​Anjali Phadke's P​ortfolio

 At the Dayton Regional STEM School, we revise our work. We give feedback. We make things better. Critique is a skill that takes time to master. Critique involves all classes. It can be learned in any way, but STEM Foundations teaches it in an interesting way. In STEM Foundations, we had learned about the 6 thinking hats that are used for critique. They involve questions that you think about during a critique.   Red hat- This is the hat of specific emotions. It is subjective.  When you critique, this is what you think of- How do I feel about this? What do I think of the product? The opposite of the Red hat is the White hat. The White hat is objective. No feelings are involved during a critique if you are using the White hat, then you basically state what you notice.  These questions come to mind- What do I notice?  What parts of the product are more noticeable? Then there is the Yellow Hat. This is the Sunshine and Happiness hat. If you use this hat correctly, then you will give out happy advice. The yellow hat gives out advice that relates to the persons goal. It is like a rubric. They are specific areas that a person wants to be good. The yellow hat gives out advice that explains what the person did well in their product and how it related with their goals regarding their product. These questions come to mind- What goals did this person meet? How well did this person meet their goals? Now, the opposite of the Yellow hat is the Black hat. The Black hat gives out constructive criticism. This hat tells the person how they didn’t meet their goal.  These questions come to mind- What didn’t this person do to meet his or her goal? Like the Black hat, the Green hat involves what the person didn’t do. The green hat gives out solutions. Problems that you may see have solutions. If you give them, you are using the Green Hat. There is only 1 rule to give solutions… NEVER USE THE WORD SHOULD, ONLY COULD.  The people you are giving advice to don’t have to do anything you say. It is simply feedback. These questions may come to mind- How can I help the problem? What could he or she do to fix this? Last but certainly not least, there is the Blue hat. The Blue Hat is the mother of all hats. It is all Hats in one. But it is used as a general statement. The Blue hat gives a summary of what stage the person is at with their product. It also gives questions regarding the project generally, for example, How long have you had to finish this? Is an example. These questions may come to mind- What point are they at in their product? How did their product come to be?

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There are a lot of things to learn about a critique. There are rules to follow. I have already said the most important one. Never say should! The next one is simple. Accept the advice you are given. NOTHING THEY SAY IS PERSONAL.  They are trying to help you. Not hurt you emotionally. The next rule is to give thoughtful, meaningful feedback. It should be specific. You should be kind and respectful when you give it. It should help the person.  Those are the only rules. They are very important and easy to follow. These rules are there for a reason. Without those rules, nobody would get thoughtful advice. No one would get helped and the whole process would be unnecessary. Critique comes easily with practice. The hardest part of a critique, to me is the feedback itself. Coming up with feedback with a perfect product is hard. There is always feedback to be given though. In any case. Feedback usually comes easily when there are things that I see immediately. Sometimes you have to think about the product you are given for a long time before you start giving meaningful advice. I overcome this problem by going to an easier hat to start out with and end with the hat that is the hardest (the black and green hats in an almost perfect product).

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Feedback is a skill that all teachers give. Not necessarily in the 6 hats form though. In those classes that I get feedback from my teachers, I learn how to give feedback. My teachers improve my skill of critiquing and giving feedback. The little notes that your teacher may write in a test count too. Critique is a skill that helps no matter how old you are. It doesn’t even matter what you do or what you make. You can always get feedback in a critique. Critiquing can improve your work later on in life. When you get older, work gets harder and harder and harder. Critique solves your problems ahead of time. After a simple critique, you can learn from your mistakes and never make them again. Your work becomes better quality.  Critique is a skill that anyone can use.

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​I use inquiry when I do critique. Inquiry or asking questions is all you really do in a critique. When I critique, I write all my questions down beforehand so I can just answer them right there and then without confusion. My ability to Critique and use Inquiry greatly improved. As I used the quality in Critique, my skills were enhanced in an interesting way. When I was first learning to critique, I learned a new way to use inquiry, in a feedback giving way. My questions weren’t just for myself, they were for other people. My questions were to benefit someone else! I have never experienced this before and it has changed my whole way of thinking about Inquiry. Now to me, Inquiry is asking questions or being curious. This curiosity or asking questions has to benefit someone, either yourself or someone else. Inquiry could be used for good not evil.

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I also use ​​communication when I do critique. Communicating with the person you are giving feedback to is important, the most important part of a critique in fact.  Communicating with the person you are giving feedback to can happen in many different ways. It can happen through post-its, actual speaking, emailing, etc.. With a different kind of critique, a different way of giving feedback was born.Using Index cards during a critique.  In class, we had portfolio critiques. We asked questions and we communicated to one person through index cards. It was a new way to think about critique and communication. This way of critiquing is more organized. The other ways of critique may be organized, but the way that student critique with the index cards, is enhanced. The students give a little more feedback than usual and they are a little more respectful.  My understanding of communication was enhanced when I did the portfolio critique. Communication  can be used through words on paper or even pictures on paper! Communication can only work if the person you are communicating with understands you. There are many ways of understanding something. That’s what I learned. To me, Communication is using text or pictures or your voice to get a topic or information to another living being.​