Writing personal narratives for classroom assignments can be dangerous territory for students, especially if peer conferencing is involved. However, it can be very beneficial for everyone involved if gone about in the correct way.
First of all, a very open and trusting environment is needed. I think this is important because the works being produced and evaluated are the individual creative works of the students. The writer takes risks and share pieces of themselves that they probably have feelings about therefore extreme care should be taken when critiquing their paper. Plus if you are presenting to strangers, they may not be as comfortable correcting your work honestly as someone who knows you. On the other hand, exercises like peer conferences help with teaching students to properly handle constructive critisicm, a skill they will find helpful in the real world. And from the other side of the table their peers learn how to be tactful and considerate when offering assistance to others which will be useful in a society where people get so easily offended. Not too mention the obvious grammar and language skills they are gaining in the process. Sometimes in the midst of their own writing students are not able to see mistakes or struggles they have, but if you ask them to read someone else's paper they might be able to understand or pick up on these concepts easier.
I know personally I feel very vulnerable through my writing but when writing to a vague audience it's not so bad. My dad picks at me sometimes because I'll ask him to proof an assignment, and then when he comes back with suggestions I get disheartened. It's definitely a challenging thing for me to let others read my work with feedback in mind because I feel like by letting them change things, it's no longer mine.
I guess I have mixed feelings all around.
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