Real revision: How to foster it?

Here's what Bill Hart-Davidson says about growth in writing skill:

"In a nutshell, what helps students improve is a program of deliberate practice with an emphasis on the following four activities:
  1. Giving high quality (criterion referenced, specific, and actionable) feedback on others’ writing
  2. Planning Revision focused on higher order concerns (not merely grammar, spelling, etc)
  3. Criterion-referenced review (a.k.a. critical reading)
  4. Reflective writing about all of the above, referencing specific learning goals related to writing" (from the link above)
Some comments/thoughts/claims of mine to put alongside his list:

  • Real revision occurs when a student understands feedback, owns the feedback, and wants to make change.
  • How can we help students pay attention to peer feedback (even if it's bad or they choose not to address it)?
  • How do we make sure there is a moment when a student gets a grade/feedback during which they give it (purposeful?) attention?
  • Good feedback should allow a student both to revise current work and to revise the way they approach and draft other writing projects. Low-road and high-road transfer are both goals.
  • How (and when) does self-assessment fit into the process?
  • Why are students often better at critiquing others' work than assessing their own work? How can we leverage that awareness for improved revision?

Another scholar-teacher musing to consider (including a link to a grading contract approach):



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