One Sentence Slice #SOL19

I am participating in the Two Writing Teachers Annual March Slice of Life Story Challenge.  

While I crawled on the interstate for three hours, 

the lives of two families were forever changed.

Today, Tomorrow #SOL19

I am participating in the Two Writing Teachers Annual March Slice of Life Story Challenge.  

Thursday night thoughts - I wrote and posted my slice later today than I typically do. I sit here at 10:00 PM and think about tomorrow's slice. I like having slices written and scheduled for 6:00 in the morning.  As I was reading Elisabeth's post at The Dirigible Plum, I found my slice for Friday. I just put a little twist on her yesterday/today format.

Today, my post was written after 6:00 PM.
Tomorrow, my post will already be written.

Today, I stayed at school until 6:30 for parent conferences. (Middle school parents never come.)
Tomorrow, I get to leave early at 1:30 and our spring break begins!

Today, I received a text message from my son, telling about the tornado warning they had.
Tomorrow, I get to see him as he comes home for his weekend laundry duty and home-cooking.

Today, my students made their book club choices.
Tomorrow, they get to find out what books clubs they are in.

Today, I tried a new editing lesson.
Tomorrow, I get to see the conversations the lesson produces.

Today, I wore school clothes.
Tomorrow, it's jean day!

Today, I am tired from the week-before-spring-break chaos.
Tomorrow, spring break begins!

Today is now yesterday!

Happy Friday!

Know better, do better #SOL19

I am participating in the Two Writing Teachers Annual March Slice of Life Story Challenge.  

"When you know better, do better." ~ Maya Angelou

I have heard these words many times during my teaching career.  But sometimes, even when I know better, I don't always do what's best. Sometimes circumstances beyond my control keep me from doing better.  Like district mandates, curriculum guidelines, time constraints, and standardized testing.

Although I don't always do better, sometimes, all it takes is a student to put things into perspective.

This week we have been spending a lot of time on quick writes. It is the week before spring break, and we have been "practice testing" for our state assessments. The timing was good for this kind of work.

We have been writing to words randomly found in books, and the kids have really enjoyed this process. One day the word was "right." A student shared his writing, which was about a boy who was homeless and hungry and trying to make the "right" decision:  Do I ignore my hunger pains or break into this bakery for some bread. It ends with a bat in the boy's hand. Hmmm...what does he do?

My second period left my room, and about 15 minutes later, two boys returned, one from second period and the other from an afternoon class who had not completed the quick write yet.

"Mrs. Eck, we were in study hall and have something to show you."

"What's that?"

"A.J. wrote about my story, but from the baker's perspective," said the boy from second period.

"Let me see." I take the paper and read the story about the baker's shop window being busted by a boy with a bat. (Now you know what decision he made!) I looked up and smiled. "May I keep it?"

They both smile, and said, "We were hoping you would."

As they started to walk away, I said, "It's fun when we get to write like this, isn't it?"

"Yeah, especially when we get to choose."

Yes, when I know better, I should do better.

Right #SOL19

I am participating in the Two Writing Teachers Annual March Slice of Life Story Challenge.  

Do you ever wonder if the way you hear something read aloud is the same way in which the writer intended for it to be heard?

Today after our quick write time, I had a few students who wanted their writing shared, but they did not want to read it themselves. I always offer to read their beautiful words, but I often wonder if I read them the way the "right" way.

As I read one student's words, I could tell he was watching me intently. After class, he told me that hearing me read his words created a different feeling than what he imagined as he wrote them. He said I emphasized different words, and he liked it better that way.

Another student read her own work aloud. As I was listening, I pictured this written in verse.  I asked her about it, and she said, no, it was just a paragraph. Her writing had a cadence to it that begged to written in verse. I encouraged her to revise it, and afterwards, she was beaming. She knew this piece had a much deeper meaning and a different mood after it was written in verse.  Today, I share Alice's quick write on the random word, "right."  Again, this is writing produced in six minutes with only the revision of the line breaks.

Leaving
The right thing to do, right?
Turning
Which way?
Left or right?
Right, the right way to go
Water
Shimmering in the light
What is the right thing to do?
Sink or swim?
Leap or fall?
Leaving, was it the right thing to do?
I turn back, looking toward home
I was wrong.

