a few of my favorite things | the Slice of Life community

The single best thing I did for writing instruction in my classroom was begin writing myself & sharing my writing. Huge. #tandcwriters

Written by Katherine Sokolowski, the tweet captures why I started a blog to join teachers in the Slice of Life community. To help and understand my students, I needed to write more and share my writing.

It was Michelle who encouraged me to get started three years ago. I had been reading and learning from Two Writing Teachers for years, but I was not involved in their writing community. What a kind and inspiring group!

Thank you, Michelle. As a daughter and parent, the blog means even more to me now. It's a place to collect our stories and remember.

.......................................................................................

Slice of Life

Two Writing Teachers

What can you learn from Slice of Life writing?

Dilly Dallying

I am still dilly dallying.

Maybe I will finally join "Slice of Life" where writing teachers share their words online, and take time to respond to each other.

It's something we want for our students. We want them to be writing, sharing, and encouraging.

I was encouraged by Michelle to start a blog and to join this wonderful community.

I write in a journal, but I don't know if I have writing worthy of a blog.

Then I remember something I saved from Ruth Ayres.

Writing matters because:

• We realize it's not as easy as it seems.

• We are changed when we collect our thoughts and share them with others.

• We realize how quickly a community is established when people share their writing with one another.

• We gain insight in how to talk like a writer.

• We understand the vulnerability that comes with putting words on the page.

I think it's time to start writing more.

akr inspired | 579

Why did I start writing here?

- because of the Two Writing Teachers and Michelle Nero

- because teachers of writing need to write

- because teachers, like students, need a writing community

Why do I keep writing here?

- to save thoughts and stories

- to collect memories for my kids to read someday

- to remember blessings

Textbook | Language Arts

What is a Slice of Life? | Two Writing Teachers

From the Two Writing Teachers:

"In February 2008, Stacey was reading one of her student's writer's notebooks and came across a piece of writing about her sister's lost necklace. Christian wrote an entire entry about the outrage he felt when his mother made the family drop everything to search for his sisters's lost necklace in their apartment. Thirty minutes after they lifted up couch cushions and checked under all of the beds, her necklace turned up on her neck! There was something about his entry, this little snippet of Christian's life. It seems like a slice of life story. Stacy googled "slice of life" and found that it's a term frequently used in literature and entertainment. It essentially means to describe everyday experiences with as much realism as possible. Stacey realised that was exactly the kind of entry Christian had written."

From that experience, Stacey Shubitz started using "slice of life" stories to inspire her students. Then she challenged her students to write one slice of life story in their notebooks every day for the month of March! Later she shared the challenge on Two Writing Teachers and it has been growing since 2008. Adults, classroom teachers and students, from around the world, participate in a weekly challenge as well. They are writing their stories and encouraging each other.

Slice of Life | Writing Teachers

Katie Wood Ray has a passion for helping elementary teachers with writing instruction. Her books are excellent! Today I read this quote from her on Two Writing Teachers. 

Everything we do in Writing Workshop teaches students. Either we can be walking, breathing, talking examples of all we advocate for our students, or we can have them sitting around wondering why we are trying to get them into something that we are obviously not into ourselves. They see me as someone who writes, which is how I'm asking them to see themselves, and this is a key ingredient to learning anything. They listen to me because they can see that I know what I'm talking about. You can't get that if you don't write. - Katie Wood Ray

It's a good reminder of why teachers need to write. We need to know what we're talking about and have our students see us writing.

Slice of Life

repost | why write here

Why did I start writing here?

Michelle Nero encouraged me to join the Slice of Life with Two Writing Teachers, a wonderful place to grow as a teacher. They share ideas for the classroom, and they encourage teachers of writing to write. They also know teachers, like students, need a supportive community.

Why do I keep writing here?

While I have not been a part of the Slice of Life community for a long time, I continue to write here to save thoughts and stories. Like my dad, with scrapbooks, slides, and tapes, I want to save memories for my children to enjoy now or later.

a sentence a day | 46

In an interview with Scholastic, Donald Graves was asked if he had to choose one thing teachers should do when teaching writing, what would it be?

