English Class Goes Silent

Jenny Markert, English Teacher
January 10, 2017

This school year, one new English elective, offered second trimester, will be conducted mostly in silence. The class is called "Journaling for Self Discovery" and is open to tenth through twelfth graders.

This year's teacher, Ms. Markert, who designed the course, explains why she decided to offer such a course: "So much of our day at school, we are forced to be extroverted: giving speeches and presentations, having to participate in discussions, small group work, and group projects. Thinking about our emphasis on Multiple Intelligences, I wanted to offer something for the introverted aspects of our students here at CDH."

She further notes that journaling fuels the internal and individualized activities: introspection, reflecting, thinking, creating, meditating, praying, etc.  The class will include daily silent meditation, daily journal writing, and weekly readings from other writers who have kept journals as a part of their self-development, as writers and as individuals.

The class centers around "old-fashioned" educational tools: pens and paper, actual books—no modern iPads, computers, or cell phones allowed. For some students, this will pose a real challenge, but hopefully, after a few weeks of working on the introspective aspects of the mind, students in the class will begin to embrace a welcome refuge from the busy daily routine of high school.

The course has a full roster of students eager to give it a try. Ms. Markert is eager to see how the students grow, both as writers and as thoughtful, introspective human beings, throughout the trimester. She is excited to show students how the motto "silence is golden" proves true.