Getting Real #SOL19

I am participating in the Two Writing Teachers Annual March Slice of Life Story Challenge.  

As I'm working at my desk, my phone goes off. I look down and see it is from Ethan, my soon-to-be-college-graduate son. Usually during the week, our communication is via text message, so this phone call was an unexpected surprise.

"Hey, I have a question."

"Hey, I'll have an answer."

"What do I put for the salary on this application?"

My heart skips a beat.

A job application.

A "real" job application.

The real world kind of job application.

After we discuss what he should put in the blank, I ask him about the position. He tells me it is a position in a center for Autism.  My heart skips another beat.

It's getting real.

And I ask myself, "Is this Momma ready for the real world?"

Book Spine Poetry #SOL19

I am participating in the Two Writing Teachers Annual March Slice of Life Story Challenge.  

I typically spend Sunday afternoons in my classroom, finishing up last minute items on my to-do list. This past Sunday I spent some time in my classroom straightening up the classroom library. I always enjoy tucking away out-of-place books, putting them on the right gene shelf and deciding which books should face out. Many times, I know who just finished reading that book, and who wants this book next.

But working in the library and handling titles in the month of March means....

Book Spine Poetry!

a snicker of magic

a tangle of knots

woven

the entirely true story

of an unbelievable fib

life, after

autumn's kiss

frosted kisses

let's pretend we never met

over the moon

chasing space

connect the stars

hello, universe

Remember the Flowers #SOL19

I am participating in the Two Writing Teachers Annual March Slice of Life Story Challenge.  

Yesterday I spent  most of the day grading argumentative essays. As I was reading one student's paper, the tears came.

Earlier in the year I wrote this blog post on our Teach Write Chat Blog.

Back in 1978, I was an eighth grader, and the movie, Ice Castles was released.  I had this thing for Robby Benson (we share the same birthday!) so this quickly became one of my favorite movies. 

It is a story about a figure skater who becomes blind, and with the help of the character played by Benson, finds a way to skate again.  He prepares her for a big competition, but no one knows she is blind. (Suspend reality here!)  She skates a flawless routine to the theme song of the movie, "Through the Eyes of Love."

The audience gives her a standing ovation and begins to throw flowers out onto the ice.  She takes her  final lap, not knowing that the flowers are in her way.  She stumbles and falls, revealing her secret to everyone there.  Robby goes out onto the ice to help her and says, "We forgot about the flowers."

On the second day of school, I planned a "write-around" activity where I gave a starter sentence and students had to add on to the story.  Then we moved to another student's writing and added to that story. We moved four times to four different stories.  I thought this would be a great way to get kids up and moving while writing fun, silly stories.

Only I had one student who refused to participate.  I tried to coax him to write by telling him how much fun this activity could be. 

Still nothing. 

I came back to him and told him he only needed to write one sentence, just one sentence. 

Still nothing. 

So I let him be.  I later found out that he struggles with writing.  I was creating a space where he could stumble and fall, revealing his secret to everyone there, simply because I "forgot about the flowers."

The essay I read yesterday began with asking me to imagine a room filled with smoke, which led into his argument that kids should not smoke cigarettes. He told me that smoking leads to lung and heart disease, cancer, and even strokes. He gave me a statistic about how many people die from smoking and another one about deaths caused by second-hand smoke. He told me cigarettes have nicotine, and it's additive. He told me it was against the law to sell cigarettes to kids under the age of 18.  Then, he told me he had friends who smoke, and he was worried about them. He concluded with asking me to imagine a world no longer filled with smoke.

All this.

From a student who, at the beginning of the year, would not even write a single sentence.

Yes, there were tears, and if I could have, I would have thrown flowers.

Lessons from Week One #SOL19

I am participating in the Two Writing Teachers Annual March Slice of Life Story Challenge.  
This year I decided to complete my slice of life challenge through the use of quickwrites.  By doing this, I hope to explore my own writing, identify problems my students may be experiencing with these quick bursts of writing, and show them authentic revisions in the writing process.

