Voices from the Field: Ana Dodman - Implementing Writing Out Loud at Cold Lake Community Learning Centre
Ana Dodman, Cold Lake Community Learning Centre
Last summer, our CALP sent, like every other CALP, our Annual Report 2022-2023 to our funder, Advanced Education, and surprisingly it came back with a very positive review from the grant coordinator. She pointed out that our program Writing Out Loud was a great way for people to work through emotions. What a reassuring feeling that the work that we do here in our CALP is being noticed!
In 2021, I had the privilege of being part of the cohort Strengthening Literacy Practices led by CLN’s Literacy Specialist, Rebecca Still. In that training I learned about trauma and learning, and how through literacy practices we can help diminish the impact of trauma in our learners. One of the resources that was given to me was the Writing Out Loud approach, which was developed by Deborah Morgan.
Writing Out Loud - by Deborah Morgan
According to Morgan, facilitators can implement the following basic principles to teaching writing:
• Create a safe environment for learning.
• Begin each writing session with freewriting.
• Write with the learners.
• Share writing with one another.
• Recognize writing as a means for personal discovery and growth.
• Write what you know.
• Put grammar and spelling concerns aside for now.
• Have fun and enjoy the process.
After reading these basic principles, I thought this was a great approach that I could implement in one of the groups I was already working with on a reading program. This group is the 2nd Floor Women's Recovery Centre’s clientele, who are women that struggle with addictions. In most cases, these women have lost custody over their children and come to our Centre once a week. I have been working with our community partner’s clients for a few years to provide a reading program, but this time after explaining the benefits of the Writing Out Loud approach, I asked their permission to deliver a new writing program to them, and thankfully they accepted. I really wanted to try this method with them, since Morgan mentioned that some of the benefits of Writing Out Loud were that the learners look at their lives in a more positive way, and they validate their stories and their lives. I really wanted to see for myself if this was true.
Tuesday Writing Group
Once permissions were granted, we got ready to start this new adventure. Every Tuesday, before our group is brought by our community partner, we prepare our classroom with some materials, snacks and beverages. Once they’re all settled in, and feeling comfortable, we provide them with paper and a pencil. We set up a timer for 5 minutes and give them a prompt to write about, for example:
- asking them to pick a word from a jar and write about it
- things they are grateful for
- describe the object that the instructor is presenting to the class
- describe their favourite comfort food
- write about their favourite song and why they like it
- describe a scene (a rock concert, a person walking a dog) using all their senses
We don’t put a limit on the length of their writing since they have so much inspiration from the topic. We also tell them not to worry about grammar or spelling since this program is about freestyle writing, not perfect grammar. So, if you notice we start from something simple like writing a word to writing a life experience, to scaffold the learning. Everyone then has a chance to read out loud what they wrote, and sometimes it can get very emotional even for the supervisors who participate as well. At the end everyone feels seen and heard, which lifts everyone’s self-esteem because everyone matters, their stories matter.
The Outcomes
The learners have mentioned that this program has helped them to speak in public confidently, or that writing has helped them to put their feelings into words and have a different perspective of what they went through. There are many benefits for the learners. It’s a way to release the burden, the shame, or even the joy that life experiences bring into their universe. It allows the development of community at least for a short period of time as they write together, learn together, stand up and read their words out loud, feeling them and enjoying them. They are encouraged by others who listen without passing judgement, which seems to diminish the pain.
They have told us they look forward to coming since we “spoil them” by offering coffee with cream and sugar, chips, juice, water and candy, which are things that they don’t get at the Recovery Centre. It is certainly encouraging to see a change in their demeanor compared to when they came to the workshop for the first time. Some of them were not interested in engaging in the activities provided, so we knew we had to make our work appealing to win them. Now, I see smiles, a spark in their eyes and them looking forward to the prompt I provide to start writing. They have also gained confidence not only in writing about their life experiences but also in speaking in public as they share their stories. It has also helped them to see their life in a more positive way.
I am glad about implementing this approach that builds community. People want to hear your story, the stories that make you cry and the ones that make you laugh. Writing can be transformative; it helps people to be able to express effectively and communicate their ideas as well as move forward in their lives.
“I can shake off everything as I write, my sorrows disappear, my courage is reborn.” - Anne Frank
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