10.08.13Lauren Catlett Experiments with Helping Students Not Just Take Feedback on Their Writing But Use It
Had the pleasure of observing Lauren Catlett’s 8th grade writing class at Troy Prep last week. I got to see the last (3rd!) revision of personal narratives by Lauren’s scholars. The quality of their writing is pretty exceptional – nuanced word choice; flexible and varied syntax; a developing sense of voice. It made me wonder how she helps students grow their writing skills so quickly.
To that end I was struck by something really smart that she was piloting to get her students to engage more actively with the feedback she gives them on drafts. Generally, as teachers, we put a ton of time and effort into giving students written feedback on their drafts. We take it more on faith that they put as much effort into reflecting on and using our feedback in the revising process. So Lauren asked her students to do a few basic things to make them accountable for engaging with her feedback actively–reading it, processing it, reflecting on it; making sure they understood it. Here’s an excerpt from her class materials:
Read the feedback that Ms. Catlett has written on your narrative. Circle each and every red-blue mark, no matter what, to ensure that you don’t miss a comment. Label positive feedback with a +, and if the feedback is an area that needs to be changed, write a delta (Δ).
Then read Ms. Catlett’s letter summarizing her feedback to you. Write a summary of this feedback on your reflection chart.