Writers participate in this challenge for many reasons. This year I have been disappointed in my students' writing when we do quick writes. (Maybe it's because I see the work from other students, and I unfairly compare.)

Because of this disappointment, I decided to put myself in their shoes and do quick writes for my slices. Today, as we wrap up our first week, I have a better understanding of how my students feel and why I may not be seeing the work I desire.

What I learned from a week of quick writes:

1. Knowing the prompt has an advantage. For this challenge, I chose my own quick write prompts, so I knew the direction my writing was going to take me before I even began. It became much harder when the prompt was spontaneous, and I didn't know it ahead of time, as in this slice.
2. Four minutes isn't enough time. When my students do quick writes, I give them four minutes with two additional minutes for revision.  This week, I took ten minutes for each of my quick writes.  I feel this gave me enough time to develop my idea which could possibly turn into something more. Four minutes just isn't enough time.
3. Writing beside them matters. I have always known showing my students my own writing life let's them see that writing goes beyond school. This week we have written quick writes together. They saw me struggle with the anxiety of the impromptu writing from a random word. They saw how ideas can take writers in different directions. They saw that writers can overcome blank pages.

But I think the most important lesson I learned was reminded of this week was Choice Matters.  I missed looking at my day and finding slices in the moments. My daughter said something funny the other day, and I warned her that it was March and everything she says or does qualifies for a slice. 

Then, I remembered that I was using quick writes this year. 

I know the value of quick writes and why we, as teachers, use them.  But I have also learned that a steady diet of the same type of writing, whether that is quick writes, on-demand writing, writing to a prompt, daily journal writing, or many others, is not good for any writer.

You might just see something different from me in week two!

Desperate #SOL19

I am participating in the Two Writing Teachers Annual March Slice of Life Story Challenge.  
This year I decided to complete my slice of life challenge through the use of quickwrites.  By doing this, I hope to explore my own writing, identify problems my students may be experiencing with these quick bursts of writing, and show them authentic revisions in the writing process.

This week I have been writing "live" with my students and using that writing for my posts. In my ealirer quick writes, I knew the prompts. I had a little bit of time to sort through what I was going to write. When my students do quick writes, they don't get that luxury of knowing ahead of time.

Yesterday, I decided to not only write live, but write unaware of the prompt. Here is what we did.

I pulled a book from the shelf, and looked at how many pages were in it. I called on a student to give me number between one and the number of pages in the book. Then I did the same with the paragraph number and sentence number.  Finally, the word number.

And that word became our quick write.

Today's word was "desperate."  Isn't that a great word!  I wrote along with my students, and I felt that anxiety of not knowing what to write about and where this word would take me.

But today, I proudly share the writing from one of students.  This is from Raney!

Image from Pixaby

I was stranded on the streets, desperate for a home. I walked down every neighborhood just to find the right home. As I was was thinking about food, I look up to see a bright shiny gold and silver house that said, "Raney come on in." So I ran into the house to find, nothing but the streets, and flashing cars pass by me. Then I realized I knew I would never find a home. I would only live on a thick gray side walk.




This writing was done in six minutes with no time to edit or revise. This is raw. This is real. This is "desperation" at its best.

Throw the Confetti #SOL19

I am participating in the Two Writing Teachers Annual March Slice of Life Story Challenge.  
This year I decided to complete my slice of life challenge through the use of quickwrites.  By doing this, I hope to explore my own writing, identify problems my students may be experiencing with these quick bursts of writing, and show them authentic revisions in the writing process.

As I got ready to do my quick write for today, I realized that yesterday's post was my 600th post! I was so caught up in the challenge, that this milestone slipped by me.

So today I celebrate, and I give you 6 ways (one for each hundred blog posts!) blogging has changed my life as a reader, a teacher, a writer.

