Overheard in Class...

We recently did peer review for their first paper, due this coming Tuesday. Peer review, for those who haven't had the displeasure of sitting through it, is where you workshop your paper amongst your peers. In order to keep people from basically writing "this sux!!1!" and drawing stick figures or our school name all over other people's papers, I always give them "jobs" to do during peer review. I actively work them all class period; they actually end up getting something out if it, but it was initially designed to get them to figure out how to give constructive feedback instead of dicking around. I label each job: Person 1, Person 2, Person 3. I list the duties under each "person". The goal is to get in groups of about four people, and pass your paper to your immediate left. So the first paper you see, you'll do the job of person 1. When you're all finished, you'll pass it once again, and the second paper you read you'll do the job of person 2, and so forth.

During peer review for my first group, I overheard one girl say to another girl whose paper she'd just finished: "Whoops. I think I just did #1 and #2 on your paper."

Scatological jokes. They get me every time. I couldn't help but think, "That's OK. Her paper's probably crap anyway. Piss on it."

-- Virgil