For the month of March I will be participating in the Slice of Life Challenge sponsored by The Two Writing Teachers Blog. Each day I will be sharing a Quick Write as my way of slicing. The idea is to offer a SPARK that will kindle thinking and then write as quickly as you can for 5-10 minutes. No filters, no revisions. I’ve been curating a collection of Sparks and will share some with you all month. It’s a great way to ignite your writing life.

Be Present

A simple quick write SPARK to encourage greater mindfulness is to stop and jot what you are experiencing in a given moment. Tap into your senses and notice where your mind takes you. This meditative quick write can be quite relaxing in a natural space or stimulating in a more chaotic space.

Yesterday I woke before my family (who hadn’t adjusted yet to the time change) and noticed the morning sky. I grabbed my bedside notebook and for 5 minutes immersed myself in the present moment:

This quick write is a lot like morning pages that I sometimes do, except that this is 5 minutes instead of 3 pages. I often can’t find the 30-40 minutes to incorporate morning pages, but I can easily find 5 minutes to quick write.

I get a very different emotional and sensory feel from a Present Moment quick write during my lunch break at school or even after I get home in the afternoon. The fun comes from not knowing where your mind will take you and what words will emerge as you put pen to paper. Sure I could do this on my computer, but there is something special about watching those words form from your hand and not feeling fully in control of what comes out! It’s kind of magical.  Give it a go this week and see what you discover in your present moments.

For the month of March I will be participating in the Slice of Life Challenge sponsored by The Two Writing Teachers Blog. Each day I will be sharing a Quick Write as my way of slicing. The idea is to offer a SPARK that will kindle thinking and then write as quickly as you can for 5-10 minutes. No filters, no revisions. I’ve been curating a collection of Sparks and will share some with you all month. It’s a great way to ignite your writing life.

Lift a Line

Though not a new idea, it is a powerful one that is worth remembering. Borrowing a line from another author and seeing where it takes you is a great way to realize the endless options that can spring from a few words. There are poems, stories, articles, even environmental print that can provide that spark. Here was a recent Facebook post from a friend.  I lifted the first idea and took off with my own quick write:

May we raise children who love the unloved things- the crows whose song isn’t pleasing to the ear, the toy that sits in the bottom of the toy box waiting for eager hands.

Children who see the marginalized and left out and never think twice about welcoming them to the center-and if that center is too hot will move to the cooler margins and and chill with them.

And one day if they find themselves sitting in those margins may they, too be welcomed by others, so

maybe their children will live in a world with no margins

Ok, clearly this needs some revision-it’s a bit wandering. I thought I was going to go off in more of a nature-theme but then toys crept into my mind as I remembered my brother when we were young and we tried to make sure our stuff animals didn’t get left out in the toy box. He was a pretty sensitive kid. I think that was a prelude to his way of welcoming others who might feel left out. So in 5 minutes I started to explore these ideas. Not polished, but somewhat perceptive.  Give it a go! Take any piece of writing and see where your thinking takes you.

For the month of March I will be participating in the Slice of Life Challenge sponsored by The Two Writing Teachers Blog. Each day I will be sharing a Quick Write as my way of slicing. The idea is to offer a SPARK that will kindle thinking and then write as quickly as you can for 5-10 minutes. No filters, no revisions. I’ve been curating a collection of Sparks and will share some with you all month. It’s a great way to ignite your writing life.

MUSIC 

I’ve curated a selection of instrumental music pieces from classical to contemporary to share with students to Spark their imaginations and appreciation. Here’s my Padlet, but I would encourage you to create your own cache of eclectic music. (It’s important to be aware of our personal favorites/biases and stretch out of our comfort zones to expand our students’ appreciation for a world of different musical tastes and traditions.)

Here’s my Quick Write. Can you tell which piece I am responding to?

I don’t know if I should be waltzing about my room or lying my head on my pillow as I breathe in this sweet melody. Each touch of the keyboard strikes a chord in my soul, and makes me wish I could play the piano. I alternate between images in nature, a dancer on the stage, and gazing up at the heavens. My mind cannot settle on a single image, but my heart has a constant pulse of calm joy. I guess this isn’t a composition to overthink, just to feel. Just as I settle into a calm, the tune dives into intensity and then drifts back into a melancholia. Yes, it is dreamy, but not entirely sweet dreams. It is not a lullaby but a prayer perhaps. As the day draws to a close I can recount the highs and lows and release them into the ethosphere. Music plays such an important role in my life and sometimes I don’t give it the attention or appreciation it deserves.