1. Joy. I loved writing as a child and even a teenager. But life took me in other directions, and it wasn't until six years ago when I found that joy again. I love stacking words and sharing them, but it is the personal joy of having written that keeps me going.
2. Courage. Writing publicly has given me courage to expand my audience and my writing territories. Because of blogging, I have reached out written for Nerdy Book Club, Teach Write Chat Blog, and Choice Literacy. It takes courage to reach outside your comfort zone.
3. Community.  Being part of a writing community such as the Slice of Life, Ruth Ayres' Celebration, Poetry Friday, and Teach Write, took my writing life to another level. Writing is very personal, and finding that community makes that personal space just a little bit bigger.
4. Teaching. I know I am a better teacher of writing because I write. Nothing more to say.
5. Territories. Blogging has given me new territories to explore. My blog name is a day in the life of a reader, a teacher, and a writer, and I write about all of these. Reflection is also a big part of this. Flash fiction is a new one that I want try!
6. People. This is probably the biggest gift from blogging. Blogging has allowed me to meet so many new people, not only virtually, but in real life. When I talk about my writing friends, people question me, but I cannot imagine my writing life without them. There are too many name in this post, for fear of leaving someone out.  Because the list is so long shows you how much blogging has given my opportunities to work with some amazing people and  has expanded the four walls of my daily life. 

I hope those of you who are just staring out find these same blessings from blogging. It really has changed my world.

Let's celebrate and throw the confetti!

Fifty-Five #SOL19

I am participating in the Two Writing Teachers Annual March Slice of Life Story Challenge.  
This year I decided to complete my slice of life challenge through the use of quickwrites.  By doing this, I hope to explore my own writing, identify problems my students may be experiencing with these quick bursts of writing, and show them authentic revisions in the writing process.

Today's quick write is live.

Many times I write with my students, but it is in my notebook.  Today, I opened up my draft on my blog for today and wrote with them.  The only thing I changed were spelling errors.

We wrote for six minutes to a prompt from Linda Rief's book, The Quickwrite Handbook. The pompt was a poem titled "Fifteen" by Annika B.

Here we go:

This year I turned 55. I have never been one to not talk about my age.  For me, my age was just a number. Yes, the older I get, the more I feel like 55.  But I remember when I was much younger, I thought 50 sounded so old.  Now, it is just a number.

Often times I think about my age in years, not necessarily in numbers.  I think about how I have probably lived more years than I have left to live. This saddens me on some days. But I think about how I have lived my life.  I am proud of what I have become.  Oh yes, we all have made mistakes, and we have things that we would probably do differently if we had the chance.

A line from the movie Tuck Everlasting has been aging mantra.  It goes something like this:

"Don't be afraid of dying. Be afraid of the unlived life. You don't have to live forever, you just have to live.  And she did." 

Sandcastles #SOL19

I am participating in the Two Writing Teachers Annual March Slice of Life Story Challenge.  
This year I decided to complete my slice of life challenge through the use of quickwrites.  By doing this, I hope to explore my own writing, identify problems my students may be experiencing with these quick bursts of writing, and show them authentic revisions in the writing process.

Today's quick write comes from Paula Bourque's new book SPARK! Yesterday, on her blog, Lit Coach Lady, she encouraged us to use pictures to spark our writing. She provided a link to a Google photo album, filled with pictures. I chose a picture which led me to think about my mother and my grandmother and to today's quick write.

In true quick write form according to Kittle and Graves, my process began like this:

1. Choose a starter.
2. Write rapidly for ten minutes.
3. Change nothing.
4. Lower you standards. (This is hard to do when you are writing publicly!)
5. Let your own thinking guide you, not the prompt.

Here we go:

Sandcastles.

As children, we scramble with shovel and pail, digging deep to fill it with wet sand. We turn the pail over, carefully wishing that the packed sand doesn't collapse. We dig a moat around our castle to protect it from seaweed creatures and evil villains.

And the ocean from washing it away.

We squeal with delight as the waves inch closer and closer and our sandcastle remains strong.

As adults, we scramble with shovel and pail, digging deep to fill them with memories. Memories of family, and friends, and life. We turn the pail over with each year that we grow older, carefully wishing the packed sand doesn't collapse and leave us with emptiness. We dig a moat around our castle to protect it from burdening love ones,

And dementia from washing it away.

We sigh with relief as the waves inch closer and closer and our sandcastle remains strong.

For one more memory.

