Feedback from the Other Side

Yesterday I wrote about having gotten feedback from an agent. Today I finished grading a set of papers for a 200-level class, so now I am the feedback giver. Because I have been feeling reflective about how it feels to get feedback, it seems appropriate for me to ponder what it's like on the other side. I should acknowledge that I'm pretty sure I care a lot more about my book than any of my students care about their 4-5 page analysis of a Victorian text, so the stakes are really, really different. Still, I am aware that it is sometimes hard to remember that the comments are about the writing and not the writer. When I tell a student she is too wordy, she may feel that I challenge her identity. The student who didn't really have much focus to his argument may wonder if I am questioning his focus in life. In short, even with lower stakes, nerves can be raw and feedback can hurt.

The trick as a teacher, in my opinion, is to treat the writer like she is always revising. Even when one assignment is wrapped up, there will be another assignment. Even when the semester ends and the class is over, there will be other classes. Even when they graduate and go out into the world, they will still write. So every comment is a suggestion for next time, and thus is rooted in a fundamental sense that there is potential everywhere. And because every comment implies a belief in the writer's potential, I hope that the writers will not be hurt by criticism but will learn from it and move forward. Onward and upward with the arts, as they always say at Carleton.