Ok, a bit rambling. But that’s a five minute quick write for you. What piece of music could you write to? (Did you guess mine?)

For the month of March I will be participating in the Slice of Life Challenge sponsored by The Two Writing Teachers Blog. Each day I will be sharing a Quick Write as my way of slicing. The idea is to offer a SPARK that will kindle thinking and then write as quickly as you can for 5-10 minutes. No filters, no revisions.I’ve been curating a collection of Sparks and will share some with you all month. It’s a great way to ignite your writing life.

FAN MAIL 

When I ask students who they looked up to, it is very enlightening. There are the obvious singers, performers, and athletes, but I am stunned by the number of YouTubers that students are fans of. I have no idea who most of these people are, but I’m learning about them and about my students. There’s nothing  like drafting a handwritten note to someone who’s work you deeply appreciate but I often take a photo of the letter and reach out via social media instead of snail mail. Since it is no secret that kidlit authors are my heroes and their books are such a huge part of my life, I’ll take this opportunity to let one know with a letter “slice”.

Donna Gephart is the author of several kidlit books that I admire.

Here’s my quick write:

I could send this as is in a tweet or Facebook post, or I could revise if I chose. Just snap a picture and tag them on social media. They are always so accessible to their readers and I know would welcome some appreciation for their hard work. The idea is to express gratitude with intention, whether or not it ever gets sent. But a bonus to this quick write is that it spreads some love-and we could all use more of that.

For the month of March I will be participating in the Slice of Life Challenge sponsored by The Two Writing Teachers Blog. Each day I will be sharing a Quick Write as my way of slicing. The idea is to offer a SPARK that will kindle thinking and then write as quickly as you can for 5-10 minutes. No filters, no revisions.  I’ve been curating a collection of Sparks and will share some with you all month. It’s a great way to ignite your writing life.

REFLECTING ON IDENTITY  Our identity is the combination of how we see ourselves and how others see us. How often do we purposefully take time to reflect on our identity? Choose some aspect about yourself and quick write whatever comes to mind. You might make some interesting discoveries about yourself.

Here’s my Quick Write for today:

I’m the kind of reader who…

• Tends to choose books that are recommended to me. Sometimes a book grabs my attention from a display, but there are so many books out there and so little time I tend to read the books recommended by others.
• Tracks my reading on Goodreads and social media. There’s a sense of accomplishment that comes from this. I’ve created a history of my reading life and that is very satisfying to me.
• Love to give shout outs to the authors. I share their books as I said on social media, but I’ve also created a hashtag #DeliciousWords where I celebrate the words I wish I had written or that linger with me as I’m reading.
• Hates to abandon  books, they tend to stay in limbo with a bookmark jammed in between pages or returned to the library but lingering on my TO READ lists-waiting patiently for my return.
• Reads lots and lots of kidlit. Yes, I do enjoy “grown up” books, but I cannot consume them as quickly and thereby visit as many worlds. I cannot share them with my students or have conversations with them that motivate them to create a reading life.
• Still loves picture books. They are modern day pieces of art to me. Have you seen some of the illustrations these days? I mean, Matt Tavares is blowing me away with his realism.
• Has more books on my TBR list than I can possibly get to in a year, and I keep adding more.
• Checks Twitter every Tuesday for book birthdays

Ok, there’s more but you get the idea. Think about your identity: I’m the kind of friend, teacher, mom, dad, daughter, son who…   Give it a go!

For the month of March I will be participating in the Slice of Life Challenge sponsored by The Two Writing Teachers Blog. Each day I will be sharing a Quick Write as my way of slicing. The idea is to offer a SPARK that will kindle thinking and then write as quickly as you can for 5-10 minutes. No filters, no revisions.

I’ve been curating a collection of Sparks and will share some with you all month. It’s a great way to ignite your writing life.

PHOTOS:  A picture’s worth a thousand words-or at least as many as we can write in 5 minutes.

I have also curated a collection of photographs I have taken over the years to SPARK thoughts, emotions, and creative ideas. I have put them together in a GOOGLE PHOTO ALBUM. You can collect the photos of others, but sharing your own with students creates connection. Students are more curious and engaged when we share a part of our lives with them. I am happy to share my collection, but then I encourage you to create your own. You don’t have to be artsy. The idea is to freeze a moment in time or narrow the perspective of a view so that it invites thinking, reflection, and creation. I think you’ll notice I tend toward nature. What would YOU tend to capture?

