I teach people. Real people with real problems and hearts and dreams and favorite foods. Sometimes I forget that when I get annoyed with immature behaviors or overwhelmed in responding to student writing. Today, though, I remembered. During most semesters in my College Composition class, we celebrate with a literary luncheon, an idea I stole from my time with the Ozarks Writing Project. (Shout out to Keri and Casey!) Every student must bring some kind of food or drink item to share, but there is, of course, an academic component. They must also write a short essay explaining the significance of the item they brought. During class we share our food potluck style while each student takes a turn reading his/her essay to the class. We're hitting some Common Core standards for writing along with speaking and listening, but more importantly, we're connecting. Today Anjelica shared about her passion for Fanta after her time living in Mexico. Mari wrote about sweet memories cuddled on the couch with her family, a movie, and her mom's famous chocolate chip bars. We learned about Bryce's grandma hiding the monster cookies up high so he and his brother couldn't overindulge, and Ali wrote symbolically about how her family represents the various components of trail mix. Food brought us together, and so did our words.
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September 2020
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