Students participated in a short meditation and breathing exercise. I read them. I Close My Eyes by David Ignatow. After the meditation, they were asked to write whatever came to mind. Classwork was conducted in silence. Daydreaming and even boredom were encouraged!
Lesson Note: “Boredom heightens daydreaming because moments of boredom resemble sleep. Each inhalation and exhalation becomes part of the experience. When the mind finds itself in an interlude of rest, synapses connect differently, forming new thoughts. The listener creates harmony in the space, just as our minds [might] fill boredom with a story, observation, or memories to escape the boredom. Mysteries abound in the time we’re not ‘entertained.’ “–Pep Talks for Writers (2017) by Grant Faulkner: Executive Director of National Novel Writing Month.
Ms. Wright, 7th Grade
The infinite mind
by Brian Y.
A mind that is as big as the universe
Thinks about nothing.
A mind of anger and happiness fills the mind.
A mind that can stop thinking or shut down like
a power button.
The mind may feel lonely.
But it can still make friends as a imagination to feel less lonely.
After Meditation
By: Hailey C.
I could eat about a million slices of cake!
I was so hungry that my stomach was like a volcanic eruption.
She was as sweet as a piece of candy.
The toddler was like a hair clip.
It felt like five hundred million years for him to finish that sandwich.
The donut was as hard as a rock.
She was as light as a floating rubber ducky.
A pea was like a molecule without my glasses on.
Spicy chips blowing in my mouth like a bomb!!
Marshmallow melting like a snowball
Noodles drizzling like raindrops
Green grass like an apple tree
Smelly trash cans like a man’s armpit
Houses like a pile of ice cubes
I want to sleep on sushi and be wrapped around with seaweed
Ms. Wright, 7th Grade
Untitled
by Dathne C.
Everything feels wrong
The unfair things, the stress,
the overthinking, the stupid things,
Sometimes I want to be nonexistent
But after just closing my eyes
And putting down my head
It feels like a new world
It felt like a trip
It feels like I came back
from a long trip
It felt like a trip I wanted
to go back to
A trip that made me feel like
I left the world
And went somewhere like heaven
Relaxed, peaceful, and comforting
Joyful and happy
meditation. i think
by Vincent L.
The subtle noises like a sort of waterfall?
Wait no, more like a…..
Ummm…… a sort of bird flying through the air?
I think it’s really not that calming
But they do, I guess?
The quiet melody playing in m-
Ouch oops I hit my nose
Meditation? Isn’t that the one where it’s like square breathing or something?
Alright, I’ll try that.
Personally, I think just complete silence is more calming.
Wait, don’t I have work that I need to complete?
Wow. This really is taking a long time.
I think it’s been like 11 minutes-ish maybe?
Well…
I guess meditation is just is not for me.