Here’s one of my photos and my Quick Write for today’s slice.

I am fascinated by bridges-they are purposeful structures to connect bodies, and also metaphors for the same. This photo invites me to consider, “How well have I preserved the bridges from my past?” I’ve built so many over the course of my life; every relationship, experience, or event has led me to this place in time. Sometimes I stay connected to those experiences and the bridges are strong and stable. I can travel back and forth with ease and frequency. I may not even give any thought to the connection-it’s just a continuum of where I am at this point in time. It may be seamless and understood.

But there are other bridges that have been abandoned-some might even have been burned.  I’ve created barriers to parts of my past that are somewhat difficult. There are reasons for this: self-preservation, personal growth, or even neglect. Sometimes those bridges are purposefully destroyed. Other times they may have simply been forgotten and have fallen into disrepair.

Life has a way of triggering moments from the past and only then do we contemplate the preservation of those bridges. Can we safely navigate those bridges? Do we need to rebuild some bridges? Do we need to blow up those bridges? Only we can make that choice for ourselves, but it is important to remember that we have that choice. We always will. 

I apologize to the Slice of Life community for inadvertently breaching one of the commenting guidelines that was brought to my attention:

This month I planned to slice using SPARKS (quick write prompts) from my new book to inspire you try a variety of approaches to writing and thinking. It was not my intent to sell my book here, in fact I am freely sharing my ideas to my fellow slicers. This certainly wasn’t a pretense to be part of the Slice of Life Challenge since this is my 4th year and I’ve been committed to slicing and supporting other slicers all that time. I can certainly see why they need these guidelines with all the spamming that takes place these days and I had no intention of violating them.

Writing a book has been a huge part of my life this past year and I was looking forward to sharing that experience and my ideas with those teachers I hoped could appreciate it the most. I will continue to share SPARKS  but will remove reference from my book while slicing because I do not want it to be construed as an advertisement or a pretense. I have never been good at self-promotion. I don’t think many of us are. If I was in it for the money I could quickly package my ideas and sell them on Teachers Pay Teacher for much more than I’ve earned spending a year or more writing a professional book and pouring myself , my ideas, and my stories into the pages.  I hope no one felt pressured to purchase any product as a result of my slices. They were not intended as sales pitches.

I am grateful to The Two Writing Teacher Blog for hosting this challenge because I am (like they are) committed to encouraging teachers to write, to be writers. We make some amazing connections with others during this month and learn so much about and from one another. It is a great month for standing on one another’s shoulders to grow our writing lives. I am grateful to you all. 

Teacher Quick Write– in the meantime here is an example of a teacher quick write from Friday in our district. I sent out a Spark  with this Google Doc link to invite teachers to share an acrostic poem for March. They are to spend no more than 10 minutes with this kind of flash poetry quick write.

Today’s Spark comes from Chapter 7 Social Emotional Quick Writes, p. 130.

I share a video with students called “Just Breathe” to introduce the idea of breath meditation and then ask them, “What are you thinking, feeling, or wondering?”

Here’s the video, my quick write follows.

My Quick Write:

When our students are at their most unloveable, is when they need loving kindness, they need us to see that they are in pain and under stresses we cannot perceive.  When I watch this video I try to imagine one of my most challenging students sharing what their experience is like when they are mad. They often cannot articulate it as well as these children, but I know this is what they would say if they could.

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we all had the self-calming skills that are promoted in this video-I know it’s not some miracle pill, but we have to start somewhere, we have to try and teach our students (and even ourselves) how to self-soothe, how to regulate, how to cope in healthy and helpful ways. There are helpful tools we can provide our students, but we don’t need to purchase wiggle seats, squeeze balls, or fidget spinners. For centuries meditation has worked for millions by starting with focusing on our breath.

I love that this video shows a visual for students with the jar of glitter-when they are made it is all shook up but as they calm down the glitter gentle settles down to the bottom of the jar.

I know this will be met with skepticism and with alarm by some who might think we are teaching new age mysticism to students, but the simple act of JUST BREATHING could be a game changer.

I could say more, but that’s my 10 minutes. Would love to hear your thinking.