 My name is Toya today Taylor, and I'm the executive director of we app we act presenting perform the speak with purpose Program, which is the only public speaking class offered in Seattle public schools at many of your schools And we're so proud of that. I'm here with my team today. This is miss Sophie. Hey, miss Crystal And today we are working on a free ride So some of you know what a free ride is but some of you're like what in the world is that is it a free Right that you give away to somebody or what? This is an opportunity, and we love doing this and speak with purpose for you to freely express yourself It's all about letting go of judgment Allowing yourself to really just say what it is that you are feeling in the moment Nothing more nothing less. It doesn't matter how old you are how young you are We do this with students as young as fourth grade all the way up to 12th And you can't imagine the amazing pieces that people come up with when you allow yourself just to be free All right, so I'll say this for me free writing was really important when I was probably like in ninth grade Ninth grade for me was hard you guys. It was a time that I felt like nobody. I mean no adult Really listen to my voice. I felt really alone and like I Had things to say I just didn't know how to say them. Have you ever felt that way? Yeah, middle school elementary Yeah, I think at some point it was even elementary through high school Until I learned I found this this thing I could do called free writing And this became my voice it became my opportunity to talk about whatever was on my mind And I began to talk about my community my life how I felt about school And how I saw myself in the future and so I say to you if I can do this Anybody can do this and you should and we will today. All right, so first thing about free writing is I'm gonna show you How we get started first of all you want a journal If you don't have a journal snow sweat, it's not a big deal get something to write in or on so a piece of paper What else could you use? Use your phone All right, you just want something you feel comfortable writing in for me. It's a journal for today. All right We're gonna give you ten seconds to go and get Something to write in you ready. I'm gonna break it down for you a pen or pencil either one Thanks, miss. Oh, I got you. Thank you. So we're gonna break it down for you. Go get it ten Here we go nine where you at where you at eight go get a pen or a pencil seven What what six five five four? Three are here. You come to find a place so you can write one one one one One all right cool. Um now that you have something to write with Or in Show you how we do our free writes Here's a free write that I did the other day You're going to put your name in the left hand corner. So open up to any page. That's a free page write your name in the top left hand corner and Then right across on the opposite side. You're gonna put today's date whatever that is Okay Today is 424 in the studio correct and then whatever we choose as a topic or two words That's what you're gonna put in the middle and then you always want to find some place to put the exact exact time that we start and We'll tell you what time to start and you'll put the time there then All right, so put your name left hand corner Date right hand corner will tell you what the topic is today and then you'll also put the time we start Cool now. We're almost there you guys We're always about to free write a few things and we add that are truly important to us so that you really get the ultimate experience with your free write You have to find a sweet spot a sweet spot is a place where you can concentrate that there are going to be no interruptions from your little sister or brother or Your television your phone put it away Find your sweet spot. It can be under a table on a table on the floor left up to you Next when we say pen the paper once that timer starts you do not you just write Don't stop writing. Don't think just do allow your mind to get comfortable with writing If you get to a place where you're writing and you're like, I don't know what else to write write it I don't know what else to write. This is crazy. Why am I writing? Maybe the sky will show something open up to me and I will see and be free and you'll just start let your mind Get there. Okay. The other thing is most importantly intercoach It's important that you find your voice because I can't even I can't even tell you how many songs I've Tried to write or poems and didn't finish because I thought nobody wanted to hear them or I didn't know what else to write or I just Gave up on myself That's an inner critic. That's what we don't do We want to have that inner coach that says I can speak about anything. I want the world is open to me I believe in my words somebody else needs to hear this But I have to be the one to write it or I'm just writing it for myself and that's all that matters I can do this. Okay intercoach Dispel the inner critic All right, so I think that I miss anything you guys I Think we're almost ready Okay, get your journal whatever you're writing with I want you to now go find your sweet spot To be on the floor I might just stay here because I'm the oldest of everybody at the table, right? So I think I'm a I think this feels good to me. This will be my sweet spot for today. I love it miss Sophie Oh, I like that. That's nice miss crystal So let's pick two words that we're going to free write today. Um, I'm thinking heart What are you guys thinking? I like it, too Now remember the beautiful thing about a free write is be free Use your imagination. Heart doesn't have to mean the traditional definition of the heart bumping in your are In your chest it can be a planet call heart a food call heart How could we use friends? You can think about the stuffed animals you have as friends Your stuff You're even like a pet named friend a pet named friend Friend could be the name of a school you go to the name of a song That was made on planet heart Whatever you want. That's the beauty of a free write is you choose What the words mean to you and explore it be open? Okay, so we're gonna get our journals or whatever you have to write and I want you to write in the middle of that page put heart friends Your name in the left hand corner remember and the time in the right in the time that we start We're in the studio and the time is 1135 okay We're gonna play a little music find your sweet spot. Oh, I saw nice. This is gonna be my sweet spot. Here we go Wow three minutes goes by really really fast So write your last word. I see miss crystal is still writing her last sentence. Take your time and put the time that we stopped and I'm going to Share my free right. Is that okay? All right, and I want you to remember sometimes people are like, I don't want to share you don't have to But if you want to you can share with a friend a sibling a parent Or just read it out loud to yourself So you feel really good about or you just hear the words you feel good about it And know it's for you. All right, so this is my version of heart and friends Heart feel the room flowing from speakers like trains in Brooklyn pouring out like Nina Simone or Miles Davis The song she played was friends a melody a beat that reminded me of home Reminded me of my grandmother's sweet potato pie. I cried the tears came from my eyes as I Heard her pour into the room slow like sweet molasses like sweet Magnolia flowers. I Thought about friends some old some new they all crossed my mind And in that moment I was lost in time So I appreciate it. Thank you We won't go into your free rights, but what were your free rights about? Really quickly Writing about her little brother having a friend named heart in elementary school Nice So miss Sophie used the traditional sense of Expressing your heart and having good friends in your life. There's no wrong or right in a free right So remember find your sweet spot once you start writing. Don't stop. Just allow it to flow Okay, give yourself a time. I would say three minutes to five minutes more importantly remember Always embrace that inner coach that allows you just to be yourself and express yourself to the fullest and Dispel that inner critic that tells us what we can't do because we can do it all All right, so if you want to share some of your free rights with us We would love to hear them We're gonna put up our website at the end of the video and you can share them right on our site And we would love to hear some of your free rights. Yeah Cool My name is Toya today Taylor. I'm the executive director of we out. This is Enjoy life be true to yourself speak with purpose and we'll see you in the next video. Bye