Daily Blues & Views

 I had a hunch they would work.  They did.  I was able to use writing prompts, strategies, and activities I had used with high school students with senior citizens.  Needless to say, this was very gratifying.  Here's the story. About a year ago, after enrolling in a Tai Chi class through my local community center and then again at a local gym, I met a number of retired seniors who just happened to be some of the friendliest people I have ever known.  Our little community of elders id talkative and delightful.  After talking with a number of them, I realized that they certainly had some stories to tell.  They had been and some still are all manner of professions.  Teachers, nurses, realtors, lawyers, waitresses, architects, and more.  It occurred to me then that a writing class where seniors write about their lives to preserve stories for posterity might be something they'd be interested in.  So, I set about trying to make that happe...

 I've returned to The Book of Qualities, by J Ruth Gentler once again to meet the needs of one of the senior students in my little Writing From Memory class I'm currently teaching in my local community center.  This little volume personifies various concepts and personality traits.  The particular student "in need" seems to be fixated on writing about her past relationships.  Apparently, there were many.   I'm OK with that.  I only hope that she picks a few qualities that are as revealing about herself as those that might describe her Ex's.  There is much to be learned by writing about a quality.  The aforementioned book seems to have survived well over the years.  I first encountered it and its author way back in the late 1970s.  I took a journal writing workshop from her.  Then, a few years later, her book came out and I introduced these writing exercises to my students.  11th grade Juniors seemed to do the best with it. ...