#SOL20 Day 2. Things I've Learned

Things I've Learned (and need to remember) Since 2011 About the March Challenge 

This should be my tenth year of the Slice of Life Challenge, but instead, it's my ninth, because last year, I wrote four posts and then quit. Really quit. 

I didn't write again for months.

When I was deciding whether or not to slice again this March, I made all kinds of lists, wrote about it, did everything I could to talk myself out of it.

But here I am.

And here's what I've learned (and need to remember):

1. It's fun. Yes, it's some work. It can be frustrating at times. But mostly, I really enjoy writing and connecting with others.
2. I look at the world differently during March. Everything that happens (or doesn't happen) is a possible slice. Conversations with friends, a drive to school, spending time with Chloe...they all can turn into tomorrow's post.
3. Comments matter. It sounds kind of shallow, but I like getting comments from others, and when I don't, I wonder if I really have anything worth saying.
4. Comments beget comments. In order to receive comments from others, you have to comments on their blogs. And soon, you have a little slicing group. I'm still connected with those from my first couple of years, even those who don't slice anymore.
5. It's fun to go back and read what I've written in the past. Those old posts remind me of who I was, remind me of favorite memories, and remind me why I love to write.
6. I'm going to hit a roadblock and find it hard to write. I'll just have to push through it. I've made some lists of ideas and I have my notebook full of pages that can be turned into slices. I have the resources.
   
7.  I'm better when I write in the morning. It's too easy for me to put writing off if I wait until the end of the day.
8. The more I write, the more I have to say. Usually, when I'm slicing in March, I just want to keep writing. That's where my notebook and #100daysofnotebooking will come in handy. I can just keep writing.
9. There are lots of great mentor texts out there. One thing about reading other posts, is they inspire you. Suddenly, your mind has more ideas to write about or ideas to copy. And imitation is a great form of flattery.
10. When all else fails--FALL BACK POSTS! Those quick little lists, the party game, any of those can be a post when you have not enough time or nothing to say.

I Quit. And Then I Started Again.

"I WANT TO WRITE, BUT MORE THAN THAT, I WANT TO BRING OUT ALL KINDS OF THINGS THAT LIE BURIED DEEP IN MY HEART.
~ ANNE FRANK ~

I retired.

I quit writing.

Actually, I quit writing before I retired. I'd think about blog posts. I'd try to get started. But that inner critic kept telling me that others had written it before, my thoughts weren't relevant, I had nothing to add to the conversation. And when I did retire in May, it was easy to tell myself that no one would want to read the thoughts of a teacher no longer in the classroom.

I'm not sure what is motivating me now, but I know I've spent the last couple of months preparing to start again.

• I've started a Pinterest board for Blogging and Journaling.
• I've dabbled a couple of times
• I've pulled out a new notebook
• I've scheduled my writing time in my calendar
• I've removed blank pages from my notebook

Yes. You read that last one correctly. I removed blank pages. Well, maybe remove isn't the right word. You know how we all hate the blank page? Well, I dated a week's worth of pages and wrote a writing prompt on them. That way when I sit down to write in the morning, the page isn't blank and I have a prompt to start from. 

I've found that I tend to list things at first, but when I sit down to really write, I have plenty to say. This post started from a list of all the reasons I wanted to start my blog up again:

• I need to write again
• I think about blog posts all the time--why don't I write them?
• It makes me feel good to write
• I need to write to sort things out
• I miss it
• I miss connecting with my blogging friends
• "Write like it matters and it will." Libba Bray

What I really forgot when I quit was my very first blog post, written on another site, was that I wanted a place for me to write, and Coffee With Chloe is that place.

5 Pics/1 Story: A Collaborative Effort

You know me and Twitter.  I love it. Follow great people. Try new ideas I find there.
That's what this post is about. It's full of links, so I hope you have the patience to check them out!

Two Iowa educators, Erin Olson and Leslie Pralle Keehn, who now work for one of the education agencies in our state, have started a Connecting Creativity Series. I'll let you check it out. There is a new activity every month, and I use these as a way to connect my students to students in other parts of the state.

This month's "assignment" is a 5 Photo Story. This one excited me because my Creative Writing students and I already do this in collaboration with our art teacher and her digital camera class.  This post will share how we go about creating this activity and even meet some common core standards!

STEP 1A (and beyond. Will try to have her write about what she does in class)
@Artteach13 talks with her students about telling stories with pictures. They need to take pictures to give a setting, characters, mood, etc.  They get about a week to take pictures. Once they have their pictures taken, they upload them to a google doc with numbered folders. @Artteach13 grades their photos separately from the story (although WHEN we are allowed to have our digital storytelling class, this will be one grade)

Meanwhile, over in Creative Writing....

