Wednesday, June 5, 2013

Blog Post 3

Peer Editing

Both of my peers have had great posts thus far. They both touched on the appropriate material, included the links in their posts, and followed the instructions. Both of my group members’ blogs flow and are easy to read and understand. I did see a few grammatical/spelling errors in the posts, but they seemed to just be simple typos. I commented on both peers’ posts where the public can see. I didn’t go into specifics on their blog because I don’t think that’s appropriate. I think if you can give constructive criticism, in a positive way, then it is acceptable to post on the person’s blog where everyone can see. However, if there are many grammatical errors and corrections to be pointed out, I think it is safe to send it to the person privately to avoid any embarrassment or hard feelings. Even though we all know that by reviewing each others’ work we are just trying to help, it can sometimes still be a little awkward. You never know when someone might take your advice in a negative way. I agree that by making decisions such as this one, we are preparing ourselves for the teaching world. Each situation is going to be different and require an assessment on how it should be handled.

Paige Ellis, a previous EDM310 student, seems to have the same thoughts that I have on editing your peers’ work. She approached her classmate in both a public and private matter. She left the more vague opinions on the student’s blog, and sent the more specific critique via email. I think this is a great way to give constructive criticism without offending your peer.

I think it is great that the peer editing video, What Is Peer Editing, starts off with the definition of “peer editing”. It is important that we know exactly it is we are supposed to be doing, before attempting to do so. Peer editing is looking at someone’s work who is your own age, and making any suggestions, comments, changes, etc. The three steps to peer editing are compliments, making suggestions and corrections. It is important to start of your editing with something positive, to make that person know that you aren’t just trying to pick out the bad things in their writing. If you give your peer a suggestion, you may be bringing an idea to them that they never even thought about, and wouldn’t write about had you not brought it up to them. Sharing ideas, or suggestions, is very important in editing and also in any other class! When making corrections, it is important to look for punctuation errors, grammatical errors and sentence structure. Many people struggle with spelling, and it is important for you as an editor, to pick up on these things in their writing.

I love how the Peer Edit With Perfection Slideshow says that editing is fun. In grade school and even high school, I absolutely loved getting to edit peoples’ papers. Maybe it was because I like to spell and I’m pretty good at it, or that I was able to help someone who wasn’t so good at it. Either way, it is important that other students like doing things like this and helping their peers.

In Writing Peer Review Top 10 Mistakes, they touch on almost every bad way of editing I can think of! It seems a little dramatic in the video, but that’s how kids are! It’s important that they understand not to come off as “Negative Nancy” or “Mean Margaret”. There is a way of critiquing peers without being demeaning or insulting them. As teachers, it is important that we teach our students to stay away from those attitudes, and be positive toward themselves and their peers.

3 comments:

  1. Kaylee,

    Excellent post on peer editing. I worked for a while as an editor for The Vanguard so I know what you mean about liking editing. However, it's also true that some people don't quite know how to take criticism, and I've borne witness to that type many times. It's a delicate balance. If you take care to word your criticisms kindly, though, it usually goes over easier.

    Now, you included a picture in this post, which is good, but you need to have the ALT and TITLE for each image you use. Don't forget!

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  2. Kaylee
    I thought your post was great, and I could not agree with you more on sending out privet notification if there are grammatical, or spelling errors in a peers work. By sending your peers privet notification you save them embarrassment and show respect for their efforts.

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  3. Kaylee,

    This is another great post! I agree with you in that Paige Ellis had the right idea to be more vague on the public comment and more detailed to the classmates email. Especially when reading her blog I felt bad for her classmate. It was so kind that she did not point out all the flaws to the public. I did not see any errors, as Bailey said, just be sure to include those specific codes into the link of your picture.

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