The writing prompt I took was – Sit in silence for ten minutes. What did you hear internally?<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n I was reminded of a time back when I was teaching 6th Grade. The following is what my muse said I should write.\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n Q – Quiet Time<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n (A version of this appeared in my first A to Z Challenge in 2016. I\u2019ve revised and updated it.)<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n In this day of electronic devices, how often do you see people walking with earbuds on listening to and\/or watching their smartphone? I tend to be guilty of that too, at times.<\/span><\/p>\n What is missed is experiencing all the sights and sounds of our natural world.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n When it comes to writing, being in the moment is where much of creativity comes from.<\/span><\/p>\n When I was teaching 6th grade, I used to take my class out on day or overnight trips to nature preserves. The one activity that I liked the most, as did the kids, was Quiet Time.<\/span><\/p>\n Here were the rules:<\/span><\/p>\n We did Quiet time once a day while we were on those overnights. Quiet time brought out the best writing and illustrations that my students ever did. What was great about Quiet Time was that once I had taught the concepts to my students and they got to experience it outside in a quiet natural environment, I could now choose to have them do it in other types of environments, such as the school playground and in the classroom (which worked great on rainy days). It was amazing how the students internalized the process of being quiet and listening to sounds around them, even in a noisy atmosphere, and were able to create.<\/span><\/p>\n There\u2019s a fable about listening that fits Quiet time. Had I known it way back then, I probably would have shared it with my class before introducing Quiet time to them. You can read a version of it here: <\/span>The Indian and the Cricket: A Fable<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n Here are some of the writings and pictures that some of my students created during Quiet time. I end with one of my own. (You might have to zoom in to make the writing more readable:<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0 So if you want to be creative, take out those earbuds, find a quiet spot, close your eyes, and become one with your environment. Then write, draw, play music, sing, or do anything you want that expresses what you\u2019re doing. And share. Have fun.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" My Theme this April is “My Muse Says…” The Story Spark for this story was Hearing. The writing prompt I took was – Sit in silence for ten minutes. What did you hear internally? I was reminded of a time … Continue reading ![\"\"](\"http:\/\/hdhstory.net\/Storyblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Q-17-2026-300x300.png\")
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