Madeline M. Craig
Though this unit will still require planning and pre-teaching expectations from the classroom teacher, writing workshops should be student-led most of the time. Prior to student writing, it is imperative that teachers establish a classroom environment that centers mindfulness to ensure students are physically and mental present in the moment.
Requiring mindfulness for yourself and students is an important expectation to set from the start. “Mindfulness does more than push students to break with old writing habits and unlock their creative power. It also helps achieve an anti-racist workshop agenda. White institutional customs of control and domination are ingrained in participants’ psyches. To disrupt these habits, workshop participants must engage in ongoing self-awareness. The goal is twofold: students; mindfulness of their nonverbal and verbal communication” (21). Guidelines for mindfulness should be present throughout every step of the writing workshop.
“When you write, you write with your whole body, not rushing or multitasking or compartmentalizing the assignment but rather relinquishing control, surrendering to the creative impulse. When you read, you read with perspective and open intention, harnessing a wandering mind. When you listen, you receive another’s words without judgment or defensiveness, that egoistic impulse that mistakes the sound of your own voice with being smart or right. And when you rest, you aim for outward and inward attunement so that you may return to the work revitalized” (22).
Posting these expectations, having students verbally state them, or revisiting them as a daily ritual before workshopping will set the intention of the task. Holding a classroom discussion on what these strategies look like and how they feel prior to initiating the workshop will help young writers develop an idea of how to put mindfulness to practice later on.
The anti-racist workshop involves the act of de-colonizing teaching practices, to let go of the disingenuous notion of objectivity in the classroom, of maintaining political neutrality, of seeing all sides and positions as having equal impact on marginalized groups (23). A de-colonized workshop means educators are, not in charge of the conversation beyond setting expectations for kind and mindful communication. Prior to stepping back from classroom discussions, educators should have the understanding that students enter the classroom with their own perspectives on the usefulness and purpose of writing, as well as lived experiences surrounding culture, power, and education that will transfer into the classroom. Teachers should “develop tactics that foste[r] greater affective and intellectual receptivity to learning[…] respecting students’ widely divergent points of entry into race-gender sexuality-conscious knowledge” (24). Mini-lessons that traditionally focus on teachers prompting students to find meaning in the selected quotes from various mentor texts should be altered into small group discussions on the purpose of voice and how power is manifested from the words. Educators must relinquish power over the discussion surrounding texts and student work in favor of allowing students to control the conversation. Identifying their own voice and craft within their writing will be soon to follow.
After analyzing a set of diverse narrative prose and poetry, students should be given a quiet, comfortable classroom environment to begin writing. Whatever prompts students to write, the most important piece of the workshop is reserving time to allow students to tune in with themselves, open up, and write. “With frequent opportunities to fail, play, and experiment, they train their authentic voice to flex on command” (25). To encourage students to relinquish anxiety around getting it right, set a time on the board for ten-minutes that is meant for non-stop writing no matter how nonsensical, messy or error filled (26). Establish that students writing notebooks are a place for themselves to explore their identity and voice, not a place they need to disclose or share every piece. Prior to flipping through notebooks the first time, give students the option to label their work “Do Not Read” or “My Eyes Only” to signal to their teacher that the writing is for the author alone (27). This will encourage students to forgo semantics and embrace taking risks.
Students will share their writing within these small groups to build up confidence in a low-stakes environment before tackling more courageous displays of their craft. Prior to sharing, give students a second ten minute timer for them to go back, select a piece to re-read, tweak phrases or delete other sentences (28). This strategy may make the more symantec-minded students comfortable to share out. By the end of the unit, students will have shared one piece of writing to the entire class and have composed a finalized piece of writing to be published or performed online for the public.
