Angie Siegfried - Blog #4

1. Critical Friends help teachers become more reflective about their practice through the constructive feedback given by their peers.  Instead of hearing a constructive criticism and giving a knee-jerk response, the teacher cannot speak, only listen and take the recommendations or feedback to heart. Viewing the project through different eyes caused the teacher to realize areas that were not clearly defined and that more scaffolding was needed to create quality work. Critical Friends brings in different perspectives and strengths which can also help a teacher grow.


2. A safe environment and a mutual, professional respect must be established for teachers to gain the insight and reflection the protocol can provide.  If the relationship and respect are missing, a teacher can take offense to the feedback given and not experience the reflection and growth from the process.


3. Critical Friends could be used as the critique and revision section of a PBL. Students would definitely need to see the process modeled and practice in order to get the most out of the process.



4. I plan to use the Consensus Protocol (student-student) and the Gallery Walk (teacher-student and student-student). I feel it is important for students to participate in Critical Friends, but the protocol must be modeled, practiced, and rules or an agreement on how to respond should be in place. Middle schoolers can be brutally honest so I will need time to teach them appropriate communication and collaboration techniques before attempting Critical Friends.