Why Writing Resonates

It is hard to believe another March has arrived, and it is time for another Slice of Life Challenge.  This is my third year of participating.  Thank you Two Writing Teachers for creating this space for me to share my corner of the world.

Throughout my writing journey, I have often wondered why certain posts resonate with readers.

For the most part, I write for me ~ to capture a day in my life as a teacher, a reader, and a writer.  I started out writing slices for this community.  Eventually I became more confidant and brave and my writing territories expanded.  But there are still times when I wonder why someone would read my writing.

I am just a simple teacher with only eight years of teaching experience who lives in a small town surrounded by cornfields in the southern part of Indiana and who thinks she really has nothing important to say.

This past week I wrote a blog post and within a couple of days, I had over 200 views.   Why would someone read my post about finding research in my own classroom?

For some reason, this post resonated with readers.

Last August on the night before school started, I wrote a letter to my daughter and other first year teachers.  That post is my most popular post with almost 600 page views.  Why would someone read that?

I ask myself that question all...the...time.  Why?

I do not have an answer.  As writers...

We never know who will read our words.  

We never know how our words will touch someone.  

We never know why our writing resonates.

But this I do know...

We must write.

Research Inside My Own Classroom

For the past two weeks, I have been reading research on a much debated subject among educators - Accelerated Reader, also known as AR.  I have read page after page of research, blog posts, and articles.  I even stayed up until 1:00 on a school night immersing myself in this topic.

Why?  I am very much against AR for many reasons, but I want to have conversations with the teachers who support it and the decision makers in my school district. Thanks to Pernille Ripp and Donalyn Miller and their session at Nerdcamp in Michigan last summer, I have requested an opportunity to open the discussion about AR.  I want to be prepared with research to back up my beliefs.  I want to have counterpoints to their points.  My mission is to protect the love of reading in my classroom, and I cannot just talk from my heart.

But sometimes I reach a point where I start doubting my beliefs.  I start asking, "Are they right?  Am I wrong?"

This week I had three incidents in my classroom that helped me put those thoughts back into perspective.

Incident One

One of my students finished reading Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone this week. He came into my class complaining because he could not take an AR test on it and wanted to know why.  I explained to him that he could not take a test on a book he has already read.  He said he had not read the book "this year."

When I explained to him that the books he read in elementary school follow him to the middle school, he replied, "You mean I read that book for nothing?"

I said, "Did you enjoy the book?"

He nodded his head yes, and I replied, "That is what matters the most."

Incident Two

A co-worker's third grade daughter came into school proudly announcing, "I met my AR goal and made the 100 point club today, and now I don't have to read anymore."

My heart sank.  I know she is a reader because I share books from my classroom library with her, and I know she will continue to read.  But this attitude towards reading is prevalent in so many of our students.

Incident Three

Last week I started book clubs with my students, and today was our first Discussion Day.  In one of my classes, we discussed what worked and what didn't work.  One student who has become a reader this year said, "We talked about the book and asked questions about the confusing parts.  It was fun!"

I stopped him right there and told him that he had just made my day.  That is what reading is all about.  No points, no incentives, no tests...just reading for fun.

Maybe I should stop reading the research.  Maybe I should pay more attention to the research right inside my own classroom.

Treasured Slices

Thanks to Two Writing Teachers for creating this space to share our stories.  Read other slices or write your own and share here. 

It is hard to believe that another March Slice of Life Challenge is almost upon us.  This will be my third one, and I seem to be get more excited about writing each year.  This year I am attempting to also participate with my students in the Classroom Challenge.  Since I have over 100 students and since it is also my first time with the classroom challenge, it will be on a volunteer basis.  I am also letting them form writing groups to disperse the commitment a little.  We will see how it goes.  Now with my slice....

A couple of weeks ago, I read the book, The Hero Two Doors Down.  The book is written by Jackie Robinson's daughter, and it is about the relationship between Jackie and a little boy who lived "two doors down."  

It opens with the death of his father and a box.  In the box, Steven finds a letter written by his father prior to his death and a collection of "things."  The relationship between Steven and his father became strained through the years, and Steven was surprised by what he found.

"When I saw you put aside your boyhood treasures, I collected them in this box, knowing that someday you'd find the joy in their reflected memories."

As I read this, I thought about our slices that we write every week.  Our blogs are like little boxes where we collect our treasures. I recently went back and read my March slices, and those memories came flooding back.  

I know many of you write about your young children and grandchildren, and I envy you.  I have treasures from my children's childhood, but no written stories to accompany their memories.

I wish I would have been writing when my own children were little so that I would have a box of treasured slices to give them someday.  I can't change the past, but I can place these new treasures in my box and hope that someday my children find joy in my reflected memories.

