I really appreciate your candor. Your point about how many students are afraid of peer reaction is one middle schoolers in my neck of the very rural woods face, as well.

We’ve a pretty intimate atmosphere, with small multiage groupings, so that students probably identify each other even without the names being associated. It’s interesting that you find that the delay between writing a response and knowing it is read by others helps–I’m going to experiment myself (I enjoy experimenting on my middle schoolers–and then telling them I have, and what it was about. They get so metacognitive in reaction!).

Some things that help (a bit) are that we have practiced peer editing and giving constructive, positive feedback since the intermediate levels (practice, practice)…sometimes we give time to write/frame the response rather than call on students right away…and often students respond to knowing they are working on something that is their responsibility for the group (I love when students want to impress each other in lit circles, for instance–but you have to be careful not to let it get to be “cool” to do the minimum on an assignment.) I find that it really helps not to call a student out on the carpet in front of others. It also helps students try to shine to have them know their classmates are either “taking notes for a class blog entry, to give that student feedback, or for an absent classmate.” The more genuine I can make the product feel, the better it works.

Of course, then hormones, and flirtations, and spats and quarrels, and the pre-teen brain’s tendency to drop off the map from time to time, and all that other stuff can totally derail life.

It’s what makes it such a wild ride–and such a triumph when things work well!