Monday, March 4, 2013
Emotional Catharsis
As I recall (it has been a while) highschool was a bit of a turbulant time for me emotionally. I was not popular in any sense of the word and because of that, I went through my fair share of ups and downs. I have always been a fan of writing anonymously or under a fake name. It is a way to let out your emotions while not feeling like you are under a microscope. The military has trained the "talk about your feelings" almost completely out of me to point where talking about them to a person makes me feel like I am being judged or observed. I have found that writing as someone else or anonymously allows me to be 100% honest and put anything out there yet still feel safe and comfortable behind my veil. If students start blogging in class, they may find that they can utilize this tool in there personal lives. Getting your feelings into print or another for of media is extremely theraputic. For me, I think though the detail and motivations of my feelings before I can write about them. Then after I write, I can edit the writing so that it best refects what it is that I am trying to say. Then once the writing is done, I finally feel like I have dealt in a real way with what I was feeling. For me it may be writing, for others it may be music composition or art. Regarless of the media, web tools explored in this class and later in the classroom can help students to express themselves in different ways. (why I am still loving on this whole Tumblr thing.)
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This is awesome, Nate! I completely agree that writing is a beautiful form of expression, art, and therapy. Most students in high school feel like they are still searching for their voice and often deal with their emotions in negative or self-destructive ways. How better to motivate them to love literature than by giving them means to understand and express themselves better through writing?
ReplyDeleteI agree with you both. Writing is an amazingly powerful form of expression. Adding on to what Nate said, maybe even having the students blog under different names as to open up the discussion and their true thoughts some more would be helpful. Obviously, the teacher would have to create guidelines and make the students aware that this is still a class assignment; ya know, just to avoid bullying or unnecessary criticism. But, after setting the boundaries, I think this could be a great way to get students to open up. Plus, it is nice to write and express your thoughts in the privacy of your own home, away from the distractions of the classroom and your peers.
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