I was actually dreading leaving feedback on peer’s work within the eportfolio. The prospect of having to nit-pick someone’s blog post, often packed full of personal thoughts and opinions, filled me with nerves. I know that I am a sensitive soul and can quickly focus on the negatives and overlook positives. I’m my own worse critic but this also means I can’t often step back and re-evaluate work.

My first taster was constructive feedback on my own post, the only criticism being my paragraph length and the lack of view from a teacher’s viewpoint. I breathed a sigh of relief, the positives far outweighed the negatives and those negatives highlighted were areas I wouldn’t have considered myself. I felt I could definitely look into shortening my paragraphs (I get more than a bit carried away at times). I took it from a student perspective as I have little insight of being a teacher but I understood the need to understand the implications on my future profession.

After reading the feedback on my own post I saw how styles of feedback differ, some people write matter of factly, some write conversationally. I tried to give any constructive criticism within questions. So opposed to pointing out critiques I tried to pose questions to further thinking. I appreciate the matter of fact style people have because it is straight to the point and comes across in a more “two stars and a wish” approach.

When it came to writing feedback on others it was a challenge. Many met the criteria and all I could give were new discussion points that led on from their work. It gave me an insight into how personal our blogs can be and therefore highlighted how one topic (the enquiring practitioner) can have a multitude of varying interpretations. It showed the need for collaborative work and the differing ways people can engage in constructive review and the chance this gave to start new dialogue.

I know that as a teacher I will be forever learning, whether that be from peers or the children themselves. I will need to grow thicker skin and appreciate that people don’t have to agree or like my ideas, often the constructive feedback resonates the loudest. When I become a teacher I want to be aware of how my wording will effect young, impressionable children. Indeed any difficulties or mistakes they make are a direct correlation to how well I am doing my job. So when I highlight areas for improvement in a pupil’s work I am in turn highlighting areas I need to cover more clearly. Peer to peer feedback will become easier as we get to know personalities and we can adapt that for the individual.

In conclusion being an enquiring practitioner opens up the need for valuable feedback and honest critiques. There is no point researching areas that will be of no wider use and there is no point in sharing that information if there isn’t a willingness to make change and adapt. This was a helpful exercise and I aim to make more time to not only read other’s work but also leave my thoughts.