October 2, 2014 - 17:27
I left class today feeling overwhelmed and exhausted. This wasn't the usual stress of the semester. This was a direct response to the absence of space I felt in today's class. Not necessarily for myself, but more generally.
I want us to return to some of the ground rules we agreed to at the beginning of the semester:
– making space for one another
– stepping back
– remembering to avoid speaking as though one's truth is the only truth
– allowing some silence in our classroom
This is something I need to work on, too. I can ramble, I can speak in absolutes, I can interrupt others. I am working on being better about all of these things. Can we work as a group to also do this? I appreciated the energy our classroom discussion had today. I appreciate the passion, openness, and sincerity many of us brought to the classroom space. I also noticed some of us did not have the space to bring that passion, openness, and sincerity. There were interruptions, raised voices, and comments over each other. Can we work to maintain that passion and energy, and to also incorporate pauses in between our voices? Can we work on scanning the room and noticing when our peers are making an effort to interject but not finding a way? Can we try to be more aware of each other? Allow each other to finish our thoughts before jumping on? Checking in with our peers to make sure we haven't skipped over a voice?
This is a practice I wish to bring to any classroom I'm in, but particularly to our 360 community, because it IS a community and we DO have a responsibility towards one another.
Thank you, everyone, for bringing your best selves. I'm so appreciative to be in a space where genuine and sincere dialogue can happen. Let us continue to build our community.