Words as Refuge—Creative Writing In Difficult Times (for Teens)
This interactive, one-time class offers a variety of creative writing techniques that can help us explore and clarify our thoughts and feelings during challenges.
Kellye Crocker, MFA
Average rating:
5.0
Number of reviews:(56)
What's included
1 live meeting
1 hrs 30 mins in-class hoursClass Experience
Writing about difficult circumstances and emotions can help us process these experiences, as well as clarify our thoughts and feelings. Scientific research shows it can also have a therapeutic effect, helping us feel a little better and find meaning in our situation. (Interestingly, we think differently when we write compared to when we simply sit and think. A study from the UK's Lancaster University found that writing forces us to process our ideas and reflect upon them, and then it makes our thoughts available as an object of study. That is, we can go back to read and reflect on our thoughts.) This nurturing, interactive class includes student discussion and the opportunity to try a variety of writing activities designed to help them process their experiences. We won't avoid difficult feelings such as worry and fear, but we'll also turn our focus to gratitude, optimism and hope.
Learning Goals
This class will help students:
1. Talk and write about their feelings.
2. Try a variety of fiction and non-fiction writing techniques for dealing with stress. (These skills also boost English/Language Arts proficiency.)
3. Engage their creativity and imaginations.
4. Explore empathy for people who are different from themselves.
5. Experience courage and vulnerability if they choose to share their writing with the class.
6. Receive specific, positive, verbal feedback on their writing (if they share).
7. Understand how to be part of a supportive writing community by listening respectfully as classmates share writing and providing positive, specific, verbal feedback.
Other Details
Parental Guidance
Every teen is different. Some may welcome the opportunity to express their fears and feelings—others, not so much. Please don't hesitate to reach out to me if you're unsure if this class would be right for your teen.
Supply List
Please bring pens or pencils and plenty of paper! (If you absolutely can't stand to write by hand, you may use a tablet or laptop, but make sure you can still see what's happening in class.)
External Resources
Learners will not need to use any apps or websites beyond the standard Outschool tools.
Joined April, 2020
5.0
56reviews
Teacher expertise and credentials
First, I need to emphasize that I'm not a therapist, and this class is not intended as therapy. What I am: A professional writer and teacher. What this is: A safe, nurturing space where young people have permission to say what they need to say and to learn writing techniques that can help them cope with stress throughout their lives.
As a professional writer for more than 30 years, I know how healing writing can be. I also have a long history of working closely with young people. In the 1990s at The Des Moines Register, for example, I proposed and created a reporting beat focused entirely on writing about young people and their lives. When I went back to school in the early 2000s, I got a Master's of Fine Arts degree in Writing for Children and Young Adults. I worked in youth services at a large, suburban Des Moines library, creating and offering programming for preschoolers through teens. For the past four years, I've taught creative writing to young people through Denver, Colorado's nonprofit Lighthouse Writers Workshop. I've been fortunate to have taken several professional development classes through Lighthouse, including a half-day training on working with children who have experienced trauma.
In my classes, I offer love, humor, encouragement, and acceptance in a space that values inclusion, creativity, self-expression and community.
Reviews
Live One-Time Class
$15
per classMeets once
90 min
Completed by 4 learners
Live video meetings
Ages: 13-18
3-6 learners per class