I wish my students knew...#SOL19

I am participating in the Two Writing Teachers Annual March Slice of Life Story Challenge.  
This year I decided to complete my slice of life challenge through the use of quickwrites.  By doing this, I hope to explore my own writing, identify problems my students may be experiencing with these quick bursts of writing, and show them authentic revisions in the writing process.

Today's quick write is a teacher version of the popular prompt, "I wish my teacher knew..."

In true quick write form according to Kittle and Graves, my process began like this:

1. Choose a starter.
2. Write rapidly for ten minutes.
3. Change nothing.
4. Lower you standards. (This is hard to do when you are writing publicly!)
5. Let your own thinking guide you, not the prompt.

Here we go:

I wish my students knew...

that I come from a not-so-perfect childhood. Sometimes I think they believe no one understands them. But I do. 

I had many nights where my parents fought, and I would put the pillow over my head, wishing them to stop.  My parents ended up in a divorce.  I remember vividly the night my mom came to tell me.  I was a sophomore in college.  Many people say that divorce is hard on young children, but I believe differently. When you are older, you know the reason; you understand the consequences. 

I made some bad choices, choices I wish I could change.  Sometimes those choices are the ones we learn the most from. I believe those mistakes have made me a better mother, a better wife, and certainly a better teacher.  

I understand heartache. I understand pain. 

I understand that sometimes things don't go the way we want them to go.

But I also know perseverance and determination. My mom was 40 with two kids in college and two more at home...and divorced. She made it.

I wish my students knew there is always a way out. Stand tall. Stand proud. Work hard. 

This is what I wish my students knew.

Shiny #SOL19

I am participating in the Two Writing Teachers Annual March Slice of Life Story Challenge.  
This year I decided to complete my slice of life challenge through the use of quick writes.  By doing this, I hope to explore my own writing, identify problems my students may be experiencing with these quick bursts of writing, and show them authentic revisions in the writing process.

Today's quick write comes from Jennifer Laffin's word of the day.  Jen is the mastermind and owner of Teach Write, LLC. Each day, she puts out a word of the day to entice people to form a daily writing habit. Today's word of the day is:

Shiny

In true quick write form according to Kittle and Graves, my process began like this:

1. Choose a starter.
2. Write rapidly for ten minutes.
3. Change nothing.
4. Lower you standards. (This is hard to do when you are writing publicly!)
5. Let your own thinking guide you, not the prompt.

Here we go:

Shiny is not a word in which I would describe myself.

I don't dress shiny. I'm not a jewelry person, and I only wear my single gold wedding band every day. No diamonds - just a solid gold marriage of 28 years. I tend to dress more classic and conservative in black, brown, and grey along with cable sweaters.

My house isn't shiny. We built our cabin-style house 26 years ago, and it doesn't have the newest appliances or furniture or decor. We have hardwood floors made of rough hickory wood, showing all their grainy flaws.

My personality is not shiny.  I tend to be an introvert, and I don't seek attention. If I would be in a room with a lot of people, you would find me in the back, probably in a corner. I'm rather quiet, and I would rather write words than speak them.

But my heart is shiny.  I give freely and love deeply, and try to put others before myself.

No, shiny is not a word in which I would describe myself.

And I'm OK with that.

Childhood Chore #SOL19

I am participating in the Two Writing Teachers Annual March Slice of Life Story Challenge.  
This year I decided to complete my slice of life challenge through the use of quickwrites.  By doing this, I hope to explore my own writing, identify problems my students may be experiencing with these quick bursts of writing, and show them authentic revisions in the writing process.

Today's quick write comes from the "My Quick Writes" a notebook/source book from Inside Writing:  How to Teach the Details of Craft by Penny Kittle and Don Graves. In this book they talk about the difference between quick writes and traditional writing prompts, which is a common way many students are taught to write.  They describe quick writes as something that "nudge us to discover topics that matter, not to respond to a question that many have nothing to do with our experience."

They suggest the following process:

1. Choose a starter.
2. Write rapidly for ten minutes.
3. Change nothing.
4. Lower you standards. (This is hard to do when you are writing publicly!)
5. Let your own thinking guide you, not the prompt.