Write yourself. Invite children to do something you're already doing. If you're not doing it, Hey, the kids say, I can't wait to grow up and not have to write, like you. They know. And for the short term and the long term, you'll be doing yourself a favor by writing. All of us need it as a survival tool in a very complex world. The wonderful thing about writing is that it separates the meaningless and the trivial from what is really important. So we need it for ourselves and then we need to invite children to do what we're doing. You can't ask someone to sing a duet with you until you know the tune yourself.

akr inspired | 121

I wrote my first This & That post on August 23, 2013.

I started writing here, because I am a teacher who was a part of a wonderful community that believes teachers of writing need to write.

I am still writing here, because I am a mother and daughter who wants to save stories.

Textbook | Math

akr inspired | 244

Because of Two Writing Teachers, I started writing on a blog seven years ago. While it has been a long time since I've posted with the Slice of Life community, I'm still grateful for the encouragement I was given.

Why participate in the Slice of Life?

- It encourages teachers to write.

We can better help and understand our students when we are writing.

- It encourages community.

We read each other's words and share comments that touch the writer's heart.

- It encourages people to tell their everyday stories.

And saving the stories is a wonderful gift to ourselves and to our families for years to come.

@missamykr | Instagram | Project 1,2,3

Slice of Life | Day 24

Write what should not be forgotten. - Isabel Allende

Writing is an extreme privilege but it's also a gift. It's a gift to yourself and it's a gift of giving a story to someone. - Amy Tan

A writer is working when he's staring out the window. - Burton Rascoe

I write to find out what I didn't know. - Robert Frost

Writing develops courage. - Donald Graves

Since I was young, I've loved quotes. I think it may be from watching and listening to my dad. He was always jotting a favorite verse or quote from a book or sermon on a piece of paper. They were usually tucked in his Bible. He would often share them with us at home or make mention of a special one before singing in church or during a prayer meeting.

Over the years, I've kept my quotes in journals but a few years ago, I started collecting them on a blog called "Little House on the Ridge". I gather quotes that speak to me about teaching, reading, writing, praying, and more.

akr inspired | 164 | Ww

writing

I read this quote about writing in Amy's book, and liked it very much.

But writing with simplicity requires courage, for there is danger that one will be overlooked, dismissed as simpleminded by those with a tenacious belief that impossible prose is a hallmark of intelligence. - Alain de Botton,  The Consultations of Philosophy 

Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life

day 17 | slice of life challenge

For today, I am going to use the free-writing strategy where you don't lift your pencil (hands don't leave the keyboard) and you just keep writing whatever is on your mind without a worry about grammar or punctuation -

The clock is ticking. Midnight will soon be here and I really don't know what to write today. It was a day. The morning was good for him. One of the best in the month, but the afternoon was one of the worse. Sad for his little heart and the choices he has been making. Sad for my class. We ended the day with a gratitude circle. We counted our blessings. Thy are so sweet as they share what they are thankful for. Watched the girls play volleyball. It's the high school season now. Enjoyed hearing Dad sing along with Bing on the way to the gym. Loved chatting in the kitchen with the kids after the game. Love being a mom. Wondering about Annie's friend who got injured during the game. Thankful to know God is with her all the time. Wish tomorrow was Saturday. I'm a little tired of thinking and planning for school and other things I am involved in. Would just like to be mind-free of it for at least a month. It would be refreshing. Folks who can travel must love that get-away feeling even more than the sunshine and sand. Blessings. Ramble. Ramble. Ramble. Time is up. Free-write is done.

Slice of Life | Day 8

The summer before grade 9, my dad was the song evangelist at the Riverside Wesleyan Family Camp in Maine. They ran a youth camp at the same time and I have precious memories of that week. I can still see the rustic dorm rooms and remember all the places the old school bus took us. The counselors from Bethany Bible College were wonderful and God gave me some very special friends that I kept in touch with for years. I even returned to Presque Isle, Maine to be a bridesmaid.

Today I am writing about a line I heard when I was at Riverside Camp. It was spoken in a sermon by the evangelist, Rev. John Gray. I can't remember the Scripture, but I remember writing this line in the margin of my Bible. 

After the "but" comes the truth.

