Lesson Plans

For this reason, it felt most appropriate to begin at the thinking process which lead up to the in-field research which occurred in our workshops. Here is Alex's lesson plan, which sought to scaffold the writers into the simple, yet daunting proposal which asked simply, "what would be meaningful for you to write about right now?"

Writers engaged in their relationship with their mom, their struggle with addiction, their pregnancy and responsibilities moving forward, and tons of reflection which, while maintained honesty in reflection also rebounded in key moments of courage moving forward.

By writing about her Mom, Ali realized something new about their relationship -- she was able to further strengthen the love she felt for her. By writing about her addiction, Chaeli was able to reflect on her recovery and her progress now. By writing about her pregnancy, Sinya was able to reflect on the decisions which led up to this moment, and how she is going to move forward in the future, and she found that she is actually really excited about what the future holds. Unfortunately, they did not submit any of this work directly, but perhaps this is right, because the work was not focused on the product, but on the process and what occurs within that process. But we still have the opportunity to explore other pieces that they have submitted.

Much of this writing, and this piece above, were completed outside of our scheduled workshop time. The prompt I showed was a depiction of the process we were after. Each workshop was developing this instinct in our writers: to write meaningfully, and this can show up anywhere, anytime. It was the space which the workshop held--which valued their attempts at using writing in this way--that was the real accomplishment. We were interested in how we can ensure that every time our writers sit down to write, they are doing so in a way that matters to them, regardless of the prompt or the circumstance. Ultimately, what we are pointing you towards is how can you think of yourself as a sponsor of your writer's literacy, being one who can "enable, teach, and support," or one who can "regulate, suppress, or withold." (166)

I too, as a Turning Point intern encountered my own ideas which start to blossom as the semester progressed, I wanted my writers to be able to tap into their feelings and emotions a little bit more by formulating activities which help them with writing from the heart of the matter. Giving them agency to boldly think about situations which were pivotal within their lives, whether it be recent situations, or something descriptive from their past, since it could be at times difficult to have them focus, I opted on collaborative work which felt like the best navigation for these writers to open up about themselves. My writers were especially interested in poetry based activities, not all of which are posted here, but I felt having them engage collectively helped them reinforce how they are all going through similar difficulties on some level during these hard times and situations. Below is an excerpt with a copy of one lesson and activity we completed for a workshop.

Community building and how that can have an impact on personal communication among the group was certainly well documented as it went along. I had many writers such as Ismael, Isaac, Lorenzo, JT who all contributed greatly as a smaller microcosm of the group. We all shared work which made us search within to really put out writing from the heart. By talking about situation that happened to us, it allowed for a greater network of support among the group, we were respectful of each others time and work. Some of the writers chose to focus on events like a court hearing coming up, or something which they recently got in trouble for. Others tried to focus on the more mundane to lighten the mood, but much of the writing ultimately tied to harrowing situations within their lives, writing such as this can transform and ultimately ask us to step outside ourselves and look at the greater meaning beyond certain pieces of writing. As Tiffany Ana Lopez wrote in her essay Critical Witnessing, “Like many literary works about trauma and violence, prison narratives ask the reader to move beyond the page or stage and step into the larger arena of personal transformation and community Building”- (Lopez,75)

As you can see with these pieces of work the writers submitted as informed by Lopez they are not only creating a sense of social justice but also illustrating a variety of community building as well. As My workshops progressed throughout the semester, a key idea which which gained momentum and was one of interest within our workshops was how we can give back to the community within our writing. How does the community make us feel on a social level. As stated in my interview with Yibei Zhang, a volunteer in my workshop, "I feel like by doing so, it might inspire our writers to see the world from a different perspective and sparks their interest in travel to other parts of the world." Writing has that power to shape us globally through the universal sense of language which pervades all of humanity. Now none of these works where from the unfairness activity itself, but thematically it ties together the idea of how you can take a piece of meaningful writing, no matter how short or long, and give it meaning not only onto yourself but onto others as well. Below is one piece of writing we did with Haiku's which help demonstrate how varied our dreams and hopes are of the world, and how we use our five senses to not only envision, but define how we see our world. Part of the process of doing these workshops is first coming up with a theme, so we try to come up with a larger idea for the time we spend with the writers during the week, next we structure activities around these themes, so if we are discussing unfairness and perception within the community, maybe we incorporate a drawing activity or self reflective activity. We then brief the writers on the activities, as well as the expectations, what are we attempting to get across? then we set a time and allow them to work. We also participate during this time, and as soon as the times up, we debrief, have them share their work(if interested), and finally debrief them. During the process of sharing we must always maintain a certain respectfulness with our writers as they are opening themselves up to us. You must compliment them and be warm and accessible, a Thank you for sharing, it was very brave of you, or an simple compliment on how they formed ideas can go along way towards better productivity and relationship building.

