Our first attempt at using "Quality Boosters" in our class to give constructive feedback on peers' Passion Projects.
My students recently completed their fifth round of Passion Time this year and they have definitely been improving in countless ways! That being said, some students are regressing in a few areas and others continue to repeat mistakes over and over again. I needed some help giving constructive feedback in a timely manner that would be focused on things that we are trying to improve in our classroom. But who could I ask to read and comment that would feel comfortable making suggestions and pointing out flaws in my 10- and 11-year olds' projects? The answer turned out to be my 10- and 11-year old students themselves!
Most of the constructive feedback that my kids have received thus far this year has either come from me or from their partner (if they chose to work with one). My students have received plenty of compliments from students and teachers on the internet via comments on their blogs. They've even gotten quite a few comments that very bluntly complained about something trivial that wouldn't necessarily improve the quality of their product if they chose to take the advice. But they haven't been given enough constructive feedback that would help them improve skills that are transferable to middle school and beyond.
In the past, when I've asked my students to peer-revise a writing piece or give suggestions for improvement after a presentation, I was hard-pressed to find anything of value. Most students were either too worried about how critical feedback would make their peer feel, or they didn't know how to identify or evaluate skills that are important to give critical feedback on! Written suggestions on essays created an environment where students felt inferior to the person who was revising their paper. Face-to-face suggestions are awkward, because you have to see how they react to the news you are delivering, and rarely does someone love to hear how they are wrong!
So today, I introduced a concept to my students that I called "Quality Boosters." I explained it to the class like this:
Most of the constructive feedback that my kids have received thus far this year has either come from me or from their partner (if they chose to work with one). My students have received plenty of compliments from students and teachers on the internet via comments on their blogs. They've even gotten quite a few comments that very bluntly complained about something trivial that wouldn't necessarily improve the quality of their product if they chose to take the advice. But they haven't been given enough constructive feedback that would help them improve skills that are transferable to middle school and beyond.
In the past, when I've asked my students to peer-revise a writing piece or give suggestions for improvement after a presentation, I was hard-pressed to find anything of value. Most students were either too worried about how critical feedback would make their peer feel, or they didn't know how to identify or evaluate skills that are important to give critical feedback on! Written suggestions on essays created an environment where students felt inferior to the person who was revising their paper. Face-to-face suggestions are awkward, because you have to see how they react to the news you are delivering, and rarely does someone love to hear how they are wrong!
So today, I introduced a concept to my students that I called "Quality Boosters." I explained it to the class like this:
In our class, we don't care much about grades. We don't care much about who's better than whom. We care about working together to become the strongest "Me" we can each become. We welcome people's opinions about our work, because when someone takes the time to give us their opinion (even when it's negative), they are helping us improve in some way. And our goal is constant improvement! We don't care where we start from - we care where we finish. We don't care who is performing better than us. We care that we are performing to our highest level possible! |
Today, we are going to watch each others' Passion Project videos and read their KWHLAQ Charts and Reflections. We are going to do so with a critical eye - one that looks for things that could be improved. We aren't going to act judgmental where we sound like we know everything and others know nothing. We won't put anyone down or make anyone feel stupid. We are going to identify areas where our peers can improve to help them be the best that they can be. We will call our critical feedback, "Quality Boosters," because our goal will be to boost the quality of each others' Passion Projects! |
We won't feel awkward or rude, because we're helping them improve their craft. We're helping them make a better product. We're helping them feel more proud of themselves tomorrow than they feel today. When they read our critical feedback, they will know that we are giving them these suggestions because we feel it will make their projects even better than they are today. They know that this is an assignment and not someone putting them down. They know what your goal is, because it's the same goal they have themselves: to help each other improve our projects! |
Let's brainstorm some ways that we can make critical feedback more bearable. Should we be blunt and vague and just tell them that their video stinks? Or, is it better to be polite and specific about ways they can make their video better? Should we say that their written reflection is short and that they should have tried harder? Or, should we explain that a longer written reflection would have clarified what they learned during this round of Passion Time? Polite, specific feedback will help our peers improve their craft. Blunt, generic feedback will only hurt their feelings and cause them to be defensive or dismissive. |
I have three ways that you can write a Quality Booster so that your peer will handle your critical feedback positively. |
After a short discussion where my students offered their suggestions for writing quality comments, I assigned them each one person to give feedback to (by pulling sticks randomly) and said that when they do a GREAT job on that one, they can go on to any others that they were excited to look at. After about 20 minutes, I asked everyone to read their comments and reply thoughtfully. Here are some of the discussions that took place (listen for the reflection and appreciation in my students' voices):
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