Week 8 Comments and Feedback

• Feedback In
• So far, I've enjoyed the comments I've received from the other students in the class. They tend to be more positive and supportive than actually constructive, but there have been a couple comments that I have noted and used for edits. The most useful ones are usually the "but did you think of this?" comments. Odds are I did, but maybe didn't portray it clearly enough for the reader to pick up what I was thinking.
• Feedback Out
• I think I have been leaving some solid comments and feedback for other students. I always make sure to leave an actionable suggestion, not just affirmation, in order to help improve their writings. I like the WWW model because it balances affirmation, possibilities for expansion, and edits and therefore does not come across as just affirming or conversely too critical.
• Blog Comments
• I do feel like I've been getting to know people via their blogs. Most of them have been pretty memorable so if I encounter their writings again I recognize and remember the author! I'm still happy with my introduction post and blog format because it is pretty memorable (my life is a bit surprising to most people); my only concern is that having read many other blogs, some are significantly longer than mine. I debated going back and adding more details, but ultimately I think I wrote enough to be memorable, and I hit on most of my major highlights...for the moment.
• Looking Forward
• I have noticed through this exercise that I don't really value feedback that has no constructive criticism or suggestions for improvement. Sometimes it can be hard to give out what may seem like negative comments, but ultimately those are useful and affirmation is not, so I'll try to always include that kind of feedback (thus the WWW model, which combines both.) I might make my Comment Wall more interesting, like including a meme or something, because I've decided the wall does not properly represent the dynamic nature of the stories.

You can learn! [Growth Mindset Memes, link]

I think this meme is really important to the feedback process, because often criticism can be misconstrued as an attack. I personally don't enjoy getting criticism, because it sometimes feels like someone is tearing down what I have worked on. However, it is important to remember that feedback is not personal, and to take those suggestions are learn from them instead of getting hung up on a perceived emotional attack.