freewrite what we teach

I want to spin this assignment a new way, and promote "writing what we teach" inside the classroom in real time (in addition to the notion of demonstrating to our students the fact that we actually do write outside the class, and have and will tackle similar assignments to those we give them). I had an opportunity to do this with my students last week, and, looking back, wish I would have thought of this sooner.

I used this fantastic activity called "Exploding the Moment;" I think there might be a similar activity floating around, but this one is a bit different. I got this from the Florida University writing program's website ( http://writing.fsu.edu/?q=node/475) and found it to be an excellent tool in both my 110 and 215 sections.

The activity goes something like this:

1. Read orally the following paragraph:
I woke up late this morning--as usual. I had no clean clothes and the fridge was next to bare. Traffic was heavy as I sped to work. Some jerk cut me off and I almost had a wreck. At work I went to my desk and there was a note to go and see the boss. I waited outside her office for a while before she called me in. I couldn’t figure out why she wanted to see me. I went inside and sat down. My boss handed me an envelope. She told me that my services were no longer needed and that I was free to go. I got my belongings from my desk and left. The drive home was quick. I am now unemployed.

2. Point out the lack of details in this paragraph. Explain that any one of these sentences could be "exploded" to create an interesting story.

Here is an example from the website -- this example is an "explosion" written by the English faculty member:

"Some jerk cut me off and I almost had a wreck. I hate people who can’t drive. I decided to teach him a little lesson by playing near bumper cars with his bright red 300 ZX. He kept hitting his brakes, and eventually even shook a fist of rage at me. I giggled gleefully--kind of like that lady in Fried Green Tomatoes who got immense pleasure from repeatedly rearending the car of the person who had stolen her parking space. Space is crucial, and that jerk will probably think twice before he cuts into mine again."

3. Now pass out copies of the first (bland) paragraph to students. Tell them to choose one sentence to explode, making up the most interesting details they can--as long as their additions will still fit in the facts of the original paragraph. Give them about 15 minutes to write their explosions.

4. I differed slightly from the website's instructions and had the students gather into groups -- one group per sentence exploded. (So all of the students who exploded the first sentence got together.) I then had the students read aloud to each other their explosions in the groups.

5. Regroup as a class and read the paragraph line by line, asking each group to volunteer a "favorite" to explode each sentence. This was the most fun I think we've ever had as a class.

6. I had the students go home and explode a moment from the essays they're revising and bring the explosions to class the following class period.

My point to all of this is that this is a great opportunity to join in with students and do the writing WITH them! :) I usually freewrite with my students on almost every in-class freewrite (unless I'm conferencing or checking work), yet I realized that though I ask students to share their work, I rarely share mine (and hardly ever anything creative -- I usually stick to "examples")! I realized as I read this Florida State University faculty's paragraph that I should have attempted this myself before class and read my own paragraph for my students.

I don't know if other teachers are hesitant to show this kind of writing to their students; I think I'm afraid of seeming like I'm showing off or placing myself as an example. I think, though, that this type of activity -- and many in-class freewrites -- could provide a forum appropriate for this kind of interaction.