Day 13 of 20 · AI for Teachers
Student Self-Assessment & Peer Feedback
⏱ 5 min
📊 Beginner
Here's something you already know but rarely have time to act on: the most powerful feedback isn't the feedback you give students. It's the feedback students learn to give themselves.
Self-assessment and peer feedback are among the highest-impact teaching strategies in the research literature. When students can accurately evaluate their own work and give constructive feedback to each other, they develop a kind of learning independence that no amount of teacher marking can replicate.
The problem? Building the scaffolds, rubrics, sentence starters, and frameworks that make self-assessment and peer feedback actually work takes time. Without scaffolding, peer feedback devolves into "it's good" or "I liked it" — well-meaning but useless.
AI can generate all of those scaffolds in minutes. Today you'll build the tools that turn your students into confident, independent assessors of their own work and each other's.
Self-assessment rubrics that students can actually use
The biggest mistake with self-assessment is giving students an adult rubric and asking them to grade themselves. A rubric designed for teacher marking uses language students don't understand, references criteria they can't interpret, and produces unreliable self-grades.
What students need is a student-friendly rubric — same criteria, accessible language, with examples at each level.
Here's how to prompt AI:
"I have this teacher marking rubric for [subject/task]: [paste rubric]. Rewrite it as a student-friendly self-assessment rubric. Use 'I can...' statements. Include a concrete example of what work at each level looks like. Use language appropriate for [age group]. Format it as a checklist students can use while reviewing their own work."
The output transforms professional assessment language into something a student can hold next to their work and genuinely use. Instead of "demonstrates sophisticated analysis," they see "I can explain why something happened, not just what happened, and I use evidence from the text to support my point."
That's a tool a student can act on.
Knowledge Check
Why do teacher marking rubrics often fail as self-assessment tools for students?
A
They use professional assessment language that students can't easily interpret or apply to their own work
B
Self-assessment doesn't work regardless of the rubric
C
Teacher rubrics are always too long
D
Students don't care about rubrics
Rubrics written for teachers serve a different purpose than rubrics written for students. Teacher rubrics use precise assessment terminology ("demonstrates nuanced understanding"). Student rubrics need to translate that into actionable language ("I can explain the reasons behind events, not just describe what happened"). Same criteria, different audience.
Peer feedback frameworks that actually produce useful comments
"Swap your books and give your partner some feedback."
We've all said it. And we've all watched students write "good work" and hand the book back in 30 seconds. Peer feedback without scaffolding is well-intentioned but ineffective.
AI can generate structured peer feedback frameworks in seconds:
Two Stars and a Wish:
"Create a 'Two Stars and a Wish' peer feedback sheet for [subject/task]. For each 'star,' provide 5 sentence starters that guide students to identify specific strengths. For the 'wish,' provide 5 sentence starters that guide students to suggest specific improvements. Make the starters specific to [the task] rather than generic. For [age group]."
Peer marking guide:
"Create a peer marking guide for [task]. Include: a student-friendly checklist of success criteria, sentence starters for feedback comments, a section where the reviewer suggests one specific improvement, and a section where they identify the strongest part of the work. Format it so students can complete it in 5-7 minutes."
Gallery critique protocol:
"Design a gallery critique protocol for a [subject] task. Students will walk around viewing each other's work and leaving feedback on sticky notes. Provide 6-8 targeted prompt questions they should respond to, with an example response for each. Questions should push students beyond 'I like it' into specific, constructive observations."
Create a peer feedback framework for a Year 8 Geography project on "Extreme Weather Events." Students have written a one-page report on a chosen extreme weather event, including: what it is, where and why it occurs, a case study, and the impact on people.
I want a structured peer feedback sheet that takes 7 minutes to complete. Include success criteria as a checklist, specific sentence starters for feedback, and a clear format. Make it encouraging but push students to give real, useful comments — not just "it's good."
**Peer Feedback Sheet — Extreme Weather Events Report**
*Year 8 Geography | Reviewer: _____________ | Author: _____________*
---
**Step 1: Read the report carefully (2 minutes)**
Read your partner's report all the way through before writing anything.
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**Step 2: Success Criteria Checklist (2 minutes)**
Tick each box if the report includes it:
☐ Clearly explains what the extreme weather event is
☐ Describes where in the world it occurs and why (not just the location — the reasons)
☐ Includes a specific case study with a real place name and date
☐ Explains the impact on people — social, economic, or environmental
☐ Uses at least 2 geographical terms correctly (e.g., "tropical cyclone," "low pressure system," "storm surge")
☐ Is well organised with clear sections or paragraphs
---
**Step 3: Two Stars — What's Strong (1.5 minutes)**
Identify two specific things your partner did well. Use the sentence starters:
Star 1: "Your explanation of _____________ was clear because you _____________"
Example: "Your explanation of why hurricanes form over warm oceans was clear because you mentioned the sea surface temperature needs to be above 27°C."
