Monday Morning Memoir

I have always had an interest in stories. There are stories about me sitting and listening quietly to the stories of the older generation when I was very young. And I still remember those stories, especially the details. The stories of my family have been told over and over again, through many generations, so the details have become sharper with each telling, not necessarily more true, but definitely more detailed, more vivid.

As I greet students on Mondays, I know they are filled with stories of their weekends. Or they wish they were filled with stories of amazing weekends. I had an idea:

Every Monday morning, I imagine setting aside 15–30 minutes for everyone to write a story from the weekend. If nothing interesting happened, in their view, then I would invite them to make up a story. I imagine that we could curate the stories into a collection of Monday Morning Memoirs, with some being more creative and less nonfiction.

I feel like the project accomplishes a lot of things at the same time.

1. Students have an outlet to tell the stories they’re always bursting with.

2. Students regularly practice writing so they can become better writers.

3. The class learns about the process of curation, deciding which stories should be published (on paper or electronically).

4. Students learn that details make a story more interesting and memorable.

I’m sure there’s more I could add to the list.

I wonder if anyone has ever done anything like this. If so, how did it work for you? Do you have any recommendations or advice?