It's been a rough writing month for me. I even told my family that I might not participate next year. I've been challenged to find moments to write about since my moments have such a monotonous sameness to them (blaming that on the pandemic).
I circle back to the questions Dana posted in a comment (10 years ago) to my plea for how to help my students reflect on a month of writing. They are so good that I'm including them here for you:
Reflections - hmm....some quick ideas:
What did you learn about yourself as a writer?
What topics did you write about (go through and find patterns)?
What piece do you feel proudest of and why?
What strategies did you use when you were stuck?
What would you suggest I do different with students if I repeat this challenge next year? What should I do the same?
I return to my favorite question and the one I've used most frequently through the years. What topics did you write about (go through and find patterns)?
Books (12)
Is playfulness in your March toolkit?
Just buy the book!
What’s in the brown bag?
A love letter!
Is there a tape recorder in your house?
Serious Commitment Issues
The Unchosen
Sometimes a Book Arrives at the Perfect Time!
Tracking my reading life!
Do you Read more than one book at a time?
Celebrating Beverly Cleary
I will never run out of books I want to read!
Poetry (5)
God’s Handwriting
Book Spine Poetry
Everything Nye
Revisiting March 2020
Rainy Day Plans
The Grands (3)
Stepping Away to Savor the Moments
Precious Memories to Last Awhile
It’s Friday Fun Time!
Meandering (3)
My Slippery Slope
Ten Early Morning Musings
Meandering Thoughts
Venturing Out (2)
Celebrating March 9th
I Went to Island Books
Year 10 (2)
Celebrating my tenth year!
A quick March through my first decade of slicing
Inspired by others (2)
Serendipity
Party Time at Leigh Anne’s Place
Nature (1)
Celebrating Green (and blue and white and pink and purple)!
There's something I love about reflecting on a month of writing by looking at patterns. It's not surprising that the topic I wrote about most frequently was books (after all my email address includes the word bookwoman). I was surprised that poetry was my next largest topic. I have no problem describing myself as a writer, but it's harder to claim my spot as a poet. Meandering and the grandkids tied for 3rd place. No surprise there. But nature coming in last place? I apologize for this oversight. Especially since nature has been my source of solace and perennial pal through much of the last year. I vow to include homage to this dear friend more frequently in my weekly slices.
And one final question to include in this reflection: What piece do you feel proudest of and why?
That would have to be Serendipity. First of all, I simply love the word serendipity. I remember teaching this word to sixth graders when it occurred in one of our basal reader (I'm dating myself here) stories. I love that this slice was inspired newtreemom's 12071 slice, the serendipity of grandson's Tupperware pics appearing on my FB memories just as I was writing this slice, and the double serendipity of Diane reading my post and claiming her spot as my inspiration. I love that something so simple as a Tupperware bowl can evoke such memories, a testament that family heirlooms aren't always the physical objects, but the memories that are attached to the objects.
Thank you Two Writing Teachers for creating this challenge and providing the space and support for us year after year. And thanks to this magnificent community for sharing stories with me and encouraging my writing life. I'm pretty sure I'll be back next year!
oh thank you for this post! I love the questions on reflection and will clip and save them. I understand the struggle to write this year. I felt the same way. I am working on hanging in there. Using this quiet as a push to see what else can I write about. We will see where that takes me this year. As spring comes I always have the garden.
ReplyDeleteI hadn't thought about doing a round-up of my slices like this, and now I want to. I'm curious about how my topics this year are different from my topics last year. I'm so glad you participated this year; I always find so much inspiration at your blog.
ReplyDeleteThis is such a beautiful post. I hope that I will get to a point in my own writing when I am able to reflect on my process with such depth. Thanks for sharing this Slice!
ReplyDeleteRamona, this slice just makes me so happy! I love how your slice and mine connected. The update you added to Serendipity is a treasured gift of friendship! We truly can say we are friends, finding many things we have in common as we share writing snd reading here. This year was more of a challenge after this long pandemic year but we made it!
ReplyDeleteYour post is wonderful in its reflection, and I appreciate you adding that list of questions. So very useful for our students as well as ourselves! In my last slice of this challenge today, I reflected about my March writing very much like you did. (Great minds think alike?) You definitely need to return for the March challenge next year --- I can't imagine it without you. ~JudyK :-)
ReplyDeleteHere's to serendipity and a time to pause and reflect! Thank you for this honest slice.
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