Friday, September 30, 2011

When You Read and Share a Student's Writing, What is the First Thing You Comment on?

You are conferencing with a student to give him/her feedback on what they've written.  What do you comment on first?

The way we provide feedback to our students can have an enormous impact on their motivation to write.

The keynote below has some interesting points about what we do as teachers in terms of providing feedback, what the most common forms of feedback are in our classrooms; the information may surprise you.  What are the most effective types of feedback in terms of motivation and achievement and in promoting a love of writing?

I would be interested in hearing your thoughts - what rings true for you?  What surprises you?  What questions do you have circling?

The key message is to focus on the content first - the deep features - not the surface ones.  They are still important and are part of Reader Courtesy but, if you want to have motivated writers, focus on the message first - the content.

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