STEP 1CW

This is the beginning of our fiction writing unit, so we spend a couple of days writing group stories from picture prompts I found on Pinterest (where else?):

My students have fun with these little writing "episodes" and there is no pressure. We share them out in class and talk about what it takes to write a story from a picture.

On Day 2 or 3, I send them to my website to work through tutorials on creating 5 Pic Stories. It includes sending them to a site dedicated to 5 Card Flickr Stories. On this site they can pick five pictures and write a practice story of their own. They also have the ability to share their story, so I have them email me the link. This is not a graded activity, but it is an expectation.

By this time, the digital camera class photos are uploaded to the google doc. My students have two more things to do: Read/look through @Artteach13's and my mentor text and watch the tutorial on using tackkboard. We post our stories to tackk, and the video shows them how to do it. (Our hashtag this year: #CHS5Photos14 Look for it after Monday.  Last year's photo stories are here)

My students have several class periods to draft/share/conference before their deadline. At first, they look at the pictures and think they can't possibly come up with a story. But you know what? Once they stare at them for awhile, talk about them for awhile, move them around for awhile, a story pops into their heads. And they write.

This is a fun collaborative project for our two classes. Do we have kids who don't get pictures done on time? Yep. Kids who don't get story done on time? Yep. But because they are collaborating with peers, no one wants to be that kid who doesn't do the work. It all gets done!

Our students (and ourselves, actually) are always surprised at how the stories turn out. The photographers had a story in mind when they took the pictures, but the writers can arrange the pictures however they want. Our kids have created some amazing stories. I hope you'll try this fun activity in your own class, either on your own or in collaboration with another.

4/31 I Still Don't Get It

Join the fun of the March Slice of Life Challenge at Two Writing Teachers

I am a Twitter edchat addict. I admit it. I actively participate in several and I lurk around the corners of several others.

I try to be very open minded whether participating or lurking. It's hard to really understand context sometimes in 140 characters. But a tweet yesterday made me stop and write this post.

A high school English teacher tweeted that she didn't know how to teach writing.

I had to digest that.

I still don't get it.

A high school English teacher.

Doesn't know how to teach writing.

I immediately suggested Penny Kittle's Write Beside Them and Kelly Gallagher's Write This Way. These two books have transformed my Creative Writing Classroom.

And of course, this slicing community has spoiled me. Everybody writes!

I'm trying to understand. I'm trying to keep an open mind.

But I still don't get it.

Celebrate VIII

My friend Ruth has started this Saturday celebration. I find that I am constantly on the lookout for those little bits of JOY that fill my day. If you want to know about this celebration, check out the page  

Ruth created on her blog.

#Nerdlution If you haven't succumbed to Twitter pressure and join the nerdlution movement or you really don't know what it is, you should check out this post by Chris Lehman  It explains everything pretty well :) I'm glad I hopped on this bandwagon because it has me working to get back to things that make me happy

Writing I've been writing more this week. Rewrote some new lesson plans. Writing out a new curriculum for some kids who have asked to do an independent study with me (Creative Writing 2!) I'm excited for this opportunity. But I've also been writing some fun things for me. I write along with my students, trying my hand at the daily prompts. Scribbling little snippets of things in my notebook. Also wrote a Twitter Haiku this morning because Kevin Hodgson tweeted this

So I wrote this as I was snuggled in with the grandkids

Moving

And, about that moving. I took my walking shoes to school and leave them in my closet. I've been walking every day after my last rehearsal.  The PE teacher told me 10 times around the square is a mile, so that's the goal every day. Takes me about 20 minutes. There's no one around but me and the janitors, so there is a lot of reflection about my day going on. I'm really enjoying this time for myself.

Well, that's it for this week. Be sure and share your celebrations over at Ruth's!

There's Something About Wednesdays...

I don't know what it is, but there's just something about Wednesdays.

It's the day of the week I am the most tired, both mentally and physically. I just can't get motivated. And yesterday, a two hour late start didn't help the situation. An extra cup of coffee, snuggling a little longer with Chloe, fog that stayed around all day, all contributed to the tiredness laziness.

Even my kids felt it yesterday. "Can we just read all hour, Mrs. Day?  You know it's the perfect day for it."

So, of course we did. Because it was the perfect day for finding a comfy spot and settling in.

What did this mean for my #nerdlution?  Welllllllllll........

I didn't walk as much as I should.

I didn't write. I thought about it. Does that count as prewriting?

Did I fail. No. I also promised myself when I committed to this I would be kind to myself. That I wouldn't let this consume me. So, I just jump back into it today.

But do I feel guilty?  Just a little bit...

#Write2Connect

Here I sit, wrapped in my cuddly blanket, coffee in hand, Chloe beside me, thinking about writing, thinking about all the ways it appears in my life. It's the National Day on Writing (school edition) and it seems only natural that I write.

I write about my writing periodically.

I've written about what I write and why I write  and again, what I write.

