(or, Commenting to Support Learners and Learning)
Learning doesn’t happen in a vacuum. It’s collective and collaborative, and in sharing our learning and asking questions, we can learn from each other. Sometimes our best learning comes from interacting with others and conversing with them about our experiences and struggles in our learning process.
Right now, the students in our class are part of each other’s personal learning community (PLC for short). Having a PLC means having people to turn to when you need more information. It means being able to work through the concepts you’re studying and make connections that you might not have made before. It means sharing, and asking questions, and finding sources of information.
Being part of a PLC, however, is interactive. It’s not enough to simply absorb what others share with us; we need to contribute to their development as well. In some things, we will take the lead, make suggestions and help them develop their understanding. In others, they will be the ones giving us ideas and making us think about our learning in different ways.
Comments on our learning journals, therefore, need to be constructive. Tell the blogger what you really enjoyed about their blog, or the information within it – and be specific. Like any other form of good writing, comments need to give detail and description. “That’s good,” or “I really can’t wait to see your work” on their own aren’t enough. “I’m impressed with how you figured out how to rework the blueprints to make the go kart bigger,” or “It must have been really frustrating when the drawing didn’t work out as you expected it to, but that’s cool that you figured out why and can build on that learning” give the blogger specific feedback about what they were successful at.
Questions can be a wonderful way of continuing the conversation about someone’s learning. Again, be specific: rather than asking them questions that show they haven’t done what they should in this blog (leave that to the teacher!), ask questions that show an interest in what they’re doing. “Can you tell me how you went about setting up your photo shoots?” or “What did you expect when you did your experiment on music and emotions?” are much more useful than “What are you going to do next?” or “What did you learn today?”
Finally, try offering some advice. Do you know a good resource that might help the blogger with their learning – a book or a website? Let them know! Have you encountered similar problems in your learning pursuits? Share what your solution was.
Below are some examples of good comments given by students in our PLC:
If I were you, I would probably think that I’m cursed as well. In all seriousness, I was actually wondering if you were planning on presenting to the class or just handing in your report. Personally I’m really interested in hearing more about your experiment. Let me know what you’re planning on doing. Keep up the great work!i love the unicorn you made, how long did it take? right now, I’m trying to make an owl. did you now that crochet animals are called amigurumi? You probably should start a business, as they sell on E-bay for about $40. have fun crocheting more of them! 🙂
Mady asks a question she’s actually interested in knowing the answer to, and shares some information that the blogger might not have known before.
Your project seems really interesting! What are you planning on taking photos of and showing us? I think your project is really cool! keep up the good work!
Like Mady, Soap asks an interesting question.
As you’re going through and checking out each other’s blog posts, keep in mind these guidelines for continuing the conversation … and always remember the rules of good writing!