Be able to critique their own and others’ work by emphasizing global revision early in the writing process and local revision later in the process.

Going into peer review it was nerve wrecking. I previously didn’t have much practice with this. I felt uncomfortable having to criticize someone else’s work. Not being confident with my own, it was hard to make suggestions for others, thinking they were better than me. Eventually, I realized it’s not that some are better than others. Everyone just has a different mind. We think and perceive differently, which you can see when comparing other’s writing.

This took a lot of practicing to get used to giving critical feedback on another’s essay. I realized it doesn’t all have to be negative when reviewing someone’s work. I gave my classmate, Ben, a compliment on what he was discussing in the first comment. I gave him reassurance that the direction he was going with what he was saying was good and shouldn’t get rid of that when making final edits. In the second comment it turned into a little more criticizing. It’s obvious I had a fear of hurting Ben’s feelings as I question what I’m saying in my comment. Overall, I realized it was helpful to make him think more about what he was saying.

As I progressively got more comfortable leaving feedback on other’s work, I was able to leave a constructive end comment. Summarizing my final thoughts on their draft; what their stance is, where they can improve, and what looks good.

Practicing peer review was helpful in not only finding feedback to give others but also in finding things to look for in my own work. Having another brain and set of eyes take a look at my work was beneficial in improving my writing. I didn’t have much trouble writing away until it came down to the last and final essay. The writer’s block was real. Thankfully to another fellow classmate who took a look at my work, I was able to expand on my thoughts and find errors I missed when rereading over my essay.