I’ve been thinking a lot about how to make more space for attention and critical thinking in virtual educational spaces.
(If you want to read my long-winded thoughts about this, check out this post!)
One of the things I’m excited to try is Focused Writing Sessions.
After seeing how positively students responded to short bursts of free writing in the classroom, I’ve decided to try out a longer, more intentional version.
Beginning in Fall 2026, any student enrolled in a Live or Guided class will be invited to attend any or all of these hour-long sessions dedicated to giving space and time to their work.
We’ll meet over Zoom. The first few minutes will include dropping a goal in the chat. Then, I’ll turn the chat off to minimize distractions and turn on a looping video (like rolling waves) and sound (like lo-fi beats).
I’ll keep time and bring students back to the shared space when there are a few minutes left. At that point, I’ll turn the chat back on and invite anyone who wants to share to tell us about their progress.
It may sound simple, but I think it has the potential to be a real “ah-ha” moment for learners who are looking for the space to develop their ideas more deeply.
This could be a great time to do deep reading with annotations or to write a very messy early draft of a paper.
The work can be for my classes, but it doesn’t have to be.
I’m excited to give this a try and will be asking the participants for their feedback and input to make these sessions as useful and supportive as possible.
