Collaboration and Peer Review How To

Collaboration doesn't just happen. We work at it. One way we do this is by partner work on the computer. After posting writing on the wiki, students partner up.  The partner reads the story, essay, or report and provides feedback while reading: celebrate excellent writing, clarify confusing areas, and suggest additions or deletions. The author listens and then revises the work. Finally, the partners edit the writing. Then students switch places so this author reads and comments on the partner's writing.

We follow this process on computers or with writing on paper.




Since feedback is so important to writers, we often play Stars and Wishes. We place our work either on our desks or on the computer. If the writing is on our desks, we also place a blank paper beside it for our peer comments. Next everyone stands up and rotates to the next desk or computer to the right.  Each person reads the writing of this person one time through just to enjoy it. Next students read this piece again to add a compliment or two about the writing either on the comment paper on the desk or in the comment area of the wiki or Google Doc.  This compliment (star) would be about the writing traits and strategies we are learning or have learned. (Note: these areas are also what partners comment on during their collaboration / peer reviewing ) Next the student reads it through for confusing areas and suggest solutions (wish). After a few minutes of careful reading and commenting, students rotate to the next desk or computer. This repeats three or four times. Students return to their own writing to read the Stars and Wishes to decide how to revise their work according to the readers' suggestions.

During this time, the room is silent. Not because I ask for it, but because the students are enthralled and so engaged in their peer review.

Directions for Stars and Wishes

Sample Writing Strategies:


Sample Star:
"funny i laughed at this line: 'it sounded it reminded me of my aunties arguing or just plain old nagging.'
its such a classic you line."

Sample Wish:

"i like the detail in the first sentence

but i think you should add more detail and description and of course more part of the story"

What strategies do you have for student collaboration and peer review?

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Credits

Stars and Wishes Idea from Dollie Evans


Also posted at: What Else 1DR

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Go boldly and scatter seeds of kindness...  Reflect curiosity and wonder...

Back To School: First Days

Back to school means crisp new paper and colorful notebooks covered with the names of friends. It means sharp yellow pencils and pink erasers. It means pink, blue, red, green, and purple pens and markers creating hearts, peace signs, and signatures written in vibrant designs.

It also means moving from running and playing, chores and vacation to reading and writing, homework and school. How do we smooth this transition from learning at home to learning at school? Here are two suggestions.

Rules and Procedures

Instead of telling students the "rules," I ask students two questions. They write the answers to these questions on fresh blue strips of paper, one on each side:

1. What do you think I expect of you as students?

2. What do you expect of me as your teacher?

Each day at the beginning of class I read one slip and we discuss those answers. What is expected of students? What is expected of teachers? -- in student words. We clarify expectations in terms of procedures and guidelines.

What does listen look like and sound like? 

How and where do we turn in our work? 

How does he teacher plan for interesting lessons? 

In this way, students learn the expectations for behavior and procedures, and I learn what in particular the students might expect from me.

The next activity provides practice in most classroom activities (individual, small group, whole class, and presentation) to which this first activity can refer as examples during the discussions of rules and procedures. Finally, I type up their answers as a contract for students and myself to sign for reference and review throughout the year.

Rules and Procedures Application

The following tasks provide practice in independent, small group, whole class, presentation, and reflection activities. Throughout each activity, take time to debrief on what worked and what didn’t to complete work and learn together. Apply these discussions to student and teacher responses in the blue slip activity.

Independent Work with whole class instruction

About Us (Student Directions)
Create an index card (or 1/2 sheet of paper) with the following information:

https://docs.google.com/present/view?id=dg9d35kb_377hcmk4vfg&interval=30

Walk around the room with your index card and share with classmates. When you find an item to which both of you agree, sign your initials by that item on each others’ cards.

Small Group Formation and Work
Return to your area and look at the initials on your card. Look for which initials are most frequently written on your card. Form groups of three based on who has the most in common with you.

In your group, discuss your card and create a Venn Diagram to discover how you are similar to each other member of your group and how you are unique.

Create a team poster with symbols to represent the similar/unique qualities of your group. Organize the pictures/symbols into an artistic poster to represent your similarities and differences. Add a title that fits as a summary or concept for your team and add artistic signatures (see below)* of each member.

Discuss in your group: What does this mean? Why did we choose that title and those symbols? Why is it important to know how we are alike and how we are unique? How do similarities and differences help us?

Prepare to present the information to the class so that everyone in your group speaks to explain your symbols’ connections to what is similar and unique among your group members.

Presentation and Reflection
Each group plans a presentation to explain their poster and discussions. Everyone must speak to explain part of their poster. (Student Talkers Idea from Peter Pappas http://peterpappas.blogs.com/copy_paste/2010/08/first-day-school-engage-problem-solve-how-to-get-students-thinking.html)

During presentations, students listen. After each presentation, students ask questions relevant to the topic and concept to which the presenters respond.

Students reflect on group and individual process, product, and participation. (https://docs.google.com/View?id=dg9d35kb_369d732k3f2)


Posters:



Results
In a matter of a few days, students have jumped right into learning and thinking together, applying the procedures required to be successful in school without a drill into Here are the Rules. Students have listened, read, written, discussed, shared, collaborated, designed, spoken, presented, and reflected in a fun activity that transports them from summer to school. It’s now October, and students are still looking at and talking about their posters which hang along the locker hallway.

What strategies do you use for Back To School?

*
Sample Artist Signature for Sally Fischer
Can you see "S" and "fish+er" ?

!3 Ways to a Non Writer

13 Unlucky Ways to Create a Non-Writer Today


Why would we want to create nonwriters? We don't! But with the schools at the edge of both a funding crisis and a technological revolution, these deserve careful consideration.

First, read the inspiration for this blog at Choice Literacy by S. Rebecca Leigh .

Ponder the path we're on and start a dialogue on our practice in our schools, in our PLNs, and in our tweets. What would you add?

13 Unlucky Ways:

1. Tell children that writers write at desks first, not on a computer, not on a cellphone, and most certainly not while talking to someone else.

2. Correct all misspellings, including txt; U R 2 wrtie wel and purfekt the phurst time.

3. Squash the txtg. Writing is for learning how to organize thoughts and add more detail. Texting is a waste of thought and time.

4. Absolutely, positively no collaboration with another author, especially online. Children have to find their own voice and figure out how to write well without help. If they work together, how do you know who did the writing?

5. Don't encourage writing with photos. They serve a purpose, obviously. If you allow students to write with photos, how will they learn to write a thesis?

6. Only publish online absolutely perfectly spelled work. We don't want people to think the kids aren't learning what's important.

7. Be sure to separate reading and writing; think of the confusion of mixing the two areas. What would anyone learn by reading a blog and commenting on it?

8. Always write first on paper; writing on paper helps you organize. The computer is for revision and final drafts only.

9. Under no circumstances combine media and language. Use the English classroom for written language only; there's no time or reason to include digital media.

10. English class is for writing. Computer class is for computing.

11. Keep writing in the English class; how can children learn to write if they don't complete exercises every day on paper?

12. All research for writing reports must be done from legitimate sources from the library. Take notes on notecards; you won't always have a computer with you.

13. Follow the English text; never follow the style of other authors, and certainly, don't share your own writing. Just keep the kids guessing.




Note: This idea was suggested by fellow tweeter and motivator kellyhines based on an entry at Choice Literacy by S. Rebecca Leigh.

Remember:

Ponder the path we're on and start a dialogue on our practice in our schools, in our PLNs, and in our tweets.

What would you add?


grammasheri

How We're Writing

Our wiki is growing. We've written letters to the future president, created voicethreads on our service, and collaborated with each other on our wiki.

In the Letters to the President project, we drafted and revised collaboratively on Google Docs.

After the Inaugural Address, we discussed the President Obama's call to service, and began a journey through personal journals and goal-setting to make a change to act in ways that would help our community. We are documenting our journey in a form created in Google Docs.

That led to recording our service in a voicethread in which we invited others to join us in serving our country.



Schools in Wisconsin and San Diego are joining the call to service. President Obama may be presented with our voices.

Please look through our work on our wiki. The wiki allows us to draft and revise easily, and receive comments with suggestions so we can improve our writing. You will notice that our new friends from Presbyterian Day School have commented on the Grade 5 pages. Their fifth grade and ours are working together, collaborating and sharing writing projects to become powerful writers. We will Skype, voicethread, wiki, and blog together.

So how are we writing? We are writing in 21st Century ways: collaborating online using the tools of technology that help us work smarter and smoother.

How are we doing?

Filtration Frustration: "Block the Bad; Guard the Good"

Filtration Frustration

I worked two days of my three day weekend designing a wiki-quest for students to research election issues. I arrived at school to a new firewall filter and NONE of my wikis, blogs, lesson plans, or links work -- all blocked by the firewall, including Weekly Reader and Brain Bop! All the science teacher's daily links are blocked. What kind of filter does that, and why? Why is a filter deciding what we can use in the classroom?

I am the teacher, the curriculum designer incorporating technology into my classroom to help students meet 21st Century standards; yet I am constantly defeated by the Technology Department. I just don't understand why ITs decrease access and disregard the teachers moving into the 21st Century. Is it because we are so rural and remote that the ITs who come to our school think we are not 21st Century learners and teachers?

What do other teachers and schools do? What are we who are attempting to move forward supposed to do to convince IT Departments to include teachers in their planning?

Now tonight at home I need to print the information to show overhead, and redo lesson plans because we no longer have access to our sites.

So frustrating to have this filter on legitimate knowledge, especially with absolutely no warning. I don't believe in Pop Quizes. I provide my students with everything they need to be successful-- and then some. Shouldn't teachers be provided the same support? If we all supported each other -- collaborated -- wouldn't that help students even more?

Deep sigh.

My colleagues and I simply want to teach, and be supported in our endeavors to engage students --- who are also wondering why their access is limited at school. Responsible use only comes with the ability to make decisions about the relevance, accuracy, and appropriateness of the sites we choose.

I just had to tell a colleague who phoned to prepare for no internet use; there is no answer at this time.

There is, however, much information on the issues of student safety, censorship, and teaching and learning in the 21st Century:

PEW Internet Safety
PBS: Frontline: Kids Growing Up Online
Student Learning: Center For Applied Research in Educational Technology
Get Net Wise
First Amendment Center
First Amendment
Center for Democracy and Technology
Citizens Internet Empowerment Coalition




www.reading.org/downloads/53rd_conv_handouts/NetNannyornotPDF.pdf