Chapter 12 - Solving the dropout dilemma

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Solving the dropout dilemma	429

with live plants, neatly butcher-papered tables, pitchers of iced lemon water, peripheral posters all over the walls, an acoustically sound "ghetto blaster " in place, a "Welcome" sign and happy face on the neat flip-chart - the atmosphere already orchestrated.
      At 10 a.m., the students arrive. No bells, only rock music - loud and energetic, the way teenagers like it.
      A poem to start the day (Steven Garner's Wings to Fly) as an introduction to individual goal-setting, then with direct involvement from the start as each student is asked to identify his or her overall goals in creative writing.
      Teacher dons a chef's hat, introduces "visualization" techniques - imagining dining in a wonderful restaurant.
      Station WIIFM (What's In It For Me) takes the air - tackling students' "hidden agendas": "If you could choose from the whole area of writing, what would be something that could really help you?" Students state the learning outcomes they'd like without realizing that they are "buying in" to the agenda on a subliminal level. The teacher puts the outcomes in "clusters" - a brainstorming technique developed by Gabriel Rico in Writing The Natural Way. No set piece of literature here to study; the students will learn to write from their own creative perspective.
      The "clustered outcomes" poster goes on the wall - to add to the subconscious messages.
      Then "future pacing" - visualizing how they would like to feel in the evening when the class is over and they've achieved their aims - with Chariots of Fire music playing in the background.
      Another break; then, because many students have said how hard they feel it is to start creative writing, "cluster" and fast-writing techniques are explored - and used through the multiple intelligences.
      But it soon becomes obvious that, as with most new creative writers, students write with static words, not picture words. So the chef-hatted teacher produces a pizza oozing with cheeses and zesty sauces - so the "picture words" can be "tasted".
      By lunchtime, the creative writing session has become one of pleasant achievement. The teacher gets feedback from students, then a quick review and a preview of the wonderful things to come.
      After lunch, they're "hyperactive" but after the inevitable sugar-intake "high" comes the early-afternoon slump. To combat it, the teacher

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