Dear Summer Writing Institute Fellows & Esteemed Writing Colleagues,
This time together has been transformative for me. I started this summer workshop feeling exhausted and burnt out from the my year of teaching and exiting a work environment that had become toxic to my health and my teaching practice. Needless to say, I was really ready for a break from teaching, learning, education, all of it. I wondered how I would be able to sink into a writing workshop about teaching without having any down time. It definitely wasn’t easy at first and there were times when I resisted and struggled to engage. There were other times where I hit a wall of creativity and needed a new perspective and fresh eyes on my work.
That’s where you all came in. Not only did I receive generous support and feedback on my writing, I was inspired and uplifted by your voices and your writing reflections, from daily opening and closing moments, interesting poetry and writing focus workshops, funny laugh out loud moments and remarks, and finally, the incredibly powerful and poignant learning autobiographies that were shared aloud with the group. Together we all worked to overcome our fears and anxieties about presenting, sharing our innermost thoughts, and exposing our creative work in front of an audience. I think many of us also felt more empathy and connection to our students, who often struggle in the same ways in terms of sharing their writing and presenting. You all exposed your raw and unchecked selves as teachers, as writers, as human beings. We (the audience) and specifically I, sat there and laughed, cried and smiled along with you. There is a common knowledge and sharing involved when writing is given as an offering. You all stretched yourselves and exposed deep memories and experiences that made me feel more alive and connected to you and to our group.
While initially skeptical about the SoPo Marathon day and its purpose in the grand scheme of the class, I absolutely loved the opportunity to get outside of the “classroom” and explore the surrounding community in my writing group. We began the day at Verbena Cafe with coffee and delicious breakfast sandwiches and light-hearted conversation about teaching and learning and life, which was delightful. We then moved on to Bug Light, where we ambled around taking in the tiny lighthouse, salt air and seagulls before finding a perch to write from. I found a nook by the rocks facing out over Casco Bay, which was a perfect spot for getting the creative juices flowing. We moved on to Taco Trio where we sampled various delicacies from the menu and ate to loud Mexican dancehall/club music that maybe increased our digestion? We then went to the small duck pond and watch the locals walk around, feed the ducks (and seagulls) and sat reflecting over the lily pads. Finally, we ended our excursion by walking to the bridge and hanging out sharing our writing and experiences under the shade of a tree. It was a great opportunity to get to know some of my fellows a bit better in a more informal setting, as well as explore South Portland and its rich and vibrant community.
While initially skeptical about the SoPo Marathon day and its purpose in the grand scheme of the class, I absolutely loved the opportunity to get outside of the “classroom” and explore the surrounding community in my writing group. We began the day at Verbena Cafe with coffee and delicious breakfast sandwiches and light-hearted conversation about teaching and learning and life, which was delightful. We then moved on to Bug Light, where we ambled around taking in the tiny lighthouse, salt air and seagulls before finding a perch to write from. I found a nook by the rocks facing out over Casco Bay, which was a perfect spot for getting the creative juices flowing. We moved on to Taco Trio where we sampled various delicacies from the menu and ate to loud Mexican dancehall/club music that maybe increased our digestion? We then went to the small duck pond and watch the locals walk around, feed the ducks (and seagulls) and sat reflecting over the lily pads. Finally, we ended our excursion by walking to the bridge and hanging out sharing our writing and experiences under the shade of a tree. It was a great opportunity to get to know some of my fellows a bit better in a more informal setting, as well as explore South Portland and its rich and vibrant community.
The learning autobiography was both a cathartic, frustrating, enlightening, grueling and eye-opening process. I came out of the gates running, then hit a roadblock midway through my writing process and couldn’t move past it. I felt stuck and my piece felt stuck. Thankfully, with the help of one fellow, I was able to get a fresh look on what I had and see my piece again in a new perspective so that I could move forward. I took that feedback and pared and revised until I felt I had a much stronger piece to work with. That’s what writing peers and colleagues are for and it reminds me how important it is to seek out support and feedback professionally, as a teacher and as a writer. It also reminded me of the importance of giving my students this support on their writing (and using student peers to help in that process) and about what kind of anguish and frustrations students may often be going through with their own writing process.
So thank you all so much for this opportunity to heal, to express myself, to dig deep, to listen and be listened to, to stretch myself, to regenerate and gather new ideas, to be creative, to be revived by the possibilities that exist in teaching and learning. This is an experience that I will not forget, and that I will carry with me as I move forward in my career path, wherever that may take me. I have a renewed passion for teaching and writing, and can’t wait to sew the seeds from this experience in my life and in my work.
Best wishes,
Mercedes
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1GJYzSgUKBVep95gyU6ZssfL-OUlcj6zpNQigZIVtVcg/edit
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