Blog Post #3

Many times when we are editing our classmates papers we are often afraid to tell them the things that are wrong, because we think they will get mad or hurt their feelings. What we do not realize, is many times not telling them the things that are wrong in their paper can hurt them rather than do them good. In the video "What is Peer Editing?" the speaker talks about the different ways to constructively criticize your peers. This video is a good summary of the things that need to be done when editing a classmate's paper or blog post.
She gives us three main things to remember when editing: Complements: When giving complements we should always remember to stay positive. Even though someones paper may be terrible, find the good in it and tell them about it. Suggestions: Make suggestions on things such as word choice, details, organization, sentences and topic. Corrections: Tell them where they need to make corrections: punctuation, grammar, spelling, sentence structure, etc.
Always remember to BE SPECIFIC and STAY POSITIVE! Are you a Mean Margret or a Picky Patty? Many times when editing we can be too picky about things that do not matter and tell them there is something wrong with every other thing, but more times than not we are what would be considered a "mean Margret." When giving our classmates suggestions we need to do it in a way that doesn't offend them, but that well help them. It needs to be done in a way that they will gladly accept the information you are trying to give them. Also when peer editing you need to think about whether it should be discussed publicly using comments or privately through a message. Many times people may not want to comment about major errors on their post if they think that it may embarrass them, or perhaps the issues are too complex to discuss on the blog. These are also some things to consider when beginning to edit your peers post. These videos and the slideshow given on peer editing really help to show us how we should go about editing our classmates' posts in the correct way!