Learning through Loss Writers Workshop
July 15, 2022
11:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. PT / 2:00 p.m. – 3:30 p.m. ET
This event has passed and registration is closed.
Grief Responsive Teaching Resources
“By writing our stories, we begin to extract significance, resonance, and lessons from our hardships, and by sharing those stories with others, and receiving others’ stories in return, we braid together bonds of connection across difference. We understand what is uniquely ours and what experiences and emotions unite us. We gain confidence and even safety. But the story must start with ourselves.”
Brittany R. Collins, Learning from Loss
The school year is over (for many of us). July can often be a month of in-between: in-between school years, roles, classes; this liminal space invites us to reflect and integrate, to recover.
Join us in a caring community for a session dedicated to writing and reflecting about loss, grief, and identity as educators and as whole humans. Together, we will engage in the practice of free-writing, dispelling our inner editors and utilizing the power of the pen (or keyboard) to tap into our inner monologue, probe our social and emotional experiences around grief and support (experiences of both giving and receiving), and explore the narratives we carry, the stories that inform who we are–and who we are becoming-as educators and beyond.
This workshop will offer a nonjudgmental space for participants of all backgrounds to reflect upon experiences of individual and/or communal loss, with space to share and receive others’ stories; however, as always, self-disclosure is entirely optional.
Intended Audience
Educators, youth organizers, student leaders, community based partners, and school administrators (Anyone looking to better understand their own loss experiences or reactions to others’ losses – and to make connections between past, present, and future self through the written word.
Learning Objectives
- Explore freewriting and expressive writing (Pennebaker 2017) as tools for supporting self-awareness and reflection, metacognition, and wellbeing to process this past school year and ready ourselves for what comes next.
- Gain deeper insight into personal or professional experiences of loss and how those experiences inform present and future self.
- Reflect upon one’s role(s) as griever and supporter or caretaker, considering the ways in which these roles are both independent and interconnected.
- Hold space for others’ stories of loss, grief, and/or grief support while gaining practice with scaffolded personal storytelling/self-disclosure as desired (always optional and on a challenge-by-choice basis).
Frequently Asked Questions
- Will closed captions be provided? Zoom generates automated captions and a transcript that participants can enable during the workshop.
- Will this offering be recorded? No, to ensure the safety and privacy of the writing shared.
- Is this offering eligible for Continuing Education (CEs)? No.
- Who can I contact if I have additional questions? Email us at scrr [at] cars-rp.org
Faculty
Brittany R. Collins is an author, educator, and curriculum designer dedicated to supporting teachers’ and students’ social and emotional well-being, especially in times of adversity. Her work explores the impacts of grief, loss, and trauma in the school system, as well as how innovative pedagogies– from inquiry-based, idea-centered learning to identity development curricula– can create conditions supportive of all learners. Brittany is the author of Learning from Loss: A Trauma-Informed Approach to Supporting Grieving Students (Heinemann 2021). Her articles have appeared in such outlets as The Washington Post, Education Week, Edutopia, We Need Diverse Books, English Journal, and Literacy & NCTE of the National Council of Teachers of English, Inside Higher Ed, Brevity blog, Dana Farber Cancer Institute, and Thrive Global, among other outlets. Brittany has designed and delivered curricula and educational programming for students of all ages through PBS Learning Media; Smith College; Boston University; Race Project Kansas City; Write the World; and the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Learn more about her work at www.griefresponsiveteaching.com or @brcollins27 on Twitter.