1. My writers for this assignment entered into a space of vulnerability in their writing that they weren't particularly expecting. The prompt asked them to reflect on the spaces, physical spaces, they have occupied in their lives and recall an event from the perspective of the space itself. My writers seriously contemplated and reflected on their lives and the settings of their most prominent and significant life events, and their writing evolved from there. This prompt, and the work it produced, very accurately reflected my goals as a teacher of writing in that it took the writers to spaces they weren't anticipating at the start of writing, and thus allowed them to explore more of themselves and reflect on what is really important to them. I think it was a prompt that allowed space for growth, not only as a writer, but as a person as well if the writer allowed themselves to go there. I learned that this assignment does, indeed, have the potential to reach possibly touchy and emotionally charged places within my students. Considering this, I think I would definitely need to consider my audience, if they are capable of the maturity and emotional stability writing a piece like this requires, or consider alternative writing options. It is not, and will never be, my desire that my students feel uncomfortable with the level of vulnerability expected of them. I want to give my students choice to explore vulnerable places, to stretch themselves, but with such personal content, I never want a student to feel forced into those places. Therefore, I may consider altering the wording so that a student does not have to recall and reconstruct memories that cause negative or uncontrolled emotional reactions if they are not ready to be recalled and reconstructed.
2. Based on the extremely personal accounts that I received back from my writers, I decided that it was appropriate, and even necessary, to write each writer with personalized feedback that focused not on any particular grammar mistakes or the structure of their piece, but that focused instead on the process they were going through in their writing and the acknowledgment of their bravery and courage in writing their memories on paper. I learned that this piece should be purposed to focus on the process of writing, rather than the product--and maybe even that the product is altogether separate from what we would normally consider the "product" in writing--not just a final piece, but a process of growth for the writer as an individual. I wanted my feedback to encourage the process. I didn't care so much about what the finished product looked like, if it was publishing-worthy or not. I did care, however, about the state of my writers, about their courage in writing down memories hard to recall, about where they found themselves and what they learned about themselves after they were through. Feedback changes in regard to the purpose of the assignment, therefore my feedback became uniquely personal to each writer.
3. I was intrigued by the platforms of the writers who assigned assignments to me. Their platforms were heavily founded in big concepts like grief and core beliefs and values. I think I learned that it is important to write these things down, regardless of how much of a grasp you believe yourself to have on them. I learned so much about myself and my own ideas, things that were completely new to me though I had held these beliefs and ideas for quite some time before. As a future teacher, it causes me to reflect on the topics and issues I consider most important so that I can guide my students to write on these ideas, and thus solidify their own core beliefs and values. I didn't personally love everything I wrote, however the process led me to gain more clarity and insight into the values that ground every other belief and frame of mind I have. Had I had more time, perhaps I could have created a piece that I absolutely loved, however, the ideas I communicated were exactly what I hoped for.
