Coaches Corner
October 2017
Peergrade
Peergrade is a free online platform to facilitate peer feedback sessions with students!
STEP 1
You create an assignment
You create an assignment, specify your feedback criteria and open the assignment for submission.
STEP 2
Students submit their work
Your students submit their work which can be anything from Word documents to Youtube videos.
STEP 3
Student work is distributed
We automatically assign work among the students, ensuring that everyone will get feedback.
STEP 4
Students give feedback
The students give feedback to the work assigned to them using the feedback criteria.
STEP 5
Students receive feedback
When the peer feedback process is over, the students receive all the feedback given to their work.
STEP 6
You get the complete overview
As a teacher you get the complete overview of the quality of assignments and what feedback was given.
A - E - I - O - U
Want students to take a few notes during a video - here is a great resource to use!
Preview the video segment and select appropriate points at which to pause for students to jot notes.
Show video segment. Important: As students watch the video, do not have them take notes. If they look down to take notes, they will be missing content. Assure them you will pause the video every few minutes for them to jot down their thoughts related to the following categories:
A = Adjective: List a word or two that describes something you saw or learned.
E = Emotion: Describe how a particular part of the segment made you feel.
I = Interesting: Write something you found interesting about the content/topic.
O = Oh!: Describe something that caused you say “Oh!”
U = Um?: Write a question about something you learned or want
to learn more about.
When the movie concludes, have students complete a Pair & Share of their A-E-I-O-U statements.
Regroup as a class and have students share their favorite parts.
Graffiti Boards
Graffiti Boards are a shared writing space (e.g., a large sheet of paper or whiteboard) where students record their comments and questions about a topic. The purpose of this strategy is to help students “hear” each other’s ideas. Some benefits of this strategy include that it can be implemented in five to ten minutes, it provides a way for shy students to engage in the conversation, it creates a record of students’ ideas and questions that can be referred to at a later point, and it gives students space and time to process emotional material. You can use the Graffiti Boards strategy as a preview activity by introducing a new topic and helping students to organize any existing knowledge about that topic. You can also use this strategy to prepare for a class discussion or writing assignment about a text by asking students to share their reactions to the text on the Graffiti Board.
Procedure
- Prepare the Space
You will need a large space in your room where several students (the more the better) can write at the same time. Some teachers cover a section of the wall with butcher or chart paper, while others use a whiteboard or chalkboard. You will also need plenty of pens and markers. For this activity, markers work better than pens or pencils because they allow students’ comments to be read from a distance. It is best if you supply one for each student. - Contract with Students
Before the activity begins, contract with the students in terms of what an appropriate response is and how to express one's discomfort with something in an appropriate way. Students should be told that they are to remain silent during this activity. Make sure students know that several of them can write at once. Students can write their own response to the prompt as well as respond to the questions and ideas that other students have written. They should draw lines connecting their comments to those of other students. Some teachers require all students to post at least one question or comment to the Graffiti Board. - Students Comment on Graffiti Board
Students are invited to write comments and questions on the Graffiti Board. It is typical for most students to be standing near the Graffiti Board during this activity so that they can more easily read and comment on what has been written. Writing on the board often starts out slow and then increases as the board comes to contain more comments that elicit student response. Typically, teachers give students five to ten minutes for silent writing on the Graffiti Board, but the activity can go longer if students are still writing. - Hold a Group Discussion
The ideas on the Graffiti Board make an effective springboard for a discussion. You could begin a conversation by asking students to summarize what they see on the board or what they notice about areas of agreement and disagreement.