Pupils checking each other’s work
In my class I run a simple pupil-checking-pupil-work system.
- Pupil A completes work and puts hand up in shape of letter V (for ‘validate’). Specific training beforehand as to which fingers to use!
- Teacher, wearing Validator sign on the end of a lanyard goes over to check for 100% accuracy.
- If pupil A’s work is not spot on, teacher gives feedback on what needs rectifying and returns later.
- When it is perfect, teacher gives their work a ‘Like’ stamp and hands over the lanyard. Pupil A is now a Validator for the other pupils in their zone and they carry on with the next part of their work until…
- Pupil B is ready to have their work checked. Pupil B shows the V sign (think Batman or Thundercats beam shining through night).
- Pupil A, now a Validator, stops doing their own work to go over and check.
- If they find pupil B’s work is all correct, their page is ‘Liked’ and the lanyard is passed to pupil B. If not, pupil A tells pupil B what they need to do to fix their mistakes and lets them get on with it.
- This continues, relay-style, throughout the lesson.
I’m interested in ways of using effective peer assessment in maths lessons. Is there more than one validator in the classroom? (you mentioned that Pupil A would be validator ‘for their zone’) If so, how many, and how many students are in each ‘zone’?
What happens to pupil A once they complete the next section of work – is there any more validation, or is that marked together as a group, or handed in to the teacher?
What do the kids think about the validation system?
Thanks for the questions Kris.
In order…
Three more-or-less-equal-sized zones per class.
Pupil A continues with their work – it’s all laid out for them in a gigantic playlist on the Project24 website. Badges are earned when topics are mastered, then they move on to the next. Meanwhile I float like a bee pollinating their understanding and killing the weeds of misconception. Or something like that.
They love getting up to help their teammates. The trouble is they’re almost too quick to get up the moment they get the lanyard. I have to remind them to wait until a pupil in their zone actually has their hand up. It’s not without other problems too – e.g. when someone who is further back in the workstream is attempting to validate someone further ahead; you have to keep an ear out for peer marking becoming peer conversations; how to make sure the Validators are marking with the same eye for detail that I am. These aren’t insurmountable – they get figured out as you go along.
What does pupil A do when pupil B’s work has been validated?
Pupil A continues with their work – they carry on with where they are in my blended learning curriculum.