Where's the Confetti? (31/31)

  31 of 31 - SOLSC 2021

Where is the confetti? I feel like arriving at this point in the challenge there should be confetti flitting down on me. And hooting and hollering with yelps of glee. Anyone else?

For those of you who are with us for the first time this year, do come back on Tuesdays. It is the same lovely bunch of people and yet you have an entire week (nearly. for the first Tuesday) to sift through your brain for that moment you can't wait to put down on virtual paper. Or you could put it on actual paper and post pictures of your notebook. (It's what my friend Erika does. You can check out her blog here.)

Speaking of friends: Erika, that I was just mentioning, we met in this space. We've yet to meet face to face and still, across years of reading about one another's lives, sharing comments (and even being in a Voxer group together inspired here) I do not feel it is a stretch to call her 'friend'. She is not the only one I could say this about. Friendships are born here,  and then you find yourself in the same physical space and the relationship continues.

We need one another. The practice of writing is hard. This community brings encouragement, accountability, and acceptance. Here is where we can share drafts and know we won't be judged for trying things. Thank you to Stacey and all the co-authors of Two Writing Teachers for the countless hours you pour into all of us throughout the year with your planning, sharing, and leadership.

See you on Tuesday, even if there's no confetti.

Overheard Just Now (4/31)

  4 of 31 - SOLSC 2021

Overheard just now:

"I think I just spelled because!"

It's the exuberance in her voice that pulls me from my work as I stand at my desk. She is working with a partner on a Zoom call to try and finish a project for school. The joy and surprise in her voice caught my attention. She and the friend then talked a bit about words that trip them up, even as middle schoolers.

Recently some wordsmithing was shared with me regarding spelling. Many parents balk at terms like "inventive spelling" or "made up spelling". They don't like the idea their child is not spelling something the right way. What if we call it "temporary spelling"? We are acknowledging that it is a placeholder on the journey toward conventional spelling.

This daughter of mine has always been very verbal. I am thankful that she has had mentors that have encouraged her to use her spoken vocabulary when she writes, not being concerned about the correctness of her spelling. Her writing has stayed true to her voice while her spelling has stayed atrocious - until this school year. The pieces have finally fallen into place and her spelling has become mostly convention.  

But we all have those words. You know the ones. Those words that despite slowing down as you write them, they seem to always appear with a red squiggle under them. Apparently because is one of those for my daughter. By the time their conversation finished the red squiggle had shown up under another occurrence of because in her writing. "Well, I guess I am still learning 'because'," she tells her partner.

It's Been A Minute

It's been a minute! Anyone who is living during this time does not need me to explain how the usual became the unusual (or nonexistent) and how the unfathomable became reality. This has been my experience in more ways than I probably realize while we are still in the midst of it. 

Last week I thought, "I'll start writing now so that the Tuesdays of February slowly get my blogging muscles back in shape before March arrives." 

And then my internet went out.

Of course I had left the blogging until the last thing I was going to do before I went to bed. I did jot a few notes in my writing notebook and chuckled at how used to things not going as planned has come to be what I expect.

Now it is a week later, barely mid-day, and I am writing a slice and looking forward to commenting on other slices in this community of writers.

Give Yourself A Break

It feels good to be slicing. It is like a great workout. Getting up the gumption to do it sometimes seems insurmountable, but once you start you are glad you have - and afterwards you have that 'feels so good' high.

It is absolutely pathetic that I haven't sliced since last spring. It isn't that I haven't been writing, but not with these muscles. It feels good to use these muscles again.

The purpose of slicing is different than the writing I have been doing, as well as the lens with which I look at my writing, has been different. All the mini-lessons on narrative writing flit to the front of my mind as I look critically at the previous paragraphs.

Best advice I ever received as a 'slicer', "It's draft writing - give yourself a break."

Quandry

26 of 31 - SOLSC 2018

The Slice of Life March Challenge is hosted by Two Writing Teachers and part of the Slice of Life Story Challenge that takes place each Tuesday throughout the year and everyday in March. It is a supportive (and awesome!) community of those trying their hand at writing and encouraging others in their writing. Join us!

