Here we have two ways of doing peer-assessment that change the way the game is played.

They create mystery – because learners don’t know who is going to assess their work or, indeed, whose work they will be asked to peer-assess.

And they generate theatre when you ramp up the excitement levels as you hand out the work to be peer-assessed.

This gives you a chance to play the showman, if it’s a role you enjoy!

Hand In, Shuffle and Redistribute

You can use this activity with a single piece of work that learners have produced or with their books, as long as these contain sufficient material to make the task worthwhile.

It works as follows.

Collect in your class’s work or their books.

Shuffle these and then redistribute them.

Ask learners to peer-assess whoever’s work they receive.

Give learners some criteria they can use to make their judgements.

It may be appropriate to precede the activity with a discussion of what makes a good piece of work in this particular instance, or a reminder of what has been studied over the past few lessons.

Learners should identify three good things about the work they are assessing and one way it could be improved.

They should also offer a demonstration of how the improvement could be achieved.

This latter point is important.

It means that when the learner has their work returned to them, they can see what it is they need to do to make it better.

The demonstration adds value to the improvement.

It makes it more accessible. More meaningful.

When the peer-assessments have been completed, ask learners to stand up and to return the work they have marked to its author.

If you do not feel comfortable with your class standing up and milling around, either collect the work in yourself and hand it out, or ask small groups of learners to stand up, one at a time.

Ask learners to read through the comments their peers have written.

When they have done this, ask them to put into practice the improvement that has been identified .

This might involve them rewriting a section of their work underneath the peer-assessment.

Or it might entail them creating something new, but still related to the topic, that encompasses the improvement.

When learners have done this, they should seek out the peer who assessed their original piece of work.

On finding them, they should discuss the initial peer-assessment. 

Then, the two learners should reflect on whether or not the subsequent piece of work has successfully incorporated the improvements that were suggested.

You’ll note that there are three parts to this activity:

• The initial peer-assessment
• The improvement of the original work
• The subsequent discussion

You do not have to do all of these in the same lesson.

For example, you might like to do the peer-assessment as a plenary and combine the improvement and discussion into the following lesson’s starter activity.

Another option is to do the peer-assessment as a plenary and to ask for a general target rather than an improvement.

In the subsequent lesson, learners can try to meet their targets.

When handing out learner work at the start of the activity, you can make it more theatrical by calling out learners’ names as you distribute the work.

Another option is to have learners line up and then walk past you in turn.

Each learner who passes you gets a book or piece of work to take back to their desks and peer-assess.

If they get their own work, they can swap with someone else or they can do a self-assessment instead.

Hand-In Anonymously, Shuffle and Redistribute

Another option is to anonymise the work that is handed in, so learners do not know whose work they are peer-assessing.

Here are three ways to ensure this:

• Learners complete their work on sheets of paper but do not write their names.
• Learners complete their work in their books. These are handed-in open on the page at which the work to be marked begins. The teacher redistributes them and asks learners not to look at the front of the books.
• Learners complete their work in their books. They are then asked to stand up and to move around the room with their books. When the teacher signals, they must place their book on someone else’s desk, open at the appropriate page. Learners return to their seats and mark the work in front of them, without looking at the front of the book. (This is the most theatrical option – and you can play it up a bit if you want as well.)

It is likely, of course, that some learners will recognise the handwriting of a friend.

It would be a surprise, however, if a majority of learners were to recognise the work that you asked them to peer-assess.

The purpose of this activity is threefold.

First, it encourages objectivity.

When receiving a piece of anonymous work, learners are faced with the prospect of assessing that work solely on its merits, without being influenced by knowledge of the author (I am not suggesting they always will be – just that by running the activity this way you remove the possibility).

Second, learners will often have their work peer-assessed by people who sit near them in class.

This is because it is simple and straightforward for all involved.

By running the activity this way instead, you can ensure that learners receive a different perspective on their work.

This is beneficial, causing them to think about what they have produced from a different angle.

Third, redistributing work that is anonymous helps to normalise the peer-assessment process.

It encourages learners to see the activity as one in which they are providing a service that, while personal to the work, is impersonal as regards the author.

This is akin to what teachers and examiners do.

It is therefore good for learners because it helps them to understand the experience of those people who will ultimately mark their work.

You will need to decide how authors will get their peer-assessed work back.

You may want learners to find out who marked their work, or you might like to maintain the anonymity of the process. That’s a decision for you to make, based on your knowledge of your class.

The real benefit of this activity comes when you do repeatedly.

That way, learners come to see that peer-assessment is really about the process of giving and receiving feedback, not about who gives it to who.

And, in my experience, that often makes learners better at both doing peer-assessments and receiving feedback from their peers.