Creativity & Prompts

I really like being able to give students time to free-write and draw. As someone with a fine-art background, it's important to me that students get to express themselves creatively. Other people I work with have done more drama-based or music-based exercises in creativity. An adjunct I know once asked her kids to make a Full-Value Contract in the form of a rap.

It frustrates me a lot when I am unable to give students that solo reflection time, to relax, to process some of the intensely new experiences we ask them to open themselves up to.

Digression:
And for me, as a facilitator, when I use that time to reflect, too, I think I facilitate better; have a moment to get a better broader picture, as opposed to figuring out activities one at a time, spur of the moment. I find myself better and better able to snatch this time to think as I go along as a facilitator. "You were barely keeping your head above the water," some have reflected of my first few months here, and I think that's very true. I could hardly notice anything further than the nose on my face. Now I have it down to the things immediately around me, I still don't consider myself overwhelmingly aware.

I don't like to hedge my students in; I offer them a board to write on top of, lined or unlined paper, a whole box of writing utensils, a time limit, distance guideline, and suggest they not sit close enough to talk.

At the last free-writing I gave some students, a student "Zoe" wrote this poem after a rough first day on our campus.

When you hear the
Sound of a water fall
What do you really think?
Because I notice a fall
and a thought of
silence, eyes closing
and no blinks
but do you ever notice
the leaves how its just there
but look close
until you see your reflection
then listen back to
the water fall
Now tell me. Do you hear
the roar of a bear
now what I always notice
is a log
for me to sit and fantasize
for me to hear the water fall
reflect on the leaves
and the bear voice
in my head
to memorize
but be careful because
when the water falls down
you would realize...