The Purpose of Learning

Thanks to Two Writing Teachers for creating this space to share our stories.  Read other slices or write your own and share here. 

It is that time of year.  That time when I start to panic and wonder if I have done enough and if it is good enough.

I look at the calendar and realize I still have four weeks.  

Four weeks of instruction.

Four weeks of reading and writing.

Four weeks of learning.

Four weeks until the first round of state testing.

It is also that time of year when teachers fall into that dark hole.  That dark abyss.

The test prep trap.

And yes, I almost fell in.  I almost sent an email with an attachment to my teaching partner and asked, "Do you think we need to do this?"

But I stopped.  I stopped and took a breath and told myself, "Leigh Anne, your students have been reading and writing, analyzing and interpreting, and learning the entire year.  They have become critical readers who can interpret texts and write about them.  They will be ready."

Then I hit the delete button.  Good teaching is good teaching.  And if I have taught my students to become critical readers and writers and to enjoy learning, then I know in my heart they will be fine.

I know that right now many teachers are creating test prep packets to be distributed to their students in these last four weeks.  They are copying page after page of question after question in multiple choice format to give to their students.  I know our students have to understand the test genre and the format in which they will be asked to demonstrate their learning, but I refuse to spend these last four weeks creating test takers.

These next four weeks, I will continue to teach my students to be critical readers and writers; to dig deep and ask thoughtful questions; to find evidence to support those questions and thoughts; to express those thoughts in an essay; and to remember the importance of reading of writing.

A few months ago, I had a conversation with one of my classes.  Many of them mentioned how different it was in my classroom.  When I asked what they meant, they replied that their learning was not all about the test.  It was all about them.

Isn't that what learning is supposed to be about? 

Classroom Slice of Life Challenge

Thanks to Two Writing Teachers for creating this space to share our stories.  Read other slices or write your own and share here. 

March is quickly approaching, which means that the Slice of Life March Challenge is in the near future.  This will be my third time to participate, so I am feeling pretty comfortable in my ability to write every day.

Now it is time for me to get out of my comfort zone and jump into the Classroom Slice of Life Challenge.  For the first time, I have offered it to all of my students, knowing that only a few will probably accept the challenge.  But I have many questions.

I know Two Writing Teachers will be posting about this challenge soon, but I would love to chat with some of you who have previously done this with your students.

Please feel free to give me any advice or to answer any of my questions.

1.  I will use Kidblog and have students create their own blog.  Do they link up themselves or should I create a classroom link for me to link at TWT?

2.  I have decided to let them form groups of no more than four if they would like.  I think for my first time, I will have more success doing it this way.  Has anyone done this before, or do you only have individual students?

3.  We have not written any slices in class, although I have talked about my personal slices.  Do you think I still have enough time to teach this genre and to have them practice?  I will have to this outside of class time since it is volunteer only.

I am looking forward to sharing this part of my writing life with my students.  Thank you for any help and advice ahead of time!

Beyond the Tragedy

Thanks to Two Writing Teachers for creating this space to share our stories.  Read other slices or write your own and share here. 

This week my community, and one school in particular, has suffered a great loss. Within two days of each other a second grader passed away unexpectedly, and two other students lost their fathers in separate car accidents.  These tragedies have also hit me close to home because the brother of the second grader and the son of one of the fathers are students in my daughter's classroom.  No college class or textbook could have prepared her for these situations.  But she has handled them with love, grace, and compassion. 

I live in a small, conservative midwestern town with neighborhood schools.  One of the benefits of living here is how our schools pull together in times such as these.   We lean on each other, and we support each other.  All of the schools are participating in a fund raiser to help the families.  It's what we do.

As I was talking to the principal last week, I asked her, "Just think what would have happened if this would have happened a month later?"

She replied, "You mean during ISTEP?"

ISTEP is our state-mandated standardized assessment.  Educators have many conversations about how testing is an unfair snapshot of a student.  What if that student was having a bad day, or had gone through an upsetting event at home, or a number of other situations.

If these tragedies would have been during our testing window, it would have affected the entire school - students, teachers, and administrators.  The results would have been tied to teacher evaluations and salaries.  How fair would this have been?  We often talk about how situations could affect particular students' results; this would have affected so much more.  Although we have several weeks before testing begins, I am sure the results will still not be a true reflection of these students and teachers due to the stress and trauma they have all endured.

I do not mean to diminish the loss or to not be compassionate by talking about testing when lives have been lost.  I hope people do not think less of me for writing about both of these in the same post.  This week has made me think beyond the tragedies.  They have made me stop and shake my head and wonder about the state of our education system.  

My prayers continue to go out to these students and their families.  

Quote Collector - Celebration #2

 

Each week Ruth Ayres extends an invitation to share and celebrate events, big or small, from our week.  Won't you join us?

