by Jeffrey Stanley

Middle and Upper School humanities faculty spent the February 21, 2006 Professional Development Day in an eight-hour, four-session workshop called Writing to Learn, a program for teachers sponsored by the Bard College Institute for Writing and Thinking. The workshop, which was run by Bard faculty member Peg Peoples, guided the teachers through free writing and critical reading exercises that mimicked activities the teachers could then use with students in their own classes.

“Department meetings don’t often provide the time necessary for sustained exploration,” said BFS English department chair Sidney Bridges (at right in photo, with Upper School students), who arranged the workshop. “It’s a peculiar reality of many independent school teachers who wear a myriad of hats that we are unable to engage enough in what we consider such an important activity: writing.”

The hope was that teachers would not only enjoy the workshops themselves, which involved discussions of specific nonfiction, poetry and art samples and accompanying writing exercises, but that they would better empathize with their students’ own writing insecurities. “We could open up, revitalize, or reaffirm some of the magic potential of writing to sharpen communication and enhance understanding of others,” explained Sidney. “We could better understand what it’s like to feel the insecurity of a student who might feel less well equipped to dash off something brilliant in a short time period.”

History teacher Vlad Malukoff found the day helpful and plans to incorporate some of the exercises into his courses. “I want to use writing to get them thinking conceptually. As a way to start class, I’m going to have them get their thoughts together by writing. Some students spend time memorizing details,” he said. “They don’t see the forest for the trees.”