It is always important to remember on your writing journey as an intern you may often encounter writing you find problematic which may have the adverse effect of offending someone rather then actually bring them together as well. And although through my journey there were points I encountered such situations, it is always important to refine these situations as potential learning experiences. I interview Ariel Veselsky, an Turning point supervisor who once said of problematic writing, "Everything can be used as a learning opportunity, so by showing forms of writing that are offensive, explaining how it is offensive and having them be in the other person's shoes can help give them empathy towards others." The writing in question was centered around COVID 19 letters and how Covid-19 makes us feel and what we could respond with if we were to write COVID-19 a letter. One member of the group had written how he felt a specific group needed to be gotten rid of due to their involvement in COVID-19. As this situation unfolded I looked at my colleague who was from China, and asked her in a private message if she was alright. I was speechless and literally had no real idea of how to respond to this situation unfolding. No amount of education classes could prepare me to deal with something so unexpected. As it happened, the counselor who works with the Turning Point Boys, quickly ushered to the group member that what he wrote was not okay and he needed to be mindful. It quickly reminded me of some of the prompts I went over on my first day as an intern at Speakout! how do you respond to potentially offensive material? what are appropriate responses within destroying the dynamic you built? I had froze, and remembered that somehow, some way I needed to keep the workshop moving while also addressing what was said. I quickly replied," While I understand how incredibly difficult living through these times must be, could there be a more effective way of communicating this to us?" Now while that didn't fix the problem in any way whatsoever, it showed me how much I still need to learn through others as well as myself, in regards to learning how to teach a matter of empathy and utilize effectively in my own future classroom. I remember feeling guilty that I didn't do more to stand up for my colleague, and it made me consider how much consideration must be given when such a situation arises. It taught me quite a bit as an aspiring teacher about the power of words, and how you must handle classroom management if such a situation comes up. It also showed me how as an intern on your writing journey, you must always consider everyone's feelings and perspectives in such a situation as it is a teachable moment.

Finally, to wrap us below is an interview I did with Tobi Jacobi, who is a Supervisor at Speakout! Regarding what her work throughout Speakout! has looked like since she started, as well as how her role as a supervisor has informed how she views literacy, how to ultimately empower students, and as well as her favorite aspects of Speakout! and the ultimate impact which gets entailed by social justice and community building as a whole. One notable aspect of the interview, was when Tobi stated, "Theres an effort to insert literacy as a tool to turn to, but also employ and that’s where our publication comes in." Speakout! is something which can be used as a self-reflective tool, a creative outlet, a functional skill, and as a way to communicate with others around them with a social justice component. Part of that community building is largely illustrated by the workshops we do with the youth groups and Community Corrections Centers we work with to help refine and engage with the skills we learn.

Works Cited

Baca, Jimmy Santiago. A Place to Stand: the Making of a Poet. Distributed by Paw Prints/Baker & Taylor, 2008.

Brandt, Deborah. “Sponsors of Literacy.” College Composition and Communication, vol. 49, no. 2, May 1998, pp. 165–185., doi:10.2307/358929.

Lopez, Tiffany A. “Chapter 3: Critical Witnessing in Latina/o and African American Prison Narratives.” Prose and Cons: Essays on Prison Literature in the United States, by D. Quentin Miller, McFarland, 2005, pp. 62–81.