This week as I was perusing Pinterest, I came across this quote.  I thought it was perfect for my one little word and the way I want to focus my life this year.

It really is up to me to make the every day - a special occasion and a celebration.

I had never heard of the source of this quote so I did some research.  What I found was a quote collector's heaven, or haven, or jackpot - whichever term you choose. Check out his blog, The New Robert Brault Reader  to see quote after quote after quote.  He also has a sidebar of people who are tweeting quotes in real time. Someone is always tweeting him!

If you enjoy collecting quotes, reading quotes, or just thinking about quotes, then check out his blog.  I am sure you will find something to make you laugh, cry or think.

Have a great week, and make every day a special occasion!

Must Read in 2016

I know I am a little late to the party so I will just call this challenge Must Read in 2016 Minus Twelve Days.  No matter how late I am, I always enjoy sharing books and my reading life with other teachers and readers.  

This challenge is hosted by Carrie Gelson at There's A Book for That and is a list of books that we want to read in 2016 because we didn't get to them in previous years.  For most of us, finding book choices is not a problem - narrowing them down to a reasonable list is.  Please check out her blog to see those neglected books everyone will be reading this year.

I have decided to group them again this year.  The only rule I have is that no book can be published in 2016 because chances are, I will read those regardless.

So here are my groups.

Migrated Books - books which I had on previous Must Read lists and STILL have not read them.

 

Greenglass House by Kate Milford

P.S. Be Eleven by Rita Williams-Garcia

The Wig in the Window by Kristen Kittscher

Series Books - books in a series I have either started but have not finished, or I want to read the series because my students are reading them.

I Am Number Four by Pittacus Lore

Divergent by Veronica roth

Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

The Eye of Minds by James Dashner

The Eighth Day by Dianne K. Salerni

Book Club Books - books in my student book clubs which I have not read.

Absolutely Truly by Heather Vogel Frederick

My Brother's Secret by Dan Smith  Read 2/21

Red Thread Sisters by Carol Antoinette Peacock

TBR Books - books on my nightstand or on my floor or in a box which never seem to make it to the top of the pile.

A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness Read 1/15

Wish Girl by Niki Loftin

All Fall Down by Ally Carter

Prairie Evers by Ellen Airgood Read 1/16

The Paper Cowboy by Kristin Levine

The Whisper by Aaron Starmer

Code of Honor by Alan Gratz  Read 12/21

Mark of the Thief by Jennifer Nielsen

An Unlikely Warrior by Georg Rauch

Personal Development - books to help me live intentionally

Live with Intention by Maryanne Radmacher

Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert  Read 8/26

Happy Reading in 2016!

Things We Notice

Thanks to Two Writing Teachers for creating this space to share our stories.  Read other slices or write your own and share here. 

Have you ever noticed when you purchase a new car, you see many others just like yours?

Or when you are/were pregnant, many other women were pregnant too?

Funny how that happens.

I noticed the same thing last week when I was reading everyone's one little word posts.  It seemed as if a common theme thread its way through many posts.  

One of relaxation and reflection.

Slowness and simplicity.

Many people seem to be less driven and have more of the attitude of taking time, slowing down and noticing what has been given.  

I saw words such as presence, essential, believe, intentional, happy, joy, possible, wonder, developing, contentment, wait and home.  I even learned a new word: selah, holy pause, which really encompasses all of these words.  

I also noticed that many of these words were not verbs or words of action; they were nouns and adjectives or states of being.

Maybe there was a reason why I noticed.

One Little Word 2016

Thank to Two Writing Teachers for creating this space to share our stories.  Read other slices or write your own and share here. 

A new year.  A new word.  A new story.

Last week I tweeted how choosing a one little word is almost as serious as naming a child. Much thought goes into choosing this word which will guide my new year.  I love reading everyone's stories of how their OLW found them.

Here is my story in three parts.

Part one:  

In December I challenged myself to write a haiku a day.  Writing every day opened my eyes.  I captured life in snippets of syllables and learned that life appears differently when looking at it through the lens of a poem.  

Small things appear big and big things appear small.

If you look at my blog posts, a time span of about six days is void of poems.  That was the time when I was held hostage by the chaos of life and school.  I was not taking the time to see the snippets, and I realized how much I missed it.  I began wondering if I was missing the opportunity to see and live life because I was so wrapped up the chaos.

Part Two:  

During this time I also was pondering my one little word.  I narrowed my list to two words, but felt one was tugging a little harder than the other.  I began looking for signs, quotes, or inspiration to see if this word was truly calling me.

It wasn't.

Everything I read about this word made me feel that I had to change me by adding something or taking something away.  It was do this and do that.  