Here we go:

"When I was a kid I had certain chores I had to do. The first one was..." Write about that chore in all the details you can remember and show your feelings about doing it."

Growing up with three siblings brought many trials and tribulations. My older sister and I are a year apart, so we were nine and ten when my younger sister was born.  We used to wash dishes together, but fought a lot. My mom decided it was best to separate us.  On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, I washed the dishes.  On Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, my sister washed the dishes.  Sunday was Mom's day. On the opposite nights, we would have to walk our baby sister in the stroller.  

I really didn't mind either of those chores when I was younger.  But as we all got older, the one chore I hated was emptying the ice trays!  I grew up before automatic ice makers were a thing.  Or if they were around then, well, we didn't have one.  Instead, we had blue plastic ice trays.  A family of six used a lot of ice, so we had eight stack-able trays! There was nothing worse than going to get a glass of Kool-aid or Hawaiian Punch, and no ice!

As a solution to this problem, we created a list that went:  Mom, Dad, Janis, Leigh, Doug, Cris.  The list ran down the side of the paper and down the middle.  Each time we emptied the ice trays, we put the date beside our name. When the ice trays needed emptied, first name up had to do it.

Now, back then, I was not the procrastinator that I am now.  I would get ahead several turns.  I might of have been three or four ahead of anyone else.  So when the ice bin was empty, and the trays needed emptied...nope, it wasn't my turn!

Ways to Use this in My Classroom

This quick write could easily be revised into a narrative, building in small moments with rich details. I could capture a scene of finding the ice bin empty and write about those emotions, or I could create a scene where I proudly announce it wasn't my turn. 

How could you use this prompt for your writing or slice idea?

I'm From...#SOL19

I am participating in the Two Writing Teachers Annual March Slice of Life Story Challenge.  This year I decided to complete my slice of life challenge through the use of quickwrites.  By doing this, I hope to explore my own writing, identify problems my students may be experiencing with these quick bursts of writing, and show them authentic revisions in the writing process.

This quickwrite comes from Linda Rief's book and the poem, "Where I'm From" by George Ella Lyon.  I thought I would start the challenge by telling you a little bit about me. This is always a great quickwrite for students.

I’m From…

I'm from a dad who I disappointed
From the day I was born
And a mom who is one of the strongest women I know

I'm from Friday night trips to the library
And sharing bowls of popcorn
And butter-stained pages with my mom
She reading her book, and I reading mine

I'm from fried chicken Saturdays
And warm donut Sundays
Family vacations with my siblings all dressed alike
In Buster Brown stipes of green, yellow, red, and blue
No chance of us getting lost

I'm from a shared bedroom but separate sides
Divided by an imaginary line
She stays on hers, and I stay on mine
I'm from slipping on Pledge waxed floors
She calls it cleaning, and I call it sabotage

I'm from eight jelly donuts and innocent pranks
With the best friends ever
From paper routes and babysitting
And from behind the McDonald's counter
"Would you like fries with that?"
Saving money to buy clothes
And a way out of this small town

I'm from falling in love
and moving back home
Something I thought I would never do
Something I would never change


Welcome to a month of slicing. I look forward to sharing my space with all of you.

Two kinds of people in the world

In my first year of teaching, a colleague and now my principal, once gave me some words of wisdom. He said,"Leigh Anne, there are two kinds of people in the world:  those who get it, and those who don't."

Now I know that is a very fixed mindset and a simplistic view of the world. But many times after something happens at school that leaves us scratching our heads and wondering what in the world just happen, I will utter the words, "Two kinds of people in the world."

Some days, it is the only thing that gets us through.

Last week, a student came up and asked me if I wanted to read her story she was writing.  It was a mystery, and she was already on chapter three.  In one scene, her main character was dared to eat a worm for a dollar. Both of these boys were a little mischievous, and her character development was amazing for a 6th grader.

After the boy ate the worm, this line from that scene left me laughing out loud.

"Well, I guess there are two kinds of people in the world, those who eat worms for a dollar and those who are picky eaters."

Yep, two kinds of people in the world.

I Have a Secret

I have a secret.

I know something I'm not supposed to know.

I hate knowing.

