1. "Critical friends" protocol helps teachers become more reflective in their teaching practices by allowing them to receive unbiased feedback from other teachers during the planning, implementation, and reflection stages of their PBL. In this particular video, teachers were looking at the finished products from 3 students of one teacher's PBL. Without the teacher being allowed to comment, she listened to the questions and comments that the other teachers had about the final product, which ultimately confirmed some concerns that the original teacher had about her project. It is a great tool not only for reflection but also critique and revision because (in this case), it allowed the teacher to see how she might do things a little bit differently next time.
2. From the video I watched, it seemed like the teachers had set "rules" about when the teacher could comment and when she couldn't. They also specified that the teacher could share information about the project criteria itself, but not about the students. The other teachers also were very objective in their observations about the completed projects (never getting personal about how they "felt" or what the teacher did "wrong"), and the teacher could then use this objective information to refine the project for next time.
3. This protocol could definitely be used with students (just like we did today) as a tool for reflection, critique, and revision before the final product is turned in. It would be important to lay down some "ground rules" just as the teacher did to ensure that students were being objective and constructive in their criticism.
4. I was skeptical about the critical friends protocol when we talked about it earlier this morning, but after doing it today, I would definitely try it out in small groups with my students (and I could be part of the groups as well, offering some student-teacher critique/suggestions). It requires you to let your guard down a little bit, but framed in the right way (using terms like "I wonder" and "I like" instead of "You should) makes it much easier to accept new ideas and constructive criticism.
Another protocol I would like to use is the gallery walk. I think that students could give feedback to other students in this, and I could even give some feedback using this tool.
Hi Jeneane,
ReplyDeleteI appreciate the thought you put into your reflection and the careful consideration you gave to using the critical friends protocol with your colleagues and with your students. I agree with you that the environment that this protocol is used in is critical to the successful implementation. Having ground rules in place and trying it out in small groups can help support students as they work to learn the protocol and implement it.