Providing Students With Feedback

One of the topics that's come up during our roving meetings is how are we providing students with feedback on their writing. As I go around and view student writing samples, and talk to teachers, it seems that practice across the building is very diversified. Some teachers stick strictly to "editing" type comments....mainly punctuation/grammar type comments. I think that's a real safety net. Editing comments are a teacher's "default". They're easy to pick out, important, and seemingly quick fixes. What can be harder are the revision comments. How do we help students to revise their written work and add substance? How do we provide them with direction that not only works with the piece of writing they're working on, but that somehow teaches them something that they will transfer to new writing. This is when it gets very difficult and the skills and talents of being a "writing teacher" really shine. There are a few things to keep in mind when trying to provide the type of feedback to students:

1. Ask divergent questions to direct thinking.
2. Point out what works in the paper, but don't give false praise. Look for real ideas or successful arguments in the paper (even if they are underdeveloped) and identify them for the student. Wherever possible, explain why something works. Beginning writers are trying to find what they need to write about, and they often don't know what counts as a good argument or convincing evidence in your academic field. Help them see where what they've said that is productive and appropriate for the discipline, and build your response on their strengths. If you simply say “good job” or “good ideas,” the student most likely won’t be able to make much out of the comment.
3. Premise: Because our educational culture is so preoccupied with error, we need to "go back to school" and learn how to praise. Paul B. Diederich concluded from his research in evaluation for the Educational Testing Service that "noticing and praising whatever a student does well improves writing more than any kind or amount of correction of what he does badly, and that it is especially important for the less able writers who need all the encouragement they can get."So how do you respond to student's writing? What techniques have you found to be especially effective?
Post a comment and let us know.Debby