We have a secret pal activity for teachers at my school.  We start in the fall and leave a gift each month until May.  We all try to guess who each other has, and then we have a big reveal party at the end of the school year.

Buying the gifts is so much fun.  My secret pal loves the color pink, so this month I got her some OPI nail polish in pink and a file that says "Girls just want to have fun!"  I gave it to her on Valentines Day with a card that says "Hope your day is tickled pink!"

But that's not the secret.

This morning I arrived a little before my usual time.  We have sensors in our rooms, and when there is no movement, the lights go off.  Yes, I was sitting at my desk in the dark.  I had my 70's rock music quietly playing on my Pandora station.

And I see something sneaking in the hallway.

It's a gift bag with green and pink tissue paper at the end of an arm.  The arm of my secret pal.

I have a secret.

I know something I'm not supposed to know.

I hate knowing.

What's saving your teaching life right now?

This week has been one of those weeks that seems like it had an extra day (or two).  One day we even found ourselves asking if there was a full moon.

It was also one of those weeks when I found myself repeating, "I can't do this anymore...I can't do this any more."

I'm tired, and I feel defeated.

And I have no answers on how to fix it.

Then today as I was scrolling through my Twitter feed, I clicked on a tweet from Tricia Ebarvia about blogging in her classroom.  She linked to a post on the Modern Mrs. Darcy blog. This post tells about how Barbara Brown Taylor, the author of Leaving Church, was asked to speak on the question, "Tell us what is saving your life right now?"  I began thinking about my teaching life.

Many times it is easy to name what is killing our teaching lives.

For me this week, it was disrespectful students, crazy schedules, being spread too thin, and behavior issues. This was the root of my negativity at the end of Friday as a group of us sat at the end of the hall, thankful that the weekend had finally arrived.

But do we ever stop to think about what is saving our teaching lives?

That same day, after the hall became clear of students, we began talking about our weekend plans. I looked down the hall and saw someone walking toward us.

Although I couldn't clearly see him from that distance, I knew who this was. I would recognize that walk anywhere. I hollered out, "Is that you, Dante?"

"Yep, it's me, Mrs. Eck." he replied with a big ole smile on his face.

It was a former student, and I stood up gave him a big hug.  Dante and I have a history, a rocky history.  He is one of the students I had as a 4th grader and as a 6th grader after I moved to the middle school. He is one that has a special place in my heart.  It has been awhile since I have seen him, and he has changed, he has grown, and he has become a young man. We talked for several minutes, and as he hugged me goodbye, he told me how much he missed me.

I walked into a colleague's room and tried to hold myself together.  We were both holding back tears as we acknowledged the power of that epiphany.  How did he know I needed that moment?

We all have a Dante, a student who reminds us of why we became teachers and why we keep coming back, even after we have had a bad week.  As teachers, we know that relationships matter.  They matter every day, but sometimes they matter even more when we, as teachers, need them the most.

Right now, it is students like Dante who are saving my teaching life.

What's saving your teaching life right now?

...alone

I've been thinking about friends lately. 

Not my friends. 

But my students' friends.

Or the ones who have none. My heart is heavy.

I have three students who are friends. They are rather unique as individuals, yet have similar stories. They carry different colored suitcases, yet have similar baggage. Two of the students no longer attend our school.

And I'm worried about the one because he hasn't been the same since they left him...

alone.

I sit in a parent conference and share their child's progress and how well their child is doing academically. The parents are concerned because their child has no friends.

Never invited to birthday parties or sleepovers.

A tear slips out, and the mother asks, "Do you see him...

alone.

I walk into the cafeteria.

No matter how hard we stress that no one eats alone, I see a student sitting at a table with others, yet not talking, laughing, or leaning in to share a secret with someone. She is with others, but still...

alone.

Middle school is difficult enough without sharing it with friends.  These are the kids who break my heart.

I can teach writing skills.  I can motivate readers. I can be a positive and highly effective teacher each and every day.

But I can't teach how to not be...

alone.

It is in these moments when I feel helpless, when I feel I don't do enough. Why are these kids the ones who need us the most but are the first ones to shut the door?

These are the kids who remind me of why I teach and why I'll return again on Monday.