January 23, 2025
Stories from observational journals
On Tuesday, I gave students the little notebooks I always give my writing students, and they did their first “observational journal” entries in them. I put mine here:
Today in class, my students took their observations/drawings/descriptions and turned them into stories.
Here are mine, based on my Tuesday journal entries (2 classes, so 2 stories):
10:20 class:
Jack forgot to put the chair away. He was like that. He forgot things, which led to trouble—for him, but usually for others.
Bill was clumsy and the chair wasn’t where it was supposed to be.
So it wasn’t the chair’s fault at all that Bill fell. It wasn’t the chair’s fault that Jack felt guilty.
Propelled by Bill’s bodyweight, the chair skittered away on its casters, fleeing the blame.
1:50 class:
Kevin took a wrong turn, exacerbating his anxiety. There were too many corners in the building. Why so jagged?
The sign was no help. He couldn’t read it.
Its breath-taking plainness rendered his eyes useless, uncomprehending.
The sign should be a savior, but saving required attention, and he had none.
The sign bored itself to irrelevance.