, active verbs in this part right here like _____. We learn best when we are able to teach the concept, so when a student suggests and elevates, both students are actually growing.

Be direct and meaningful with your feedback, model expectations and make a connection with the student you are giving feedback to. 

Effective - Direct - Accountable - specific - authentic and necessary

I believe that feedback needs to be effective and it needs to be necessary. Sometimes we give feedback when it is not needed and this can frustrate students. Students should be able to change and grow from your feedback!

I am most excited about this new learning for me and my students.  I am excited about using peer feedback in the engineering process to allow students to help each other get better as well as improve their own understanding of the process.  This is fantastic information and tools to help me implement peer feedback.  

I like both the Ladder Feedback (its structured for students to follow) and 2 Stars and a Wish. 

I thought the idea of the Thinking Hats was a cute concept, but I have concerns about students focusing on only one area of someone's work (particularly if they are the Black Hat the entire time). However, I may still use the concept of Thinking Hats in my classroom, but in a different form when we discuss careers and community actions. 

I like the RISE feedback style as it is more simple and would be useful for projects or writing assessments.  I prefer a set of norms and a rubric guide for peer to peer feedback.  I believe a simple approach is to do a like and a wonder.... students should be specific and kind in both approaches.  I like how you connected the term to a real life scenario.  I wonder if you could be more specific in your presentation of the term _______ as it is incorrect in this situation.  

I have used peer to peer feedback in my classroom often.  However, I have mostly used to make sure students are meeting the expectations set forth on the assignment.  I have struggled with how to make the feedback process more meaningful for students in order to achieve deeper learning. 

I think I will be able to bring some elements of the Student- Centered Assessment practices into my classroom.  I really like the checklist that was provided with the steps for feedback as well as the Ladder of feedback.  

I agree with many others that the key to doing this successfully is to work on this from day 1 in the classroom.