This March, we will host the 16th Annual Slice of Life Story Challenge here at Two Writing Teachers. Since 2008, the mission of the challenge has remained the same: to support teachers who want to write daily. We believe that teachers who write regularly can better support the students they teach in writing workshops daily.
Across the next few weeks, our team of co-authors will provide you with additional information regarding the Slice of Life Story Challenge (SOLSC). To get you started, here is some basic information for our March writing challenge.
First time slicer? This post is a great place to start: First-Timer Slicer FAQ.
Prize Information
As of 2022, we no longer offer prizes at the end of March. We are encouraging our entire writing community to write for the inherent reward that writing daily brings. Melanie explained our decision and other changes we made (last year) to the challenge in detail in this post.
Using a Consistent Username Throughout the Month
Please use the same username/email information for all of your March comments. Tips:
- Having a WordPress username makes it easier and faster to post your comments when you visit Two Writing Teachers.
- You don’t have to have a WordPress blog to sign-up for a WordPress username.
- Using a consistent username minimizes the chances of your comment/link to slice going to our spam folder.
- To find your username on WordPress, find your profile pic in one of the corners of the screen and click on it to view your WordPress profile, which includes your username. You can also go to “Profile” from the WordPress Admin Menu.
Sharing the Permalink to Your Post Each Day
To share your story each day, click the URL of your post and copy/paste it in the comment section of our daily call for slices. Be sure to copy/paste the URL to your post, not the URL to your entire website so that readers can easily find your post.
When you leave your permalink, you should include a short one or two sentence “teaser.” However, do not leave any images in our comment section. If you hit enter between your teaser and your link, a box with a post preview will appear in our comment section. Unfortunately, these previews make navigating our site difficult for some users. Please use a colon or a space instead; it will fix the problem.
Our comment section closes each day at 11:59 EST. If you live in a different time zone, you will post your stories on TWT’s most current call for slices (even if that means it is technically a different day where you live).
Comment Guidelines
We reserve the right to delete comments that fall into the following categories:
- Self Promotion: Please don’t use your comment or link to your blog for self-promotion. The links in the comment section fo our Slice of Life Story Challenge are meant to lead our readers to stories from each other’s lives–not just what was on your blog that day.
- Linking and Running: Please do not just drop off the link to your Slice without commenting on at least three other Slice of Life stories. Comments are the foundation of this community. If you choose to link early in the morning, please return later to leave at least three comments.
- Spam: It’s not just big advertisers who spam. Spam can include: Copying and pasting a comment from one post to another, or leaving a message such as, “Nice post. Visit my blog at….” These are forms of spam.
Adults Only in the Individual Challenge
The individual challenge is for educators at any stage of their career. We realize some participants may have a child and/or a student who you’d like to invite to participate in the SOLSC alongside you. If this is the case, we invite your children or individual students to participate in the 11th Annual Classroom Slice of Life Story Challenge, which will happen in April.
Please note: The Classroom Slice of Life Story Challenge is for students 18 & under. Individuals who are not part of a classroom community must have an adult sponsor and reader to participate. Any minor’s adult sponsor must leave the link to their child’s/student’s daily slice of life post on their behalf.
Lainie Levin will share a post about the Classroom SOLSC tomorrow.
Technical Support and Questions
Throughout the challenge, you’ll be assigned to a “concierge” who is a member of our team that can support you with all your SOLSC-related questions. You can find your assigned concierge listed in every SOLSC post, listed alphabetically by participant last names.
Please direct your question to the appropriate co-author:
Individual SOLSC Challenge:
- If your last name begins with the letters A – C, please email questions to Morgan Davis at medavis8[at]gmail.com.
- If your last name begins with the letters D – G, please email questions to Amy Ellerman at ellermanamy[at]gmail.com.
- If your last name begins with the letters H – K, please email questions to Betsy Hubbard at betsymhubbard[at]gmail.com.
- If your last name begins with the letters L – N, please email questions to Jenna Komarin at jennakomarin[at]gmail.com.
- If your last name begins with the letters O – R, please email questions to Beth Moore at beth[at]elizabethmoore.work.
- If your last name begins with the letters S – V, please email questions to Stacey Shubitz at stacey[at]staceyshubitz.com.
- If your last name begins with the letters W – Z, please email questions to Sarah Valter at sarahvalterreads[at]gmail.com.
Classroom SOLSC Challenge:
- If your last name begins with the letters A -H, please email questions to Leah Koch at Leah.koch7[at]gmail.com.
- If your last name begins with the letters I – Q, please email questions to Lainie Levin at lainlev72[at]gmail.com.
- If your last name begins with the letters R – Z, please email questions to Melanie Meehan at meehanmelanie[at]gmail.com.
Technical Support
Did you find a link somewhere that is not working? Having trouble with your own permalink? Is your permalink leaving an image in our comment section? For these and other tech-specific questions, you can email Beth Moore, beth[at]elizabethmoore.work.
A Note About Our Website and Spam
On occasion, a Slicer’s comment is marked as spam by WordPress. Recently, our site has been receiving thousands of spam comments each week, making it difficult for our team to monitor when real comments are sent to spam. During the March challenge, if you believe your comment inadvertently went to spam, please contact your assigned concierge. Please include the approximate time you posted your comment when you contact us. Leaving multiple comments in a day will only increase the likelihood of WordPress tagging your comments as spam.
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