My notebook gets used all the time.

Writing notebook

Packing lists

Meeting notes

Blog ideas

Summer planning

Future trips

Lists of books

Recipe ideas

Quotes

Poems

Folded pieces of paper that I need to be able to find

I generally have future notebooks stashed and ready. Being without a notebook is not an option. 

This week I am in a quandary. I do still have one option tucked away, but it is not the option I want to go with. I have found that the large journals from Attic Journals are perfect. I have already picked out my next few and they are literally on the way to rendezvous with me in New York City later this week. The challenge is that I only have a couple of pages left and more than a couple of days remaining. So, I find myself weighing how important something is for me to write down as I am afraid that I will run out of pages before I have my Attic Journals package in my hands. (To alleviate this happening again in the future, I have ordered a generous supply.)

I Could Write About...

17 of 31 - SOLSC 2018

The Slice of Life March Challenge is hosted by Two Writing Teachers and part of the Slice of Life Story Challenge that takes place each Tuesday throughout the year and everyday in March. It is a supportive (and awesome!) community of those trying their hand at writing and encouraging others in their writing. Join us!

I could write about the fact that yesterday was exactly a twelve hour day - sunrise at 6:37 a.m. and sunset at 6:37 p.m. 

Or what about the "Girls' Day" I had with my daughter since my husband went diving.

Or the fact that he saw two hammerhead sharks during his dive, (but wasn't using his Go-Pro so we don't have footage of it).

I could use talk about things that are half or things that are in between with inspiration taken from other slices I read.

Or how much I love "The West Wing" and having "The West Wing Weekly" this time through more than doubles the time it takes to get through the series, but is adding new insights.

I could write about what a "Hamilton" geek I am. And there are so many avenues I could take with my fandom to run with this idea.

Or I could write about two friends taking the kids from four households to the park this morning. The kids were going to have fun regardless, but the friendship made the trip enjoyable for me as well.

Or about all the things I didn't do today, but with that thought I sigh and come to a close. Sometimes writing is a joy. Sometimes writing is a chore. And sometimes, writing is a means to procrastinate.

Tipping Point

3 of 31 - SOLSC 2018

The Slice of Life March Challenge is hosted by Two Writing Teachers and part of the Slice of Life Story Challenge that takes place each Tuesday throughout the year and everyday in March. It is a supportive (and awesome!) community of those trying their hand at writing and encouraging others in their writing. Join us!

I have been walking six days a week for the past month! That's 24 days of walking, if I have felt like it or not. I haven't walked consistently since I was training for the Portland Marathon in 2009, when my daughter was an infant. 

While I have seen an improvement in my health (in ways I'm not going to get into right now) it is still not easy to get out the door some days (for reasons I'm not going to list right here). 

Last night it was after nine before I started. (My ideal is first thing in the morning, both because the weather is better and because I have accomplished something before I have even really gotten started.) But, I did it.

Something happens when I pass the 20 minute mark. At that point I could probably go another hour, even if up until that point I have checked my watch ten times. (I walk for a minimum of 30 minutes.) I don't know why this is, but I have noticed it consistently.

The March challenge is a bit like my walks. I can do it, each and every day, even if I don't want to. Something happens when I pass day five or six. At that point my writing brain is always running in the background and I am more likely to notice small moments. As they happen I start to draft possible ways to put the experience on the page. The writing is not really the hardest part. Having ideas is much harder. When you are notice a slice happening in your own life, writing it down just takes time. Writing it well is another matter. 

(And the challenge of remembering to write myself a note so I don't forget the inspiration is an entirely different feat!)

A Week Of Firsts

Thirteen years and I have now had the opportunity to hear rain on my tent in the desert in the Middle East.

***

Not only watching rugby, but choosing to watch it, AND understanding what is going on.

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Playing every track of "Hamilton" in the car as a family. 

My visor is down, not so much for the sun, but so I can watch my daughter in the mirror.

"Someone under stress and someone's looking pretty."
No reaction.

"I'll let him tell it."
No reaction.

"I hadn't slept in a week. I was weak."
Head snaps up, brows furrowed.

