Slice of Life: Lots of Ways To Make Decisions

Tuesdays are for slicing about life. Join us at Two Writing Teachers!

"Mom," Cecily said. She peeked into my office where I was on the phone. 

I could tell from the way she said my name she had something big to ask or tell me, but I was on a conference call. She'd have to wait. 

As soon as I hung up, I found her. I was curious about her news. You never know what's a big deal for Cecily. It could be that she won the lottery, and it could be she found an earring backing in her coat pocket. Truth: I love that little things really do matter to her. 

"I think I want to cut my hair," she said.

(You all need to know that Cecily's hair is pretty spectacular.)

"Okay," I said. "Like donate it? Like how much are you thinking?"

I might have breathed a sigh of relief when she indicated less than ten inches. I'm sorry for my lack of generosity, but I can't picture her with a bob. 

"Have you talked to the sisters?" I asked. 

Cecily is the youngest of my four daughters, and it cracks me up how they all consult with each other on all aspects of life. 

Cecily described her sisters' reactions, and I had to laugh. Larkin, true to her impulsive form, said absolutely, go for it. Julia, who weighs all options and frequently still doesn't decide, wasn't sure how to advise, and Clare, the keeper of the common sense, talked pros and cons, as well as logistics. 

I've been trying to challenge myself to relate these slice of life family moments to my teaching life whenever I can, and I have to say that there are decision-making prototypes in writing classrooms. Just this morning, I coached Dalton (aka the Julia prototype) through deciding on which story he would write. The commitment to a story literally froze him in his writing tracks until I let him know that he could change his mind or finish one story and write the other one he wasn't choosing. Then there's Gaby (aka the Larkin prototype) who opens up her notebook, looks at her list of possible story ideas, and is off and planning before I have to say a word. Cecily is the type who want to talk through her ideas before she gets going-- yep, those writers exist in elementary classrooms as well. And then there are the Clares who systematically weigh their options and then go with the idea that seems like it will be the strongest and easiest to write. 

My daughters' personalities and decision-making processes have been consistent throughout their lives, in school, in work, and in their personal existences. It's fun to think about the different ways to approach students who are like them as I teach. 

Happy Slicing,

Slice of Life: Shared Writing For the Win

Tuesdays are for slicing about life. Join us at Two Writing Teachers!

“We’re going to think of a character for the three of you,” I said, gathering three fifth-grade writers around me. “Real quick-- let’s come up with a name.”

“Kayla,” one of the girls said. 

I wondered for a second if G. the only boy in the group would balk at the character being a girl, but he didn’t.

“Excellent,” I said. “Where does Kayla tend to hang out?”

Within a minute, the three students listed a few places where Kayla could spend time: the local amusement park, a playground, the beach, and a hiking trail all students could envision. 

“And some troubles she could get into in those places?” I said. 

I wrote and they started listing all sorts of stories that could involve Kayla. I had planned to offer them the idea of times when Kayla got bumps, bruises, or bled-- I call that the 3B strategy for thinking of a story--, but I didn’t need it. There were plenty of ideas. 

“Decide on your top three,” I said, “but do it in your head. Just put your thumb up when you have them.”

And just like that, within five minutes, my striving fifth-grade writers who had been spending multiple days thinking of an idea and planning a story, had a character and a solid idea for a story. 

“Now,” I said. “We’re going to share this story. One of you is writing the beginning, one of you the middle, and one of you the end. I pointed to each of the three students. Beginning, middle, end. Practice telling it. Go.”

After another five minutes, they’d done enough verbal rehearsal that they were ready to write. Before the end of the writing period, the three of them had a collaboratively written story, and they were so proud that they asked to write another one. 

Was it perfect? No. But did they internalize the process that had eluded them for the last few weeks? Possibly. Time will tell, and I will continue to watch, but they were collaborative, independent, and engaged. #winfortheday

Happy Slicing!

Slice of Life: Wise Words For Many Situations

Tuesdays are for slicing about life. Join us at Two Writing Teachers!

Sitting at our kitchen table enjoying breakfast and conversation with our overnight guests, Markus and Alice, we covered a lot of conversational territory. They currently live in Vienna, so some of their favorite destinations was a topic for a while, but we also moved on to ideas around leadership and management. I wish I could remember exactly the pathway into the discussion we had around problem-solving, but I do remember exactly Markus's words. 

"Is it a problem that needs to be solved is what I like to ask," Markus said. 

We agreed that there are problems that come up in all domains of life that either don't need to be solved or can't be solved. That being said, Markus had a follow up question:

Is it a problem that needs to be solved now? 

Trust me: the next time there's a problem in my world--personal or professional--, I'm asking these questions! Sometimes sitting around the breakfast table on a Sunday morning with friends who are wise is a perfect thing to do, and sometimes, you even get snippets of their wisdom to share.

Happy Slicing!

Slice of Life: The Connections Between Axe-throwing and Writing

Tuesdays are for slicing about life. Join us at Two Writing Teachers!

I'm slightly embarrassed to admit that I went axe throwing for a THIRD time on Friday night. Please know that the first time was a surprise visit and this third time was to celebrate a very good friend's last day of taking blood-thinners which was what HE wanted to do (it was NOT my idea!). I tried to explain to him that there was NO chance that an axe was going to lodge in his foot or any other part of his body and require clot-making platelets, but he still held fast to the axe-throwing concept. 

When we got there, I had a short conversation with Grizz, the gentleman who would be our axe-throwing facilitator. 

"I'm not good at this," I said, fully aware that I could add a YET to that sentence, but also intentional about leaving that growth-mindset attitude out of my self-presentation. It was easier to just own my ineptitude rather than suggest that I had hope of becoming better at lodging a blade in a square of splintering pine. 

"What do you mean?" Grizz asked. 

"I've done this twice," I said. "I've had it stick once, total. It's not my sport."

"I'll get you up and running," he said. 

I wasn't sure what to say. I appreciated his optimism, but I also didn't want to disappoint him. The other facilitators had said similar things. I might have been a tougher project than they thought I'd be. 

Just as I predicted, I showed no axe throwing prowess. My first attempt lofted high over the target, and Grizz told me to follow through. My second try ricocheted down toward the ground, and we all laughed as it spun and slid back toward me. (Maybe you shouldn't be on blood-thinners when you're throwing axes.) My daughter Julia and I talked about the overall axe-throwing experience on Sunday, and she pointed out that one of the problems for her was that she was never given enough time to practice and figure it out. Two throws and then a long wait while others took their turn just didn't lead to any sort of mastery. She was trying to make me feel better, and I appreciated that, and she also had a point...

If you are expecting a happy ending to this story, you're going to get one, but not because I started throwing bulls' eyes. I was with my best friends, we had great food, a lot of beer, and the night was paid for long in advance. 

And, if you're expecting me to make some connections to students and writing, you're going to get that to. Collective efficacy has one of the strongest correlations with growth and achievement according to John Hattie's studies about visible learning and what leads to learning. Last Friday evening, at Montana Nights, we all believed that I could not throw an axe effectively. Fortunately for me, I didn't really care and it didn't really matter. But that's not true for writing. When we believe and the writing community believes and the writer believes that they're not so good at writing, then guess what? They're not. 

We don't get many opportunities to experience these situations and make these sorts of connections, but when we do, it's worth reflecting on and wondering about. As Julia said, we need time to practice, approximate, adjust, and figure out what works for ourselves. And we also need people, including ourselves, to believe that we can do it. Otherwise, it's simply more fun to do other things. 

Happy Slicing.