| « In letter, head of UTLA teacher's union calls anti-illegal alien activists racists- urges action | Standards versus Freedom of Expression: Detroit boy sues over hair cut » |
Malibu retreat: UCLA writing project
10/04/07
What a wonderful two days I spent in Malibu! Colleague and master teacher Cindy Shelton invited me to a "writer's retreat" in beautiful Malibu "the boo" California sponsored by the UCLA (go Bruins) Writing Project. Usually, I'd rather watch "very special" feature films on the Lifetime channel than attend the often absurd, rarely useful, and almost always wasteful teacher "development" classes LAUSD foists upon us, but the Malibu retreat was definitely an exception.
Follow up:
The main reason for my enthusiasm is class leader Jane S. Hancock who organized the weekend perfectly. Seemingly custom-made around my as-yet undiagnosed, but suspected ADD, she would gather us around in a circle and model a type of writing, a three-column autobiography first, and cut us loose to write. We would gather later to share.
My companions were very nice people and serious writers. Some were funny like the girl who wrote a poem on the sex-appeal of Dr. Phil; one made people cry by sharing a domestic abuse situation. The style of the day, following the prompt, seemed confessional so I decided to try for a story based on one poet's reflection on his interstate voyages with his mother which I'll include in my upcoming fiction section.
Anyways, teacher education that works- you gotta love it.
P.S. Write your congressmen to refund the project.
Comment feed for this post