"I know you are a man of honor."
Eyes wide, imploring me to explain, hands raids - palms up - questioning.

***

Teaching Fantasy writing brought fresh excitement for both myself and my students - until we realize it is work, and then we set in to do it.

Hamilton Strikes Again

My Hamilton obsession strikes again. Carvens Lissant was the guest on The Hamilcast and, among the many riveting things he said, this gem was one. "I was in awe of people who had dexterity in language."

What a quote! He was speaking as a poet, as a manipulator of words, as someone who pays attention to how others use words to communicate their point. It has stuck with me. I may need to put it up next to my desk.

I'm Calling It: Success!

This post is part of the Slice of Life March Challenge hosted by Two Writing Teachers.
Check it out and join us.

We aren't quite half way through the month, but I am ready to call the Classroom Challenge a success! My students are ASKING for more time to write each day. They are feeling connected to one another in new ways as a results of their writing. The world, overall, has shrunk because of our involvement in the the Classroom Slice of Life global community.

"Our group has published our Scientific Research Paper. May we please blog?"

"There are still six minutes until recess - can I write?"

"Mrs. Lonheim, may I have five more minutes for commenting - PLEASE?!"

These are all actual quotes from my students in the past two weeks. While I pride myself with ensuring that no student leaves my room without the love of reading, I haven't been as successful with igniting the flame for writing. I am absolutely sure, now, that this is a direct correlation to 'voice and choice'. I give nearly complete freedom in choosing reading material. Writing, well, let's say we do our assigned units well. Within those units students get choice, but let's be honest - it is not complete choice and often the framework they have to work within is not that appealing. It seems that no matter how I massage the assignments, students still seem to be writing for a grade - not for the love of writing.

"Time to sign out, put your device away, and line up." That's the line I use to interrupt the silence in my room. The final punctuation on the statement is currently, "Ahww!"

In addition to now having a common enemy, me, since I am the one who puts a halt on their writing, they are also becoming more of a community through a plethora of shared stories adding to the collective class experience each day as they read one another's posts. The community building aspect of Morning Meeting has grown to the time when they can read and comment on blogs from other students in 5L. They are laughing together at funny stories about cats and soccer. They are empathizing about bad days, feelings of angst, and losses big and small. I watch their appreciation for each other, as people, grow.

Columbia, Malaysia, Singapore, the United States, and Venezuela have all grown closer. From seven year olds to seventeen year olds, there are students around the world writing, just like them. They have the opportunity to read other people's writing and realize that regardless of age or location many human experiences share similar themes. They look for the extra minutes in their day in which to dip into other's blogs and take in their slices - looking for points of connection so they can leave their thoughts and opinions and shared emotions.

The month isn't over, but I'm calling it now: Success!

Is This The Dreaded Day?

This post is part of the Slice of Life March Challenge hosted by Two Writing Teachers.
Check it out and join us.

Today is the day, the dreaded day.

Sigh.

It is only the sixth of March, which either doesn't bode well for making it through the entire month or it allows me to get it out of the way. I sat down to write today's slice and I have no idea what I am going to write about. Perhaps it is appropriate that TWT posted a badge today, "Blogging Alongside My Students". One reason we teachers take on this challenge is to experience the 'what-the-heck-am-I-going-to-write-about' that every writer experiences. 

That doesn't mean that I don't need something for today's post.

***

I have been coming back to this page, over and over, all day. Nothing, yet.

***

Are there any other Hamilton fans out there? Perhaps I could draw some inspiration from tunes we jam to around my house.

***

What about Settlers of Catan? I taught a group of students how to play yesterday, furthering those who have a passion for the game.

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We are at a lull in Iditarod excitement as we sit between the Ceremonial Start and the Re-start, so there isn't much to say on that front - other than speculation.

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Then there is this by Amy Krouse Rosenthal that has gotten traction on social media and several other people slicing have written posts about it.

