Conclusion/Closure

[Taylor Johnson]

Please evaluate your experience with this workshop. I would like to know:

1. What kind of feedback did your peer provide to you on your feedback to Marissa? Summarize the exchange. Then, reflect on how it felt to get feedback from a peer about your feedback. Did you learn anything new about yourself? About feedback in general? About student writing? etc.
2. Do you think that Ning could be used effectively in a professional learning community at your school as a way for teachers to provide one another feedback? Why or why not?
3. Do you think you will be able to use Ning with your own students? What benefits do you foresee? What challenges?
4. Was this workshop a positive experience overall? Why or why not? Was there anything I could do as a facilitator to improve for the future? Anything that could be done to streamline the assignments or formatting?
5. Would you recommend this workshop to a peer?
6. Do you plan to use Nings in your classroom? Why or why not?
7. Anything else you want to add that these questions did not cover?

Please just REPLY to this Discussion as opposed to creating a new discussion. However, if you want to post feedback as a new discussion, I'm okay with that, too!
Thanks in advance for your honest and thoughtful responses. ~Taylor ;)

[Victoria Davis]

1. What kind of feedback did your peer provide to you on your feedback to Marissa? Summarize the exchange. Then, reflect on how it felt to get feedback from a peer about your feedback. Did you learn anything new about yourself? About feedback in general? About student writing? etc. I think this made me more aware of my response, which helped me to do a better job of responding. I learned that I contradicted myself in my response, and that could be confusing to the writer.
I think this could really open up a way to discuss a lot of things, including discipline. I do feel that students can respond in this way to one another. I think this is something I would like to try.
I see the challenge of making sure students all do this as an assignment. While there are many with computers, there are still many without. I get so little lab time that this will be hard to do unless I make it aI am going to look into it to see if I am allowed to according to district policy. n at-home assignment.
This ws a very positive experiences because it opened up a new venue for finding ideas and grading student writing.
5. Would you recommend this workshop to a peer? I would.
6. Do you plan to use Nings in your classroom? Why or why not?
7. Anything else you want to add that these questions did not cover?

[Taylor Johnson]

Once again, I have learned that feedback is powerful. It is exciting to be able to collaborate with colleagues on student work. I learn a lot from the dynamic of interactions that result from several professionals considering and critiquing the same content...we can really learn from each other and become reflective about our own practices as a result of reading one another's ideas. I would like to see the Ning be used at my own school, but like Kathleen and her colleagues, there has not been a lot of groundswell for us. I would like to do this presentation as a PD at my school, and I'm hoping that will take place sometime this semster, if not next. Since I already use Nings in my classroom, I certainly plan to continue to do so, but one of the things I haven't tried yet is working with my freshmen on the Ning. I am a little more worried that they will be less likely to observe community standards, so I think I will need to take extra precautions to ensure that their collaborations are productive and respectful. I do think that asking the students to help create those community standards will really help with buy-in to that end. Since I will be having my students write persuasive letters to a community official about a community problem, I'm thinking of using a ning to have them provide feedback on their developing drafts, and as a place to post their research. What do you think? What are you thinking you can use a Ning for with your students? I think the possibilities are endless. If you get a chance, check out the links to other blog posts and discussions within Ning in Education that I posted links to on the main wall: look at Scott Habeeb's guidelines for using Nings and Lisa Schwartz' research questions on use of student technology in the classroom (things like cell phones and whatnot) if you are interested and/or get the chance.

Thanks again for participating in my Demo!

Taylor Johnson

[Kathleen Edgar]

1. I think this is a good way to give feedback to an older student (one who understands constructive critism) becasue it gives them access to a variety of different opinions. Some suggestions they may agree with and others they may dismiss but it is good for them to be able to get a wide rnage of opinions from their peers as well as their teachers. Writing is so uniqically individual but when one writes for a specific audience it is important ot know how that audience feels about the wiring. I'm always intrigued by the feedback others give about pieces of writing, it opens my eyes and gives me something to consider when I do my own writing.

2. I tried with a Wiki ... if I only had more time to teach them, it would work!

3. I would be willing to try.

4. Learned more the 2nd time around!

5. Yes!

6. I would like to try if the opportunity to have more updated technology arises.

7. Great job!

Kathleen

[Sharon K. Miller]

1. Tori's response to my very specific feedback illustrates an important aspect of my feedback style: that is, as she said, honing in on something very specific and encouraging students to spend a good deal of time working on a single aspect of the writing. I've found that when students get multiple, general comments for feedback, they act on it sometimes in general ways, which means I still want them to go deeper and spend more time on sharpening and polishing their arguments.
2. I do like the idea of providing feedback to students and then having teachers respond to one another's feedback--it made me think that I should clarify my own strategy and possibly develop some specific instructional materials for it to make certain, first of all, that my students understand the reason why the feedback is so focused, and, secondly, to provide a rationale for my colleagues.
3. My work with using D2L as a course delivery system provides for similar opportunities for giving feedback.
4. A very positive experience---good application of the technology for effective instruction.
5. Yes.
6. Nings, specifically, are not necessarily applicable since I'm using D2L--but there's a lot of overlap and in another situation, I could see it being a very effective tool.
7. Thanks, Taylor. Great job.