Writing Class

Last night I started my writing workshop class. I'm taking the same class with the same instructor as last Fall. Before the class started, I met Janel Moloney, an actress from West Wing (I didn't know her work, I learned this info later), who told me about the class I'd missed last week. She said that many people had taken the class before, so I was hoping to see more familiar faces. When I started last semester, many of the students were repeats. So this introduction had me feeling a little surprised when everyone piled into the room and all but one of the faces was new.

Repeating the class means that I hear some of the same assignments and suggestions from the professor, and that was interesting. It wasn't new, and so I spent more time watching the other students' reactions. It made me think about my professor's experience at the beginning of each semester, when she walks into a room filled with new faces and new lives. I saw her working to try and draw out stories so that she could better understand her students. I saw her trying to encourage and yet set boundaries. And I listened to her repeat herself and wondered how that felt as the teacher to start anew several times with the same basics to communicate.

I enjoyed the feeling of familiarity with the professor. I enjoyed the possibility of learning about all of these new classmates. But I missed the familiarity of the writing circle we had last semester. In my mind, nothing was changing, I was just taking a winter break. But in reality, everything has changed.

On another note, Firefly wanted me to do a writing tutorial, inspired by Robyn's button making tutorial. Anyone interested? I'll just steal from teachers I've had. No great promises. But I can share what I'm learning.