Creating Beautiful Work
Janna Steffan
Reflection
1/27/09
Ron Berger Critique
As I watched the video of Ron Berger I was so sad that I was not able to attend his class. I couldn’t believe what the students were producing. I was immediately drawn of course, to the primary student work. The butterfly has really stuck with me and I have sent it to many of my colleagues. I can’t believe that it was all done with student critique! For me, it was a very powerful demonstration of the value of critique.
As Ron Berger read the story written by a First grader, I couldn’t help but think of my students. By listening to the graduate students critique this First graders story I realized what a profound affect it could have on my students. I couldn’t help but completely agree with his statement that First graders are very concrete and often times pick very specific examples with a piece. I could hear the voices of my students in my head. I also saw the importance of using a strong example to teach with. I love that it was student generated and something that the kids could really relate to. It was also an excellent story that would give the students a goal to reach for but written in a language they understand. I realize that this is something that I need to do more of.
After watching this video I understood that there were things that I would like to change in my classroom. The day after I watched this we were finishing up stories. I figured it was the perfect day to give this all a try. I took my top student’s story and asked her permission to share it with the class. She was very eager for everyone to read her work. We looked at all the elements of her non-fiction story. Her story was very readable, which was something that my students were all quick to notice. They said things like, “She really wrote nicely on the lines and remembered her spaces between the words so that everyone can read it.” Some students also pointed out that she put a lot of details in her writing, which made her story more interesting. They also noticed that she used a variety of sentences structures.
As we went through this process I was very proud to see my students were able to call out many of the elements of writing that we had been working on. I am looking forward to continuing to push them as they critique their peer’s papers. I have found Ron Berger’s In-Depth Critique Protocol and his Levels of Support for Beautiful Work extremely helpful. I continue to be saddened by the fact that I missed the class but thankful to have had the opportunity to watch this video and begin this process with my students.
Reflection
1/27/09
Ron Berger Critique
As I watched the video of Ron Berger I was so sad that I was not able to attend his class. I couldn’t believe what the students were producing. I was immediately drawn of course, to the primary student work. The butterfly has really stuck with me and I have sent it to many of my colleagues. I can’t believe that it was all done with student critique! For me, it was a very powerful demonstration of the value of critique.
As Ron Berger read the story written by a First grader, I couldn’t help but think of my students. By listening to the graduate students critique this First graders story I realized what a profound affect it could have on my students. I couldn’t help but completely agree with his statement that First graders are very concrete and often times pick very specific examples with a piece. I could hear the voices of my students in my head. I also saw the importance of using a strong example to teach with. I love that it was student generated and something that the kids could really relate to. It was also an excellent story that would give the students a goal to reach for but written in a language they understand. I realize that this is something that I need to do more of.
After watching this video I understood that there were things that I would like to change in my classroom. The day after I watched this we were finishing up stories. I figured it was the perfect day to give this all a try. I took my top student’s story and asked her permission to share it with the class. She was very eager for everyone to read her work. We looked at all the elements of her non-fiction story. Her story was very readable, which was something that my students were all quick to notice. They said things like, “She really wrote nicely on the lines and remembered her spaces between the words so that everyone can read it.” Some students also pointed out that she put a lot of details in her writing, which made her story more interesting. They also noticed that she used a variety of sentences structures.
As we went through this process I was very proud to see my students were able to call out many of the elements of writing that we had been working on. I am looking forward to continuing to push them as they critique their peer’s papers. I have found Ron Berger’s In-Depth Critique Protocol and his Levels of Support for Beautiful Work extremely helpful. I continue to be saddened by the fact that I missed the class but thankful to have had the opportunity to watch this video and begin this process with my students.
