Week 8 Comments and Feedback

While I think the comment assignments are a great concept and are useful with some students, I've also found that sometimes comments can just be empty words or not particularly, depending on the commenter.

As far as others' comments on my work — most are very kind and encouraging, but not overly constructive. I find that many comments (both on my work and in the comments I've read on other students' work) remark on how creative or interesting the story is, and fill the required words with compliments. While this seems nice, it doesn't help me or other students improve our work. 

When I leave comments, I try to avoid that rut. I compliment at the beginning, but then always pull out at least two aspects of the story or project I think could be improved, and actually give advice on how to improve them. I want to be helpful and honest in my comments and I do hope I'm accomplishing that goal and that my comments are actually useful to others.

One aspect of comment assignments I do love is the comments on introductions. It's great getting to connect with others even through the internet (I actually feel like I learn more about other students that way than I would if we were physically in class together). I also enjoy the randomizer on the comment assignments — it keeps me meeting new people every week!  

Overall I do enjoy the comment system in this class and think it has lots of productive potential, but I do wish other students would use it to be a little more constructive instead of just complimentary. Maybe there's a note I can leave on my comment wall to encourage people not to fear critical feedback!

Courtesy of Laura Gibbs. Source: Growth Mindset Resources.
I used this image because it emphasizes my main point here: that criticism is often helpful and we shouldn't be scared to give it to others.