3. PUBLIC CRITIQUE
BE KIND
It's essential that students feel safe in this critiquing
environment.
Students and teachers need to be vigilant against any
hurtful comments: including sarcasm.
Ideally a Public Critique protocol (of these rules) is
explained and agreed by all.
4. PUBLIC CRITIQUE
BE SPECIFIC
Comments like "your work is good" and "I like it" are not
useful.
Important to focus on vocabulary building in the critique
process.
"if we picture our critique as surgically dissecting a piece of
work to improve it, our vocabulary is our kit of surgical tools. If
we only have words like 'it's good' or 'it's bad' we are trying to
do surgery with a meat cleaver. If we want to dissect the work
carefully and put it back together well, we need a kit of
precise tools" Ron Berger
5. PUBLIC CRITIQUE
BE HELPFUL
The goal is to help the individual student and the class
and not for the critic to be heard.
Students should critique the work and learning, not
the student.
9. THREE WAYS OF USING PUBLIC
CRITIQUE
Gallery - use post it notes around the room
In depth – as a class critiquing the same source
Peer Critique
Ron Berger suggests peer critique will happen most
effectively if pupils first carry out an in depth critique
together; both before and after peer critique.
10. FOR MORE INFO…
Buy Ron Berger’s book – An Ethic of Excellence: http://www.amazon.com/Ethic-
Excellence-Building-Craftsmanship-
Students/dp/0325005966/ref=la_B001IGNKPW_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1350767537&sr=1-
1
Read work by Darren Mean or Neal Watkin
See Tait Cole’s blog http://taitcoles.wordpress.com/
Use other techinques too:
Medal, Mission, Goal
SAME (Simple, accurate, measurable & engaging)
One School's example:
http://superteacherborntoteach.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/picture14.jpg
Good, Great, Even Better!
Public Critique
Editor's Notes
Students show us what they know – if they only know 50% of a topic that is all they will show us. Why would they want to fail? We cannot ask students to critique what they don’t know.
Use a vocabulary wall – make sure pupils use this language
Helps concrete their knowledge as well as that of the student they are helping.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eypZnajNdmQ
Use x factor to introduce – they are good at creating helpful comments for this and being very specific. Think about the difference between Twitter/Facebook and ebay – which one is public critique.