I didn't want to change me.

I was discouraged, and I began looking for another word.

Part three:

I have a student writing group, and I started making an "I am..." idea prompt in my notebook.  As I was making this list:

a daughter

a sister

a wife

a mother

a teacher

a quilter

a reader

a Christian

I realized that some of these titles were who I am, but most were who I became. There is a difference.  

I decided to change my list to "I choose..." and my list started looking like this... 

to laugh

to cry

to believe in God

to be kind

to write

to read

to teach

to inspire

That is when I realized that my one word I had been thinking about was right all along.  All three of these events became an epiphany.

I don't have to change who I am.  

I get to choose who I am, and I choose to become me by living and capturing my life in snippets.  

In snippets that matter.

In snippets with intent.

My One Little Word for 2016:

Intent

{ion}

{ional}

{ionally}

Ink - Celebration #1

 

Each week Ruth Ayres extends an invitation to share and celebrate events, big or small, from our week.  Won't you join us?

I love new beginnings:  a new year, a new month...

a new story

a new celebration .

New beginnings help us to realize our story is unfinished.  We have a blank page begging for our words.

How will you write your new beginning?

What will your story be?

What will you celebrate?

life is a blank page

ink fills my heart with story

and celebration 

©Leigh Anne Eck, 2016

I can't wait to read yours.

Thinking about Choosing a One Little Word?

This time of year many people are thinking about their one little word.  Some may be narrowing their choices.  Some may be waiting for that sign.  While others may be choosing a word for the first time.

Last year I read the book One Word That Will Change Your Life by Jon Gordon. Many lines and ideas made me think about choosing the right word for me.  Giving up resolutions was very easy for me because that was something in which I typically failed.  Choosing one word gives me a way to approach the new year and a focus to carry me throughout the year. It certainly becomes a way for me to grow each year in so many ways.

If you are narrowing your choices or considering choosing a word for the first time, the book suggests you ask these three questions while opening your heart for your word:

1.  What do I need?  Think about what areas of your life need attention or change and why?  Try not to think about what you want, but rather what you need.  You might be surprised by what you find.  

2.  What's in my way?  What obstacles are in your way?  What do you need to remove in order to find this personal growth?  "Sometimes the barriers are simply in our mind."  This line was an eye opener for me.

3.  What needs to go?  We all make mistakes or hold on to things in which we need to let go.  This is the time to let go and move forward.

Each year the power of one word becomes a journey that leads me throughout the year.  It changes me, or maybe I just become more in tuned with who I am. Regardless, I know I want to continue with choosing a OLW, and hope you will consider choosing one too.

I end with these final words from the book.  For me, this is the key.  This holds the power of one little word.

Your word shapes your character.  

Your character influences your actions.  

Your actions influence others.  

The lives you touch and the impact you have 

determine the story that will be told about you tomorrow?

Must Read in 2015 Comes to an End

Two years ago Carrie Gelson of There's a Book for That started a must read list and link up. It consisted of a list of books that we didn't read in the current year but wanted to read in the following year.  My first year my list was much too long.

This year my list was shorter, and I was surprisingly much more successful ~ I finished eight out of my ten books listed, but read two complete trilogies.  You can read my original post here. 

Sometimes I wonder why I participate in reading challenges.  The first answer and the only answer for me is that sharing books makes my reading experiences even better!  So many times when I finish a book, the first thing I want to do is talk about it.  I never lack for a listener because of my connected reading groups.  So, thank you friends for listening, for sharing, and for reading with me.

Here are my top two, or should I say top six in my Must Read in 2105 list!

The Ascendance Trilogy by Jennifer Nielsen

I chose this series because 2014 was my first year teaching 6th grade, and I knew I needed to start reading books for this upper grade level.  This series was so amazingly intense, I finished it before March.  It also introduced me to a new-to-me author, Jennifer A. Nielsen.  If you have not read anything by her, I highly suggest you change that soon.  A Night Divided, also written by her, is another excellent choice.

My Life Is a Zoo by Jess Keating

How to Outrun a Crocodile was on my list because it was the January pick for the Virtual Book Club, an online monthly book club/chat hosted by Niki Ohs Barnes (@daydreeamreader) and Beth Panageotou (@epan11).

I liked the first one so much that I read this whole series too. Ana, the main character is one of my favorite characters of 2015.  I would love to have her as a student and would have loved to have her as a friend when I was in middle school.  This is just a fun series to read!

I hope you consider joining Carrie, me and many other bloggers for Must Read in 2016!  Look for the link-up on January 5th.  Check out her blog here for everyone's final update for 2015.

Here is the lineup for the Virtual Book Club titles selected for 2016.  You might just find a few more to add to your Must Read list!

Happy Reading!