Ten Minutes at one time.
I don't know where I got the idea, but this year I am teaching differently. Maybe these past six months off from work has expanded my creative space.
I'm listening harder, more closely, to my students and surely to my inner voice spurred by observing my students. Listening carefully to what may be going on with them. Particularly the seniors. What do they need in this last year of college? What are they worried about as this transition into another new life approaches at lightning speed? What do they really need, now?
Each day there are so many uncertainties, and the future may seem chaotic and bleak depending on what is happening locally, regionally, nationally and globally. Romney and Obama duking it out in their campaigns and demonstrating each day that they think they have it over the next person. Creating a battleground out of our nation. Iran, Syria, Afghanistan clobbering each other within and without. Unrest all over the globe to say nothing of the ice melting, air polluting, and our natural resources slipping away each minute. And the air here is so thick from our forest fires that we kid each other that we'll run away to L.A. for better air.
And so what can I do to help our seniors? What would make sense amidst this cacaphony of needs, worries, and troubles? What would be most helpful for these seniors, how can I help them make sense of this life and the world before them? And I decided to help them focus on who they are and what is important for them. So that they can grasp and learn how to make sense of their lives and make meaning each day. How to focus, how to see more clearly what is in their hands, and to gain clarity as to how they want to move forward as leaders for our world.
The first day of class I asked them to create a timeline, a continuum. Start with when they applied to our college and the scholarship program. Move through to this moment in class. List the good, the bad, and the ugly, I said. What has happened over these four years since submitting that college application?
And they were quiet while writing and filling their sheet of paper. I said put it all down, markers for their personal, their social, their spiritual, and certainly their academic life experiences. 10 minutes.
I asked them to share what this writing process brought forward to them, not necessarily the actual events or situations in detail. But the feeling that this reflection of their timeline - how did this feel? And they were overwhelmed and surprised how full their lives have been. 10 minutes at time.
Next class, we followed with another 10-minute write - list what you have learned. What do you mean?! they said. What we've learned for ourselves? You decide - just begin writing, you decide what this question means for you. Hand cramps. Furious writing, complete silence. They were not finished at the end of 10 minutes, and I asked them to pause. What struck you, what do you want to share, I asked. And it poured forth, powerful emotions, stunning insights, clarity of focus and realizations of what their lives looked like when they paused and took a peek. Tears. 10 minutes.
I gave them optional homework which in itself is a strange thing to suggest to students. I encouraged them to take 5 to 10 minutes and respond to these two writing prompts. As I wrote the first on the white board, a student yelped out loud and I turned to see if she was OK. I'm not sure why she yelped with an Oh no! and I continued to write on the board. The writing prompts were, "I'm done with . . . , and the second prompt was, "What I need to tell you is . . ."
And they submitted this optional writing. Powerful self reflections. Strong suffering, quiet suffering - they may have forgotten these dark shadows in their lives. For each, the resilience to overcome so much. Insightful reflections and their own awareness of how they have grown and changed over these few years. I am humbled by this experience in our class, and by their strength and their resolve to survive a chaotic and sometimes not encouraging world.
When I thought about how to continue the class, I sidelined what I had planned in order to make room for deeper listening. This is an odd way to teach, no doubt, and I know that I will be better for this. 10 minutes at a time.
For the next class, I prepared two more prompts for the optional homework. I was a bit unsure if I should continue these optional writing assignments. As I entered the classroom, one of my students said, hey Esther, can we continue to have optional homework? Sure, you bet. 10 minutes, minute by minute.
I don't know where I got the idea, but this year I am teaching differently. Maybe these past six months off from work has expanded my creative space.
I'm listening harder, more closely, to my students and surely to my inner voice spurred by observing my students. Listening carefully to what may be going on with them. Particularly the seniors. What do they need in this last year of college? What are they worried about as this transition into another new life approaches at lightning speed? What do they really need, now?
Each day there are so many uncertainties, and the future may seem chaotic and bleak depending on what is happening locally, regionally, nationally and globally. Romney and Obama duking it out in their campaigns and demonstrating each day that they think they have it over the next person. Creating a battleground out of our nation. Iran, Syria, Afghanistan clobbering each other within and without. Unrest all over the globe to say nothing of the ice melting, air polluting, and our natural resources slipping away each minute. And the air here is so thick from our forest fires that we kid each other that we'll run away to L.A. for better air.
And so what can I do to help our seniors? What would make sense amidst this cacaphony of needs, worries, and troubles? What would be most helpful for these seniors, how can I help them make sense of this life and the world before them? And I decided to help them focus on who they are and what is important for them. So that they can grasp and learn how to make sense of their lives and make meaning each day. How to focus, how to see more clearly what is in their hands, and to gain clarity as to how they want to move forward as leaders for our world.
The first day of class I asked them to create a timeline, a continuum. Start with when they applied to our college and the scholarship program. Move through to this moment in class. List the good, the bad, and the ugly, I said. What has happened over these four years since submitting that college application?
And they were quiet while writing and filling their sheet of paper. I said put it all down, markers for their personal, their social, their spiritual, and certainly their academic life experiences. 10 minutes.
I asked them to share what this writing process brought forward to them, not necessarily the actual events or situations in detail. But the feeling that this reflection of their timeline - how did this feel? And they were overwhelmed and surprised how full their lives have been. 10 minutes at time.
Next class, we followed with another 10-minute write - list what you have learned. What do you mean?! they said. What we've learned for ourselves? You decide - just begin writing, you decide what this question means for you. Hand cramps. Furious writing, complete silence. They were not finished at the end of 10 minutes, and I asked them to pause. What struck you, what do you want to share, I asked. And it poured forth, powerful emotions, stunning insights, clarity of focus and realizations of what their lives looked like when they paused and took a peek. Tears. 10 minutes.
I gave them optional homework which in itself is a strange thing to suggest to students. I encouraged them to take 5 to 10 minutes and respond to these two writing prompts. As I wrote the first on the white board, a student yelped out loud and I turned to see if she was OK. I'm not sure why she yelped with an Oh no! and I continued to write on the board. The writing prompts were, "I'm done with . . . , and the second prompt was, "What I need to tell you is . . ."
And they submitted this optional writing. Powerful self reflections. Strong suffering, quiet suffering - they may have forgotten these dark shadows in their lives. For each, the resilience to overcome so much. Insightful reflections and their own awareness of how they have grown and changed over these few years. I am humbled by this experience in our class, and by their strength and their resolve to survive a chaotic and sometimes not encouraging world.
When I thought about how to continue the class, I sidelined what I had planned in order to make room for deeper listening. This is an odd way to teach, no doubt, and I know that I will be better for this. 10 minutes at a time.
For the next class, I prepared two more prompts for the optional homework. I was a bit unsure if I should continue these optional writing assignments. As I entered the classroom, one of my students said, hey Esther, can we continue to have optional homework? Sure, you bet. 10 minutes, minute by minute.
