Week 4: The WWW Feedback Strategy

In Weeks 2 and 3, you learned about both giving and receiving feedback. If you missed either of those assignments, or if you'd like a quick refresher, take a few minutes now to read (or reread) those pages.

For this week, I'd like to zoom in on a specific strategy (or set of strategies) that you might find useful: WWW: Wow - Wonder - What if...? Having a mnemonic like WWW can be a good way to help you focus when writing feedback. Next week I'll present another useful strategy (TAG: Tell, Ask, Give). Then, in Week 6, you'll start giving feedback on actual projects.

So, this week's assignment has two parts: first, you will review the components of WWW, and then you will practice by leaving detailed comments on some stories. These feedback comments need to be longer and more detailed than the blog comments you've been leaving previously, and if you use the WWW strategy, you will not have any trouble writing those longer comments.

WWW 1: Wow!

Wow! Let the author know exactly where they achieved some "wow" moment(s) when you were totally engaged with the story. The "wow" factor is about being really connected with the story in some way; that might be suspense or curiosity or satisfaction or humor or fear, etc. — it depends on the story. Any strong connection is a good connection. And remember, this is not about generic praise; instead, you are sharing your own experience as a reader of the story, zooming in on specific details:

• The part about the dream made me very curious what would happen. I knew the dream was some kind of omen, and it was cool to see how the plot ended up echoing the dream's symbols. especially the part about the fire.
• I thought it was hilarious when your lady "Odysseus" met the male "sirens" in Rocky Point. That was a totally laugh out loud moment! I never thought about male "sirens" before, and you really made me laugh with that.
• I was so sad when the queen died! You made me really care about her like a real person, and I was caught by surprise when the king betrayed her like that. That is the part of the story I will remember most.

WWW 2: I Wonder... 

I wonder... Another great feedback strategy is to ask questions. Maybe there is something you did not understand about the story; just ask! You can also ask questions that go beyond the story, based on anything you felt curious about while you were reading. Here are some examples of specific questions that could be helpful to the author:

• I understood why the hero had to fill the coffin with gold coins, but I couldn't figure out how he could actually manage to carry something that heavy. Can you find a way to explain how he was able to do that?
• The character of the aunt was intense! Was there something in her past that made her so desperate to get revenge in such a bloodthirsty way? Did her brother even suspect that she would be such a vengeful person?
• Was there a reason why the two brothers both decided to go to the same place to seek their fortunes? That was something I could not figure out from the story, but it seemed like there must have been some kind of reason for that.

WWW 3: What if...?

What if...? Asking "what if?" is a way you can make suggestions to the author, including suggestions for revisions or changes to the story that you think might make it stronger. Explaining your ideas with "if" or "what if" or "if you want" can be a good way to share your ideas while still respecting the author's own choices. Here are some examples:

• What if you left out the part where the boyfriend checked all the windows one by one...? You could maybe leave that out if you want to tighten up the story and make it more focused and intense.
• You didn't say anything about what he heard while he was out there in the graveyard, so I was thinking what if there were sounds like the wind blowing or branches creaking or something like that.
• You might see what happens if you use a bigger font or if you separated the story into some paragraphs. That could make the story easier to read on the screen.

Now... practice!

To practice your commenting skills, you will find TWO stories in people's blogs and leave specific, detailed comments on them. Unlike the usual blog comments which are meant to be more fun and social (like a conversation you might have in class), these comments are different: you are providing actual writing feedback that should help the writer to improve their writing.

Browsing the stories. One way you can browse the stories is by using this page that shows just the story posts in both classes: Myth-Folklore and Indian Epics Story Posts. You can also use the Class Directory to find specific people in class and look for stories in their blogs, or you might have already bookmarked some people's blogs to keep an eye on. You can also use the randomizer on the Blog Comments page. Any approach you want to take to browsing the stories is fine!

Comment length. Each story comment should be 150 words minimum (use a word counter if you are not good at guesstimating the length). And don't worry: if you are focusing on specific details and using the WWW strategies, you will have plenty to say! That's why it is good to have a strategy like WWW to rely on; it can help you in providing different kinds of feedback.

When you are done providing feedback on two stories, you are ready to complete the Gradebook Declaration: