In my classes, Active Waiting happens with a reflective writing exercise at the beginning of every class period. I stole the idea from Jonah, initially worrying that it would eat up too much valuable class time, but it’s proven to be an excellent way to get students ready to engage in active discussions. Last Friday the topic for reflective writing was the experience of class so far. I had students leave their names off, assured them that no, I did not have anyone’s handwriting memorized, that my feelings aren’t easily hurt, and that I wanted honest feedback about what is and isn’t working in class so far. Almost everyone wrote that they love the reflective writing because it warms them up, clears away any frustration or stress, and gets them ready to participate in class.
For me, the best part of the semester so far has been the class discussions, which are always lively and usually take off in directions that surprise me. Judging by the student feedback, I can chalk these productive discussions up to the five or ten minutes we devote every day to quietly writing on some loose topic. If ten minutes of class are spent in absolute silence while students write, and forty are spent with a fully engaged class, then the time isn’t wasted.
That said, I’d expand Boice’s definition of Active Waiting to include any activity that gets rid of obstacles to productivity. I go for a long run every morning, a routine that clears my head of distractions and prepares me for the day’s work. For my students, writing—often ranting--on an unrelated topic for a fixed period of time gets them ready for class. With this broader definition, I think Active Waiting isn’t just a good exercise in preparing to teach, but also in preparing to learn.
I like this method of active waiting. Now I want to steal it--I think I will. I started off the semester with quizzes at the start of class. They were pretty open ended and related to the goals of the day, but since I called them quizzes, students freaked out a little. Some free-writing might put them more at ease. Would you be willing to provide us with a few of your prompts from the last couple weeks?
ReplyDeleteBeth, I like what you have said here about expanding our way of thinking about Active Waiting. I think, as we discussed earlier, that Boice's fundamental ideas are good and well-intended. However, if we find ourselves struggling to find our place in terms the advice given, it can be easy to turn away from what Boice is really trying to say. So I appreciated how you offered us some useful ideas on how we might utilize active waiting in different ways. I use reflective writing and free writes in almost everyone of my classes and cannot say enough about how it helps to jumpstart class discussion. As I was first reading these chapters, I kept thinking about our earlier discussions (from the TA training) about our writing process and to what extent these activities and rituals counted as Active Waiting. I agree with you, in that it would seem that de-stressed activities, like running or exercise, can in fact provide the same reflective tone and creative energy needed to begin a project.
ReplyDeleteI am curious, however, to see as we read on if some of these ideas come up in his later chapters and how our ideas on this process might change over time. I guess it is something to look forward too.
Indeed. Boice's issue with the passive waiting is that you really aren't accomplishing anything but increasing stress and putting things off. The active waiting is like a hunter, slowly circling towards the quarry. I agree that in the West we always want to do everything fast and direct. This isn't really how our minds work though.
ReplyDeleteJes: you should try it! I'm always stunned when students say that they're enjoying a writing exercise. Very exciting. If there's a reading assignment (usually just once a week), I have them write a response. Otherwise I try to use a prompt that feels personal and engaging, but one I can incorporate into the beginning of our class discussion. So for our discussion on wallowing in complexity, I asked for big questions they have yet to discover the answers to. For a class on argument, I asked about the last big fight they got into. I love that last question--such interesting answers!
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