Article+reflection+on+what+about+a+feedback+revolution+in+the+writing+classroom?+by+Samet+Deniz

I read the article called “What about a feedback revolution in the writing classroom?” and I found it really informative and beneficial. When I first read the topic of the article, I thought that it would be something about changing the ink color or the way teachers should write. The article consists of three main parts which are: “Why a feedback revolution?”, “What it means to start a feedback revolution?”, and “How to go about feedback revolution?” Icy Lee says that conventional ways of giving feedback are not effective and so much time consuming. Contrary to general belief, she says conventional feedback are not informative and improving, they just make teachers stressed out and make students frustrated as they find their papers with lots of red ink after the feedback session.
 * Reflection on the Article “What about a feedback revolution in the writing classroom?” **

 Icy Lee talks about the fact that teachers spend lots of time while giving feedback to students since they try to correct each and every mistake students make. Instead, she says, teachers should focus on the things they want their students to improve and know. I agree with this comment as I think correcting each and every mistake requires lots of time and it is not necessary at all. This distracts students’ attention and they wouldn’t know which mistake to correct. Instead of trying to give feedback to every tiny detail, teachers should firstly tell their students on which aspects of the paper they will give importance. Moreover, instead of wasting time with writing feedback to every little mistake, teachers should give instructions before the writing session as this will guide the students. Teachers can also teach students the crucial things before writing their papers. What’s more, if students see their papers with full of red ink, they will definitely lose motivation and interest towards the lesson.

 To start the revolution in the writing classroom, first of all, teachers should come together and talk about the possible ways to give feedback and on which parts of the paper they should be focusing on. Then, they should try to get the support of the principles and the families. If they decide what to do among themselves and get the backing of the power-holders, they can then start the revolution. Before expecting the students to write full papers, teachers should firstly introduce the genre and give clear instructions about how to write the paper. I totally agree with Icy Lee here. If teachers tell students what they are expected to do and given clear instructions and borderlines, efficiency and productivity of the students will increase. Giving rubrics is definitely a fantastic and effective way to tell students what they are expected to do and on which parts of the paper they should focus on. When students know what to do and what and how they are expected to write, they will definitely give much better products.

 Process writing is a really good way for giving feedback as there are drafts before the final paper. Including students in the feedback sessions by giving responsibilities to them will increase their motivation and knowledge about writing. If students give peer feedback to each other after each draft, they will know more about what they are expected to do, how the general situation in the class and they will be aware of their friends’ progress. I cannot say that I disagree with this idea as I found it quite interesting and effective. As Icy Lee says, instead of giving marks and score to students, it is much more efficient to write them detailed feedback about their weaknesses and strengths since students will just look at their scores and won’t even read the feedback. If there is a possibility not to write score, it is much more beneficial and effective. I agree with this idea as I was also doing the same thing when I was a student in primary or high school and I saw other students doing it during my school practice experience.

 All in all, I think that all these ideas can be applied in Turkish EFL context with different learner profiles and we need this revolution really much. In my opinion, these ideas have a high validity and range of applicability. If we take these suggestions into consideration, we can see improvement in students’ writings and both sides, students and teachers, will be happier and more relaxed than before.