Peer Conferencing...

Meeting with peers to edit our narratives last week reminded me a lot of grade school- in my language arts classes we did a lot of peer reviewing and revising. I always enjoyed the experience- I was one of those book worm-y kids who liked going to school and actually relished the idea of writing something. Ask me about math and my eyes would glaze over in seconds, but when it came to anything language arts related I could talk your ear off! The problem was that not everyone was quite as enthusiastic about writing and revising as I was- this lead to getting the usual "good job" or "I like this" comments on my paper instead of anything especially helpful. I liked the way the step-by-step worksheet guided our revision in class last Wednesday. It gave specific areas for the reviser to focus on and helped the author see exactly where improvements could be made. I don't remember using any type of format like this in grade school, but I definitely think it could have made revision days more fruitful for both reviser and author! Being able to receive (and give) good, constructive criticism is crucial in becoming a better writer, and I think it's important that we equip students with the skills to do so. Like many things, if no one teaches a student how to read carefully and critically we can't expect for them to know how. It's also important that the process be fun and engaging for students so that revising and editing doesn't become boring or something that students dread doing. I enjoy conferencing after revising a paper so that author and reviser can get on the same page (no pun intended!). I would have liked to have had a a little more time in class to speak with my editor and reviser to hear exactly what their comments and suggestions were. In a K-5 class students love having their ideas heard and listened to, and allowing students to have one-on-one or group conferences with one another after physically editing or revising the paper will give them a sense of ownership and authority in the whole process.