Classes start today. I’ve been teaching this class that I created for years, and it’s time for some changes (new strategies, new textbooks and materials, and a new course outline or syllabus). Students have told me that our poetry class is the one place in our college where they are safe to relax, express themselves, and be themselves. This is true for me too as the instructor.
I’m thinking of adding the following: music playing as students enter the classroom, non-religious meditation or visualization exercises to help them relax and open to their creativity, and time set aside for reflective journaling at the end of class
This is a technical college in a large urban city (NYC). The students come from many different cultural backgrounds. The students who take this class usu. think outside the box but come to class on the first day wondering what the heck they are doing there. Many are writing phobic. Some have anger management problems.
Ideas?
