Week 3

By now you should be getting into a rhythm in your work for this class and all of the others.  You might be wrestling for time as you find yourself having to prepare for exams and read more than you have in your previous academic life.  As you do,  you may be putting off writing in your magical writer's notebook, waiting for that right moment when you have time and inspiration.

You are being warned this week:  It will not come!  

From this point on, the semester enters special time, an altered state where there seems to be less and less time for being, paying attention, and noticing the small details, and yes, writing in your magical writer's notebook!  This does not mean that you should forgo these very essential parts of life.  Don't wait for the right moment.  Create it! You are being challenged to pay more attention so that you are not sucked into a stress vortex caused by poor time management.

Taking time to organize (physically and mentally) is extremely important.  You should be writing things down on an agenda or a calendar. Google's calendar has a great notification system that works great with most phones.  Find a good place to study that is quiet and focused.  Work out a note taking system that works for you.

If this is your first semester, you are also being challenged to balance your personal, school, and work life.  Even if you are a veteran student, this is still your challenge.  And we know that doing so will take some effort.  By the way, if you are not feeling the beginnings of the weight of the term, you may be very fortunate or you may not be engaging your courses in a meaningful way.

Too often students only prepare for exams and fail to see that what they should be after is an education and not merely a grade.  In their effort to balance, they cut corners and miss out on tremendous learning opportunities.   Don't throw away the many invitations to learn.  Read everything that is assigned.  Stretch yourself intellectually.  Engage rather than aim for doing the least amount of work to get by rather than excel.

This week I will be doing a notebook check.  Make sure to bring your notebook to class everyday.  Failure to have it when I ask for it will mean a 0 rather than 10 juicy points toward your final grade.  We will continue with skits this week and follow the same process.  If you perform, your 500 word typed reflection is due the following class.

The writing assignment this week call for you to continue exploring your sense of self.  I'd like for you to do this in two separate notebook assignments.  One involves finding an image this week of anything that represents who you are (this can't be an internet generated picture or image; you need to find it in real life and photograph it), printing the picture (no need for fancy picture paper), pasting it in your notebook, and writing at least a page or two on the connections between you and the image.  The second involves finding a picture of yourself, say ten years ago or more, pasting this one as well in your notebook, and writing to that younger self some of the most important things that you now know that you wished you had known then.  Both of these writing assignments are geared to get you to "collect" information around the question "Who are you?"  Your first formal essay will be based on this collection.

For Writing Down the Bones this week, read and respond (short or long) to everything from "Beginner's Mind, Pen and Paper" to "Trouble with the Editor" (5-26).  Keep in mind that you have already read at least two of the short chapters.

Finally, this Saturday, September 15, we will have our beach BBQ. Do all you can to come; we will have fun!