Worth the Time Invested: Why Slicing with Your Class Changes Everything

How It Began: I Wanted Support

As a teacher, I first sliced in March 2015. I decided to go all in by joining the challenge and slicing through the month. I wanted support, so I looked to my third graders. In the first year, 19 of the 21 students expressed interest in joining. Since then, I have sliced fairly regularly throughout the year and always joined the March challenge. I have invited my students to slice as well. What has surprised me over the years is that I can never accurately predict who will participate or complete the whole challenge. 

Instead of Quitting, I Made It Easier for Myself After a Nudge from Students

Some years, I know that I teach slicing better than others. Readers, this was not one of the years I taught slicing, as I was not planning to participate. In my head, this was the year I wasn’t going to join the challenge, so I didn’t talk about it much.

That changed when two students asked me, right in the middle of a busy day, what I was going to slice about.

You see, they knew that I sliced Tuesdays and that I often wrote about our class. I wrote about that moment here. After that, I felt internal pressure. If I am a teacher who writes, shouldn’t I also give my students every opportunity to lead a writerly life? Soon after, I asked my grade-level colleagues if I could share the Classroom Slice of Life Challenge with their classes. I pulled the classes for a five-minute introduction, asked who was interested, and shared some resources. Happily, students from all three classes wanted to participate. I created a Padlet where they could post their own slices in any format they liked. And so it began. 

Oops, We Did It Again

March was upon us soon, and by the end, I had compiled some feedback from the fifth graders here. Stacey saw the post (does she read EVERY post???) and emailed me to ask if the students would be interested in co-creating a post to encourage teachers to join in with their classes. This year, fewer classes participated than in previous years, so I wanted to encourage others to join.  But what about my class? It turns out to be the same two boys, K and M, who originally inspired me to share the challenge, who volunteered to write the next part of this post.

They believe joining was the right choice for them! I always leave the challenge as an option, not an expectation. 

The Student Perspective

We sliced almost every day, and many of us had to make up the slices we skipped during the last few days of March. Slicing was a lot of fun because we had to come up with new, interesting topics to write about each day and try to see our lives in different ways. Some days our ideas came easily, and the writing was fun and exciting. Other days were harder, and there were a lot of other days, but everybody still managed to create something thoughtful and creative that was interesting to read and helped us grow and learn as great writers.  

Not everyone was able to finish the challenge, but they cheered us on until we did. We had a lot of fun, but we didn’t get a prize, and we didn’t need a prize because it was really fun, and the slice of life was like a reward.

Their Final Thoughts (They Interviewed Classmates)

• One student commented, “I loved participating in the Slice of Life because I got to share what I did every day and do it with friends.” 
• Another added: My favorite thing in Slice of Life is seeing your friends slice along with you. 
• “My favorite thing in Slice of Life was sharing my thoughts,” said a third. 
• The importance of writing for a real audience was noted: “My favorite part of Slice of Life was being able to look at the comments others gave me.”

Looking Back

When the class was writing brochures about grade 5 to share with incoming students, the March Challenge came up as something they wanted to include. It is fair to say that the challenge has made a lasting impression on these students. In previous years, I pressured myself to comment on their slices regularly. This year, I gave myself a pass and didn’t comment much on their posts. However, I talked to them about their work, so they knew I appreciated it. Giving myself that permission meant the slice-of-life challenge did not take up too much of my time during the busy month of March.

My Last Bit of Advice

Here’s my advice: give it a try! Invite your class to join and get ready to be surprised. In my experience, it’s always worth the time. I only spend class time on slicing on the first day. If I can help in any way, please reach out to me at ejcvictor{at}yahoo{dot}com. 

Erika Victor currently teaches fifth grade at an international school in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. She has taught in several countries in Asia and Europe, as well as in her “home” country, the US. She has been accused of having too many books in her classroom, but is that really possible? She has two adult sons, one of whom is also an international teacher. You can find her on her blog or connect with her on LinkedIn.