giveaway · Slice of Life Story Challenge

Enter Here if You Posted 25+ Days and/or Sliced with Your Students

Ruth Ayres

If you sliced 25 – 31 days, please leave your name in the comments section, along with a note (or a link to a post) about what you learned about yourself as a writer during the SOLSC.

If you sliced with your students, please leave your name in the comments section, along with a note about how it went in your classroom.

Yes, some people will be leaving 2 comments because they sliced 25 or more days AND sliced with their students.

Yes, some people will enter this giveaway PLUS the other giveaway because they sliced 28 – 31 days, making them eligible for both giveaways.

Check back on Monday for the results. (Sorry, but I need a little time to organize and then make the mondo-post.)

(Note: I’m having trouble linking images. I’ll try again tomorrow.)

If you slice more than 25 days and/or you are slicing with your students you may enter the giveaway for:

 

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Published by Ruth Ayres

Unhurried. Finding the magic in the middle of living. Capturing a life of ridiculous grace + raw stories.

60 thoughts on “Enter Here if You Posted 25+ Days and/or Sliced with Your Students”

  2. I appreciate what Alan wrote above. I agree with the fact that SOLC created a discipline for me as a writer. I have become more aware of what is happening around me. I’m looking for moments to share, to remember.
    I woke up this morning ready to write. I had to check TWT and my blog. I smiled when i turned on the computer, knowing that this is my “fix” for the day. It’s better than chocolate!

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  3. Once again I am pleased that I was able to last the distance, to meet the challenge of writing and posting a writing slice every day for the month of March. I became even more aware of those internal machinations of my sometimes scrambled mind, as I pondered my daily posting. The rehearsal was continual. It was stimulating. Words and phrases tumbled around in my brain and I played with ideas until at last I settled on my daily script. Then I sat at the computer and the words spilled onto the screen.

    Being involved in SOLSC teaches you to be disciplined as a writer and raises your awareness of small moments in a day and their potential as a focus for writing. It heightens the writer’s awareness of the near world.

    Through my participation, I have met new writers and given and received feedback. My horizons have been extended as I have read about the lives of others in areas far removed from mine. As much as we are different, we share a sense of community and fellowship. Happy, sad, weird and wonderful ideas have been shared through our respective postings. I have been extended as a writer.

    This is the third year I have participated in this writing challenge and I have thoroughly enjoyed it. As usual, it provided a great learning experience…

    http://livinglifetwice-alwrite.blogspot.com/2011/04/reflections-on-slice-of-life-story.html

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  4. I’m just letting you know out there that I’ve given myself the challenge of writing each day this month…and this month it’s a poem a day.
    April Snows is my second one – for April 2 – and the first was yesterday.
    http://mainelywrite.blogspot.com/2011/04/april-snows.html
    I won’t be updating here of course. I’m also going to set myself the secondary challenge of going back and reading all the other posts that I couldn’t get to in March. Hope I can keep it up!

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  7. Thanks again for hosting the challenge. I learned that “slices of life” are everywhere, but sometimes it’s difficult finding the words to share those moments. The daily practice of putting it all together has been helpful.

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  8. Well, I didn’t slice the minimum of 25 days and some days I only posted my students’ slices because I was so excited by their excitement. However, I’ve now gotten into the habit of thinking about writing something every day, which is a change from merely planning to think about writing something every day. I really enjoyed the challenge. Thanks for this opportunity.

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  9. This is truly a wonderful community of writers. Immersing myself in this writing challenge has nudged me to think more about my life as a teacher of writing. Thanks for the comments and encouragement. MANY THANKS go out to our leader Ruth for all you do to build and nurture this community.

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  17. What a wonderful experience! I didn’t know if I would be able to write every day. Not only did I do it, but actually looked forward to it! Many thanks to all who made comments. That was truly a bonus.

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  22. One thing that I gained from this month was an appreciation for my students when they don’t want to write or when they feel like they don’t have anything to write about. I had those days this month for a variety of reasons and it has made me more sensitive to the days when my kids are struggling. It also has given me some tools to use when I conference with them – personal experience I can draw on to help them get over that moment and begin writing again.

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  26. Slicing with students…only 2 out of 21 made the 25, but many more had made smaller 4 out of 7 during the week. I enjoyed talking with them about their ideas, brainstorming in class, noticing slices together, and building a community. It reminded me the fun I have when pulling groups of students to talk about life and connecting learning to our time together over lunch. I would love to extend this into reading as well…Maybe after Spring Break.

    Ruth, enjoy break and thanks for all of the hard work you put into this slicing this March.

