Effective Commenting

Effective Commenting 

Commenting on your child's blog or class blog  is a powerful way to be involved in their learning. It gives the child feedback on their learning from someone other than the teacher and it helps strengthen the home - school partnership. 

 Below are 5 Top Tips for effective commenting. These tips are based on tips from a teacher and experienced blogger called Mrs Yollis and although they talk about tips for writing, they can be adapted for all posts, not just writing. 

 Tip #1 Be positive and specific - Start by telling the author something that you like about their writing. Be specific about what it is you like. Comments such as 'I like your writing' don't really tell the author much. Instead comments such as 'I like the way you have remembered capital letters and punctuation' are more useful to the writer as they give information. 
 A good way to make sure you are being positive and still providing constructive feedback is to use the 'two stars and a wish' format. This means saying two things you like and one thing you wish they would include next time. Relating your comments to the students specific goal is important. This ensures we give feedback about what they are focusing on, rather than focusing on something they may not be ready for. 

 Tip #2 Add New Information   -  Adding new information or facts in your comments is a good way to keep your comment relevant. Check the other comments to make sure no one else has already said what you want to say.

 Tip #3 Make a Connection -   If someone writes a post that reminds you of a time you did something, then tell them about it. Add some facts if you can.

 Tip #4 End with a Question  -  If you can,  end with a question -  you might get a conversation going between you and the writer. Make sure your questions are relevant to the post though.

 Tip #5 Proofread -   Make sure you check your comment for things such as capital letters and punctuation. Remember 'I' as a pronoun needs to be a capital. Only use one exclamation mark - if you are really excited by the writing maybe use more words.