Star 2: "Your case study was effective because _____________"
Example: "Your case study was effective because you included specific details about how many people were affected by Typhoon Haiyan."
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**Step 4: One Wish — What Could Be Better (1.5 minutes)**
Suggest one specific improvement. Use the sentence starters:
Wish: "To improve your report, you could _____________"
Choose from these prompts to guide your suggestion:
- "You described [what happens] but didn't fully explain [why it happens]. Try adding..."
- "Your case study mentions [place] but could include more specific details about..."
- "You could strengthen the impact section by separating the effects on people into social, economic, and environmental..."
- "Try including a geographical term like [suggest one] to make your writing sound more like a geographer."
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**Step 5: The Big Question**
After reading this report, what is one new thing you learned about this weather event that you didn't know before?
_____________________________________________
*This question reminds the author that their writing teaches people something — that's powerful.*
↻ Replay conversation
Why "The Big Question" matters
Notice that last section — "What is one new thing you learned?" It does something subtle but important: it shifts the student's mindset from being judged to being a teacher. When your classmate tells you they learned something from your writing, that's more motivating than any grade.
These frameworks work because they remove the guesswork. Students aren't staring at their partner's work wondering what to say. They have a structure, sentence starters, and prompts that channel their thinking into genuinely useful feedback. The scaffolding does the heavy lifting; the student provides the thinking.
And here's the long game: once students get comfortable with structured peer feedback, you can gradually remove the scaffolding. They internalise the framework. They start noticing strengths and weaknesses without prompts. They become self-regulating learners. That's the goal.
Knowledge Check
What is the long-term benefit of using structured peer feedback frameworks?
A
Peer feedback replaces teacher assessment entirely
B
Students gradually internalise the criteria and learn to assess work independently, becoming self-regulating learners
C
Students become professional editors
D
It saves the teacher from ever having to mark again
The scaffolding is temporary. Sentence starters and checklists give students the structure they need to practise assessment thinking. Over time, they stop needing the prompts — they develop an internal sense of quality. That's when self-assessment and peer feedback become truly powerful: students who can evaluate their own work without being told how.
Reflection prompts and self-assessment routines
Beyond formal rubrics, AI can generate quick reflection prompts that build self-assessment into daily routines:
End-of-lesson reflections:
"Generate 5 end-of-lesson reflection prompts for [subject/topic] that take students 2 minutes to complete. Mix metacognitive prompts (how did I learn?) with content prompts (what did I learn?). Suitable for [age group]."
Pre-assessment self-check:
"Create a self-check list for students to use before submitting [assignment type]. Include 8-10 questions they should ask themselves about their work, covering content, quality, presentation, and effort. Phrased as yes/no questions."
Learning journal prompts:
"Write 10 reflective journal prompts for a [subject] unit on [topic]. Prompts should encourage students to think about their understanding, their confidence, what confused them, and what they'd like to explore further. Suitable for [age group]."
These small tools compound. A student who reflects on their learning for two minutes at the end of every lesson develops a habit of self-awareness that transforms how they approach new challenges. And generating a week's worth of reflection prompts takes AI about 15 seconds.
The goal is independence — scaffolded peer feedback is the bridge between teacher marking and student self-regulation.
Knowledge Check
What is the most effective way to build self-assessment into classroom routines?
A
Use short, regular reflection prompts at the end of lessons so self-assessment becomes a habit, not a one-off event
B
Only use self-assessment for homework
C
Wait until students are in secondary school to introduce it
D
Give students a self-assessment form once per term
Self-assessment is a skill that develops through regular practice, not occasional use. Two minutes of reflection at the end of each lesson, repeated consistently, builds metacognitive habits that a termly self-assessment form simply cannot. Frequency and routine are key.
Final Check
When generating peer feedback frameworks with AI, what should you always specify?
A
The specific task, subject, age group, and time limit — so the framework is targeted rather than generic
B
The names of the students who will use it
C
The colour scheme for the feedback sheet
Generic peer feedback frameworks produce generic feedback. When you specify "Year 8 Geography, extreme weather report, 7 minutes," the AI generates sentence starters and prompts that reference the actual content students are assessing. That specificity is what makes the feedback genuinely useful rather than vague.
📚
Day 13 Complete
"The best feedback isn't the feedback you give — it's the feedback students learn to give themselves. AI builds the scaffolds. Your students build the independence."
Tomorrow — Day 14
Your Assessment Machine
Tomorrow we'll recap Week 2 and lock in your AI-powered assessment and reporting system.