As the last writing class wraps up, I ask some debriefing question that I think work for all kinds of experiences. Debriefing solidifies the experience and helps me glean valuable insights.
So we eat chocolate, and I ask:
1. What was your favorite lesson or memory from our weeks together?
2. What work you created are you most proud of why?
3. What do you hope to use in the future from this class?
After we share our answers, we actually clap and cheer out loud for each other to celebrate our hard work.
Then, we play one final name game, ending how we began:
Tell us your summer plans and one measurable goal you have.
Then, as always, I recite the Irish Blessing and try not to cry.
May the road rise up to meet you. May the wind be always at your back. May the sun shine warm upon your face. May the rains fall soft upon your fields, and until we meet again, may God hold you in the palm of His hand.
And then, it all ends. We shake hands. We slowly leave the space that will never house the same combination of people, in the same way, again.
But all great courses begin the day they end.
Onward! Onward with vivid verbs and semicolons!