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  28. Slicing with the students: This went really well with my kids. It was a little rough at the beginning with them not truly understanding the concept (what do you expect with 1st graders?). After the first few days they really looked forward to ‘slicing’ and I looked forward to reading them. They enjoyed it so much and did so well with it that we decided to continue with slicing in April. I believe that we will probably do this for the rest of the year. It has been a blast!

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  30. THANK YOU to writers who visited my stories and those who shared their stories in this challenge. And to Ruth for a masterful job of hosting.
    I’ve created a list of what I’ve learned this time around. I’ll share it with my students Monday. They so love having my blog on the screen.

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  31. 28 posts!

    I learned that I really need time to focus in order to write well. When I am busy or have a million things going on my writing reflects that. If I were going to write seriously I would need quite time every day to devote tot he task. I know many people get up early to find that quiet time, perhaps I will need to try that instead of sleeping in!

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  32. I sliced with my students for the first two weeks of the month. Usually I make it optional, but this year, I gave it as a daily assignment on school nights. It was working out great, and I was able to use it focus on writing detail with my 7th grade, which is my on-going focus with them. But then crunch time came with the State Projects for Social Studies, and the annual banquet. I needed to lighten their load, and the SOLS was jettisoned. I hope to do it again next year with my high school students and utilize it better.

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  40. As to writing with my students and having them take the slice of life challenge: This was awesome. I can’t tell you what an improvement I saw in their writing! Maybe not in grammar and conventions, but in what they were willing to write about. They wrote more about their feelings, their everyday life, what mattered to them and where they were in their lives. I kept telling them that someday they will read this and be amazed at what they wrote. We celebrated today and wrote a reflection. The students shared how they felt about it. I had a few who just weren’t that interested but managed to say that they did learn something from it. When I read their slices, I saw many ideas that they will have to choose from if they have no idea of what to write about in the future. It was worth the time and effort. Those who risked it to post on my blog, were delighted with the comments and wanted to write more. They are sharing with their families now. Authentic writing is truly the answer to motivating students to write. I wish I had started this long ago. So glad I did this time! Thank you so much for this opportunity, Ruth! I appreciate all the long hours you have put into this blog site. I can’t imagine just what it does take to keep it going! Happy Slicing! 🙂

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  41. First, I learned that I could get over the fear of writing for my peers. I have alwasy been fearful of that. I felt so insecure and that what i wrote didn’t matter. Well it does and others helped me to comfirm that! I was so elated by what others were willing to write on their blogs nad reading them inspired me and helped me to keep going. I foudn that i had the motivation and the stamina to continue at least for 31 days and maybe more. It was difficult at times, and at the end, I was have some difficulties but knew that it didn’t matter because as one person put it, writing is our life- well maybe I paraphrase, but it is a part of us and it gives others a glimpse into who we are at a given time. Thanks for the opoortunity. I loved the comments and they really kept me going. Now I know what I MUST do for my students. This really reinforces Writing Workshop! Happy Slicing! 🙂

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  42. Doing the SOLSC with my 70 sixth graders was amazing! We posted over 5000 slices and comments for the month. In conversation, students have said that they like having a written record of their month, they love getting comments, and writing is easier and more fun for them now.

    By their request, we are going to continue slicing in some form until the end of the year.What a great outcome!

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  53. I see myself more as a reader than a writer, but my writing identity is getting more focused. The challenge of writing every day, allows me to see it from the perspective of my students. Sometimes, you have something to say, while other days….you don’t!
    K. Moyer

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  56. I have never considered myself as a writer, hence the title of my blog. This experience has changed my perception of myself and writing. Your comments have played an important part in this change. It makes me realize how important feedback on writing is, especially for students. Thank you all!

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  58. http://emmasue-alice.blogspot.com/2011/03/sols.html

    This post has a little bit of what I learned, but what I really learned in terms of writing is that it takes 1.Commitment 2. Consistency and 3.A lite – which we all have. In the end, there is a writer in every one of us, something that the internet age has really helped to engender. But also, I think this is something very special for us as teachers to learn, because as we learn ourselves that everyone has a story to tell, we can teach that to our students.

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  59. I learned that while writing can come naturally on a regular basis, sometimes it doesn’t flow. On those days you need to write just to stay in the habit and to appreciate when it does flow. I also realized that in viewing things sometimes I miss the details of the day for the more philosophical ideas of life- I would like to be able to balance that more with memories of each day’s events.

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  60. I learned that all writing does not need to be well-developed and long in order to be effective and poignant. I also learned that I like comments more than I thought I did. I learned that I could do this — that I could commit to this and see it through until the end, no matter what kind of craziness might enter my life. Finally, I learned that I don’t just want to write, I need to. Every day if not more.

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