I've written when I don't have anything to write about.

I've written about tough stuff.

At times I've written about the ugly times in a writing class, but usually I write about the fun stuff.

I reflect on what writer's need and more specifically, what boy writer's need.

And sometimes, I let Chloe write.

But as I said in a previous post, "And, now, I'm back. Writing for me. Writing because I can't imagine not writing. Writing about life so the world (well, mostly the grandkids) knows I was here. Writing so others know I cared."  

What has kept me writing this blog is the connections I have made. Wonderful readers who take the time to comment, who take the time to share with me. It's amazing the friends I have throughout the world just because of this little blog. And some, even drive hours to come and visit me (and my classroom). What could have been weird and awkward, wasn't. It felt like meeting with a long lost friend because we knew each other through our blogs.

I don't only connect through the blog. My Facebook feed is slowly turning into more than a game space. Connections I have made through my blog have become friends. Many groups and teachers have pages now where ideas are shared freely. Twitter and several Twitter chats also connect me to other teachers and their amazing ideas. 

In fact, it was through Twitter connections that a new writing project for my students came to be. We are now sharing our blogs with some high school students from two other high schools in other parts of the state. So far, we've read and commented on each others, but I think all the teachers involved have more in mind as we head through the school year. My freshmen also commented on the blogs of some third graders in our district one Monday, just for fun. 

Today, I will plead with my Creative Writing students to tweet out links to their digital storytelling projects. As I watched their videos last night, I laughed and cried and gasped aloud at the amazing things they shared. Some were so personal, I hurt for them. But I also cheered at their amazing spirits and their courage to continue on another day. Some shared stories of family members who impact their daily lives. Love came through those stories. They need to know their stories matter and those stories need to be shared. 

So we will talk about connecting with the world.

Because that's what writing can do. 

Boys Write

Someone else's student teacher sat in my room today and observed my classroom. And you know how it is when anyone observes your classroom. You second guess yourself. The little critic in my head kept talking

Am I explaining this enough?
Do they understand what I want?
Is this going well?
Are they really trying?
Oh my God, they're talking again!

But the student teacher and I talked about what I did in class. And the things I know deep down, but never articulate, came out.

Boys. Writing.

They've got to talk about it. I know, it seems like the girls would be the ones to talk about it. The girls listen, watch, and write.

The boys. They talk. They joke. They laugh. They argue. They're loud.

It looks like they are wasting time and just messing around.

But

Something happens in that time. Ideas form. Words are written.

And by Friday they will have pretty decent drafts. By next Friday, they will have some amazing things written.

And so when you walk into my Creative Writing class and see that the girls are reading mentor texts and, oh so carefully, writing practice drafts. When you look and see the boys giving each other crap, arguing the rules of LARPING (don't ask), and laughing about their latest escapade, don't assume that they aren't getting anything done. Wait until you read what they write!

Author's Hearts and Secret Poets

Every semester I have my Creative Writing students write their "Writing Autobiography". They write an essay explaining their feelings about writing---whether  they like it, loathe it, tolerate it or are secret poets.  The essays help me get to know them and their writing. I can plan mini-lessons and big lessons. I find out who to nag at and who to let simmer. I know who needs help coming up with writing ideas and who will find their own. Here's what this semester's classes have to say. I think they speak to all writing teachers...

I have a few like KC, who told me, "Well, to tell you the truth, I love to write. I will write all the time. Well pretty much any time I have a chance. You could say I’m a secret poet."  Don't you love those words, "secret poet".  She will do well this semester. 

And then I have VH. I wrote back to her and said I can hardly wait to read what she has to write. "Since second grade I’ve known I had an author’s heart, and I’ve grown up with writing built into the very foundation of my being." She most definitely has an "author's heart". You should read her quickwrites--magic. VH will make me believe in the power of writing throughout the semester. She will be the one I read when I begin to wonder if I am teaching them anything at all about writing. Because, you see, I read many more essays that sounded like these:

"The most enjoyable thing about writing to me is when you don’t have to do it. The things I did write outside of school and the ones i did inside of school were nothing alike. The ones outside of school had many mistakes but it was interesting to read. The ones i did write inside of school were dull to read and didn’t have many mistakes."

"I have never been very fond of writing. It has never really attached to me like math, science, and history. It is like a parasite to me, it feeds off of me but I don’t get anything out of the deal. I don’t know if it is the grammar or punctuation in writing, but it just does not like me.

"Overall, I enjoy writing, but since most of the writing I do is in school, I don’t really enjoy it as much. If we get to write about what we want, I could possibly really enjoy this class."

A very common theme in the essays was that many of my students DO write outside of school. And they like it. They find it a great way to express themselves. These students also have the heart of an author and are secret poets, they just don't think that the writing they do has any place in school. 

My job this semester is to prove to them that their stories matter.