Personal

this week I also strayed from lessons the traditional purposes of writing (to analyze, inform, or persuade) and broached the idea of writing for personal exploration, expression and introspection. Since the age of 12, I've written thousands of pages into spiral bound notebook "journals", and although much is irrelevant self-indulgent dribble or diary-style documentation of my post-college travels, the writing of reflective pieces is an amazing and valuable process. It is also quite entertaining to read entries that are about 4 decades old. I have assured the kids that whatever writing they do as a part of this "assignment" will remain private, but I did start with some guiding questions and shared my own responses. It is my hope that some students begin (or continue) to use personal writing to express, explore, and expand themselves as they journey forth in life. We are so bound to communication via social media that I sometimes feel like writing for private purposes has become a rare event. On that idea, check out this poetry performance by Marshall Jones.