Blog Post 3

How Can You Provide Meaningful Feedback To Your Peers?

Peer Editing can be a little tricky for some people. This is true in my case. I have always found it difficult for me to peer edit because, like in Writing Peer Review Top 10 Mistakes, I worry about being too picky or not insightful enough. I can read a paragraph or two and notice many things that are either incorrectly spelled, have poor word choice, or just a bad sentence, but it is important for me to remember that they might think differently than I do and thought that the word was a better choice than I did. That blogger could have chose that word or sentence structure for a reason and we, as readers, can not predict what that reasoning was. That is why I struggle with peer editing. You have to keep a good balance in order for you not to offend someone by being too harsh or picky when critiquing, but also, not to be too lenient and let things slide that shouldn't. If you become too lenient on someone or scared when editing, then they will not be able to learn and correct mistakes, you will not be enabling them to improve.

Peer Editing and Peer Edit with Perfection! Tutorial both teach you an exceptional three step system to be a successful peer editor. First, you need to compliment the writer. It is important for you to stay positive and be specific when complimenting someone's work. How would you feel if someone was negative and only pointed things out that were wrong and need to be changed? You wouldn't appreciate and you might even be offended by it. In light of this, always be sure to emphasize the good things they did. An easy way to do this would be to pay a compliment for every negative critique or two you mention. Second, be sure to give suggestions. When finding something incorrect or simply in need or improving, it is important that you give some suggestions on how to make the work better. An example of this could be something as easy as suggestion some words that my be better word choices that can add something a little extra. Lastly, there is making corrections to your peer's paper. This simply means checking spelling, grammar, punctuations, and sentences. If you see mistakes in any of those areas, then do not be afraid to nicely correct them. Peer editing can really be an exceptional learning tool, but it is important that you remember these three things: stay positive, be specific, and complete all three steps.