***

The West Wing? While we have watched the entire series over and over, my mom hasn't seen it. My husband and I paused our latest round last week, a few episodes in, as we made the realization. She binge watched upon her arrival to catch up with us. Part way through the pilot she remembered having seen a scene. It struck me that we tried to get my parents into the show when they first visited us in Jordan - a dozen years ago. Hymnbo couldn't follow the quick dialogue nor the fast changing story lines. Since he is now whooping it up in heaven, she can give it another go. Last night we all joined in for "In Excelsis Deo" - and off we go!

Set Free By Demands?!

I am realizing that the March Challenge is freeing.

What?! Kristi, are you crazy? How can having to write, and post, every day be freeing?

So glad you asked. Let me explain my recent revelation. 

In March, because you have to write and post every day, you are forced to really pay attention to life with a writer's eye. You are observing the world in which you live for something to write about. Some days you are struggling to notice anything that might begin to spark the words. Other days there are so many ideas you have to choose the moment you want to spend your words on. There is freedom in the notion that what you write one day might be 'bleh' because in the midst of life most of us aren't going to find/make the time to truly craft our slice every single day. There will be days that the writing comes close to being something special and maybe even occasions of writing of which you are proud, but the necessity of getting something on the blog each and every day allows for the freedom of 'first draft writing' (as Stacey once called it).

In the non-March times I have an entire week to observe. With an entire week I should be able to come up with something profound for each Slice. I should have grand inspirations. My writing should be elevated to a higher level than what I post in March, and yet...

And yet life still happens at a rapid pace. I do not live with the same writing discipline that I thrust myself into during March. Sure, I have moments that I think, "Wow! This is a sliver of life that should be explored." With more days there is more time. I should spend some of that time to see how I can share this moment in words. I could write it like this, or perhaps this way, or throw it all out and look at it from another viewpoint.

But I don't. I find Tuesdays coming to a close and I have nothing on the page. I remember that Tuesdays are my longest, most demanding days and that they are also the day for SOLSC. I berate myself for not taking time on Monday, my least crazy day, to plan for Tuesday - to spend some time putting words down and then revisiting those words to try and craft something worthy of sharing with the world. And the moments slip away and I choose sleep over posting and another week has gone by without a Slice.

Yes, it is May and I am ready for the freedom of March and having to post every day.

Trying to not freak out

March is nearly here.

How am I ever going to make it through another year of slicing every, single, day of March if I sit down on a Tuesday, when I've had an entire week, and I just stare at the screen. I then stare at the candle. I then stare at the photos on the wall.

You get the idea.

I seem to remember thinking that my husband's comment about boredom would be good fodder, but it doesn't seem to get past a couple of disjointed sentences.

What about the backpacking trip we are getting to plan for the summer? Though I am thrilled, the words don't come.

Perhaps my errand to the cobbler this afternoon. Not many people probably experience their only two pairs of works shoes needing at least repair, if not have gone completely bust, in the span of three days.

Work? Something about a central place to keep student information, but that could get me in trouble. I won't rant publically.

I could make this a 'Choose Your Own Adventure' and see how a few sentences about each of the above could be strung together for a disjointed adventure, but I am sure it would just leave you perplexed.

What I am realizing is that part of my stumbling is coming from not writing every day, or even a few days each week, as I have in previous years. There are many reasons. One is that the new Teachers College Writing Units don't have us writing in our writing notebook daily. We are writing, but with a focus. Right now it is Research-Based Arguments. I can tell you lots about chocolate milk!

I don't even know, exactly, where my writing notebook is. Somewhere in the vicinity of my desk, I'm sure of that much. So, my goal is to rediscover it tomorrow and then actually open it and scrawl across some pages with my favorite blue Bic ballpoint. Hopefully, come next Tuesday I have some complete thoughts to share.

Want to, but can't seem to

I have been wanting to get back to posting regularly. I even thought I might try to post every day in July. As you can see, that hasn't happened. I have loads of ideas spinning, but when I sit down to write the idea seem to spin and nothing of substance shows up. I am wondering if I need to find a physical writing notebook and a pen and practice the discipline everyday. I know a bunch of junk will come out. My hope is that the junk either leads to something worthwhile or gets out of the way so I can share my thoughts and reflections.