Special thanks to erica kaufman and Bard's Writing and Thinking Institute
Introductions
Welcome! Today, we will get to know one another, learn about the program, and answer your questions. I am excited to be your facilitator on this journey. The process of hand-writing in response to prompts and continuous sharing out of incomplete work may feel both exciting and challenging for a wide array of reasons. Together, we'll practice creative reading and diverse writing strategies that aim to support you as a learner.
As we collaborate over the next several weeks, I encourage you to jot down your answers to the following questions:
How can we creatively explore texts from around the world?
Write our ideas without fear?
Balance a reader's need for clarity with our desire to experiment as writers?
Overview
Session #3: Community Agreements
Session #1: Welcome
In our opening session, we will get to know one another as a community of learners.
Agenda
Introductions
name cards: affirmative version of your name (how you want us to call you) with pronouns (make it decorative, use favorite colors); write your name phonetically
come up with a physical gesture for your name
share out
Hand out Anthologies and notebooks
FFW: What brings you to Bard? (5 min; 2 sentences per minute = 10 sentences)
Focused Free Writing: Focused free writing is what it sounds like—free writing with a focus. You want to keep your pen moving and write to a time limit, resisting the urge to think and then write. Focused free writing always begins with some kind of directive (or focus) in the form of a text or question—you might invite students to write their first reactions to a text (or a moment, a piece of language, or an image within it), or you might offer several interconnected prompts or questions intended to help to open up a topic or text to a wider range of interpretation. It is important to remember that focused free writing is intended to be generative and exploratory, not a carefully plotted out paragraph. This kind of writing is also often public (shared) and can be used to help students articulate and discover their ideas about a text or topic, stimulate or jump start discussion, or to delve deeper into specific content.
Bracket & Share
Session #2: Anthology
FFW (5 min): To you (without googling), what does "writing for change" mean to you? What is *not* "writing for change?"
Agenda
Anthology Table of Contents
Open your Anthology to the Table of Contents and read names of authors and text titles
Highlight or underline four to five pieces that speak to you (try to choose selections new to you rather than already-read favorites)
FFW (7 min; 14 sentences): WHY did I choose these titles? WHY did they stand out to me?
Turn to the person next to you. In pairs, each person will read directly from their notebook. Try not to speak your answer. Let your writing say it. This is unpolished writing and is meant to be messy. Listening partner writes down a few key words and phrases from speaking partner's reading.
Large group share out (please say your name and pronouns first)
What's in a Name?
Special thanks to Robin Tremblay-McGaw and Bard's Language and Thinking Program
Any Arabic readers?
We will read aloud the excerpt from the translation of Ibn Khālawayh's The Names of the Lion. We'll each read 3 - 4 names. We will sound out, to the best of our ability, transliterated Arabic names.
Second read: English only. One name per person, quickly around the room.
FFW (7 min): What do you notice about these names?
Large group share-out with scribe at the board: What did we notice about these descriptors? What are the different perspectives (prey/lion/human)? What stands out to us about the sound of these names? Physical and psychological characteristics? Poetic language?
FFW (5 min): Craft 4 or 5 names of ____________ for yourself. Try to attend to the varieties of possibilities, using the Names of the Lion as a model. You'll share a couple of these names with the group.
Bracket & Share
Session #3: Community Agreements
Let's take a few minutes to reflect on what we learned about one another, the experience of reading aloud, and how it feels -- in our bodies -- to write our thoughts by hand.
PFW (5 min)
Private Free Writing: Alone or in a group, this practice involves writing whatever you like, for a set period of time (say, 5 minutes.) Keep your pen moving across the page, without stopping to think about what you’re writing. Let your thinking follow your writing. If you get stuck, put any unrelated words on the page until something like a chain of thought emerges for you. Stick with the discipline of writing to time, and push yourself to keep going even after you’ve come to the end of an idea and find yourself chasing after a new one. Write until the time is up. If you’re writing in a group and keeping time for others, give everyone a one-minute warning before stopping. This practice is particularly useful as a way to begin a class session or to offer a group the time to clear their heads before embarking upon a shared learning experience.
Agenda
What are Community Agreements?
Discussion: What is the difference between Community Agreements and Rules / Norms?
FFW (7 min): What guidelines would be helpful to have in place for you to feel comfortable to share unfinished writing aloud? Establishing a healthy and supportive learning community?
In groups of 2 - 3, use poster paper to come up with community agreements AND how we can gently "call each other in" when we (individually or collectively) do not uphold our community agreements. Try to phrase each agreement in actionable / constructive language (What does it look like for us to "actively listen?" What does it feel like for us to "respect a diversity of perspectives?" How can we practice "restorative justice" when someone makes a mistake, in a way that does not ostracize that person and honors the group?)
Gallery Walk
Discussion: What themes stand out to us from small group Community Agreements?