It has stuck with me all these years.

What we really think often comes after the "but".

Think about it when you use the word "but" or hear it used.

It will work, but...

          I like it, but...

Would it be different if it had been said this way?

                    ..., but it will work!

                              ..., but I like it!

After the "but" comes the truth.

This message still makes me think about what I say or write after the "but".

Slice of Life Challenge 1 | questions

Today is the first day of the annual Slice of Life Story Challenge hosted by the Two Writing Teachers. For the month of March, teachers will be writing and sharing every day. As I read Terje's post this morning, it reminded me of how much I enjoy asking questions. It's a wonderful way to dig deeper, to reminisce and to have ah-ha moments like "I felt the same way!" So for my first day, I am going to answer a couple questions.

What did you want to be when you grew up ?

Wendy and I wanted to be farmers. It was our dream to have lots of animals. While we were growing up, we spent hours and hours playing in our grandparents' barns, and roaming through fields and woods. I could share countless childhood adventures!

What was your favorite summer job?

When I was attending a college in Boston, I worked as a counselor at Camp Taconic in Red Hook, New York. I had great summer jobs when I was young, but this one was my favorite (and the most challenging).

Ohhh! As I answer questions, I now have ideas for what I can write about over the next few days!

Slice of Life | Aunt Dot and Aunt Ruth

1991

Dad, our family historian, has collected mementos and photos over the years.

As I was looking through a binder, I noticed this family newsletter written by our great aunts, Dot and Ruth, in Sandford.

Over the year, moments about family and the community were saved by the daily writing of a simple sentence.

   Babies born. Loved ones ill. Visits made. Birthdays celebrated. Church gatherings.

There were some that struck me funny.

Jan. 16th Fany brought a dead cat home from the bus stop, thought it was hers and when she got home hers was on the doorstep.

And there were others that moved me.

March 13th Ruth was dizzy, had to help her to bed.

Writing these moments down and sharing them was an act of love.

Here we are still reading them over, and remembering, twenty-six years later.

Slice of Life Challenge | Day 31

Since I was young, I've loved saving quotes. I kept them in notebooks, but years ago, I started sharing them on a blog called Little House on the Ridge.

I have a quote about comments from Ruth Ayres.

"It matters when people comment on our writing and it makes us want to write more. Our students need others to react with emotion to their writing."

Comments matter.

The words we share with others matter.

Our reactions to stories matter.

Thank you so much for being here during the Slice of Life Challenge.

Your words have mattered to me.

akr inspired | 523 | Ww

Eight years ago, I created This & That. Encouraged by the Two Writing Teachers to be a writing teacher who writes, I decided to start a blog about family, faith and teaching. 

Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life

akr inspired | 414 | Cc

cursive

I enjoy writing A, L, E and M in cursive.

I do not enjoy writing D, F, J and K in cursive.

There are many uppercase cursive letters that I don't like, so maybe that's one of the reasons I like to print.

Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life

akr inspired | 702

Because of Two Writing Teachers, I started this blog eleven years ago. While it has been a long time since I've posted with the Slice of Life community, I'm grateful for the encouragement I was given.

1. They encourage teachers to write. When we are writing, we can better help and understand our students.

2. They encourage community. They read each other's words and share comments that touch the heart.

3. They encourage people to tell their everyday stories. To have the words written down is a wonderful gift to ourselves and to our families for years to come.

@missamykr | Instagram | Project 1,2,3

akr inspired | 716

In Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life, Amy Krouse Rosenthal has quotes about writing as she shares her journey to creating the book. The following two were my favorite -

I have remembered, I suppose, what I wanted to remember; many ridiculous things for no reason that makes sense. That is the way we human creatures are made. - Agatha Christie; An Autobiography

But writing with simplicity requires courage, for there is a danger that one will be overlooked, dismissed as simpleminded by those with tenacious belief that impossible prose is a hallmark of intelligence. - Alain de Botton, The Consolations of Philosophy

When I read this book, and Textbook, I liked how she wrote about the ordinary (which is extraordinary). It matched how I like to write and save memories. I don't have a need for fancy words or following all the rules. I prefer simple, and that's okay.

Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life