Expectations Not Met #SOL Tuesday, 4/18

Slice of Life is hosted by Two Writing Teachers. 
Join in and share a slice of your life!

Sometimes our expectations are not met. Good or bad; wrong or right...it happens! This has been on my mind a lot lately.  I (like others) am a work in progress at letting it go, granting forgiveness, and moving on.


I had expectations of myself to keep up the writing life post SOL challenge...and I have not. I let life carry on around me but have not bothered to capture any of it. I did not meet my expectations. I regret this, but life goes on. I will try again...maybe I will do better.


We had a 4 day weekend for Easter, and my daughter's teacher sent their class's butterfly house home with her for the weekend. All 3 caterpillars were snug in their chrysalises and she was sure they would emerge over the weekend. I had grand plans for my daughter to take pictures and put together a movie or a book to share with her classmates so they would get to see the miracle they missed out on. All weekend long, we checked...and checked...and checked on the chrysalises. And today she took the butterfly house back to school- with all 3 chrysalises! They did not meet our expectations. But now, hopefully the whole class will get to witness the transformation.


We have expectations that our children will be organized, stay on top of their work, and perform well on their assignments and assessments. Sometimes this expectation is not met. My middle son is constantly losing papers for school. He forgets assignments. He procrastinates. I could get angry. I could berate him about it. I could micro-manage systems and sit over him watching him work. But will that help him become an independent, successful human being? Instead I am choosing a path of forgiveness, coaching, and support. We will work together to try to find systems that work for him. I would rather work with who he is than against it trying to change him into someone he's not. This is a learning for me, and it makes me think of how many students I have tried to micro-manage and fit into my systems and my expectations over the years.


Not meeting expectations has always been a bad thing in my mind. But, I'm learning to look at things differently to see if the expectations can bend, be altered, or can be met in a different way.

Hopes and Plans #SOL17 Day 31

I am participating in the Slice of Life Story Challenge (SOLSC; #SOL17) 

hosted by Two Writing Teachers. 

Each day for the month of March I will be posting a "Slice of Life". 

Please feel free to stop back and check out my other posts here.

It's the last day of March...the end of the writing challenge...and I did it! I wrote everyday for 31 days, posted my writing on my blog before 9pm, and commented on 3 or more other bloggers' posts each day. I feel like that's not such a big deal & should be commonplace, and a huge accomplishment all at one!

I LOVE the quote on today's call for posts:

This quote epitomizes my hope for all teachers. I see too many teachers who are not living this...I want to live this and hope others can as well.

I feel the need to end this challenge with hopes and plans.  While today is the end of the month & the end of the challenge...it is really the beginning!

Hopes, Dreams, & Wishes

I wish ALL teachers could experience this challenge. It is my hope for them that they might discover themselves as writers, so that they can become better teachers of writers.

I dream of classrooms everywhere where students can experience the sense of community we had through this challenge. Where they can know themselves as writers, receive authentic feedback and encouragement, and WANT to write each day.

I hope we can find a way to create our students into writers. Not assignment completers, test takers, or grade scorers...but writers! That is what I regret not doing for all of my previous students, what I wish for my own children, and what I will work toward in my future classrooms.


Plans & Intentions

I plan to write!
Maybe not EVERY day. Maybe not to post & share. Maybe not under the wire before 8:59pm. But I plan to write! It is my intention to stick around for SOL Tuesdays at the very least.

Instead of being out of ideas at the end of the month, I feel full of ideas I plan to write about...

• Feeling conflicted between innovation & fidelity
• Communities of readers and writers
• My dream classroom
• My dream library
• My dream school
• Books, books, books
• Seeds of stories
• Memories
• My kids...always more to say there!

Thank you to Two Writing Teachers for creating and continuing this Slice of Life Story Challenge. Congratulations on 10 years, I'm glad I could join you for the last two!

And thank you to all of the other slicers- Those who read my posts;  who commented and provided feedback or encouragement as well as those who just read and moved on. Those whose slices I had the privilege to read- for the inspiration, the ideas, the entertainment, the community.  I appreciate you all!

Happy writing...

SOL 6 word stories #SOL17 Day 30

I am participating in the Slice of Life Story Challenge (SOLSC; #SOL17) 

hosted by Two Writing Teachers. 

Each day for the month of March I will be posting a "Slice of Life". 

Please feel free to stop back and check out my other posts here.

Two 6 word stories in honor of the Slice of Life Challenge:


30 days, where have they gone?


Writing every day, feeling so accomplished

What is in there?! #SOL17 Day 29

I am participating in the Slice of Life Story Challenge (SOLSC; #SOL17) 

hosted by Two Writing Teachers. 

Each day for the month of March I will be posting a "Slice of Life". 

Please feel free to stop back and check out my other posts here.

I asked what to write tonight & my daughter piped up that I should write our backpack incident from last night...

What is in your backpack?
Heavy, bulging
I think I caught a glimpse...

Task of the night-
Clean out the backpack
Find the missing marker.

How many books are you carrying?
When are these papers from?!
Why are these toys in there?

When is this lunch bag from?
Why are there wrappers in here?
What. Is. That?!?

Are you kidding me?
I thought there was a no food rule?
Another rotten banana!!!

At least this time we found it before it started to stink!

6 Word Memoirs #SOL17 Day 28

I am participating in the Slice of Life Story Challenge (SOLSC; #SOL17) 

hosted by Two Writing Teachers. 

Each day for the month of March I will be posting a "Slice of Life". 

Please feel free to stop back and check out my other posts here.

I love the Slice of Life challenge for so many reasons. But one, for sure, is the variety of formats and writing styles we get exposed to and can then borrow to try out on our own. Today, my first attempts at 6 word memoirs...to sum up the day.


Where did time go, this time?


Rotten food in the backpack- Ewwww!


My boy found his inner writer  =)


Spring Break- come back to us!


Books everywhere, No time to read   =(



If my kids were to write a 6 word memoir right now it would be:

Dinner is over, time for dessert!

My Little Dancer #SOL17 Day 27

I am participating in the Slice of Life Story Challenge (SOLSC; #SOL17) 

hosted by Two Writing Teachers. 

Each day for the month of March I will be posting a "Slice of Life". 

Please feel free to stop back and check out my other posts here.

My daughter is a dancer. She is always dancing. She choreographed her own little dances to Rudolph & We Wish You A Merry Christmas at Christmastime and performed them...nightly. She leaps across the house to the music on commercials or TV theme songs. She dances through the aisles at the store.




Every Monday and Wednesday we venture out for her happy place- dance class. She has been dancing in this program for 2 years now and has progressed from the most beginner class to the most advanced. She and a few other 5-7 year olds who've been together these two years are now dancing with the 9-11 year olds. These girls LOVE to dance.

 After picking everyone up from school or daycare, we head over, she gets changed, and she's dancing for an hour. Her brothers and I sit in the lobby and work on homework while we wait. It's our routine. It's amazing to me that they never complain. It's just what we do- M needs to dance!

Last December her class danced pieces from The Nutcracker for their recital. She had 5 costume changes. It was stressful for me, but she had a great time. She loves the different pieces and getting into character in her costumes. I love the way she lights up when she gets lost in the dance!

I AM a Writer #SOL17 Day 26

I am participating in the Slice of Life Story Challenge (SOLSC; #SOL17) 

hosted by Two Writing Teachers. 

Each day for the month of March I will be posting a "Slice of Life". 

Please feel free to stop back and check out my other posts here.

Last night I was channel surfing for some late night television watching & stumbled across the movie Julie & Julia. I saw the movie when it came out several years ago, but haven't watched it since, so I left it on.

I quickly felt connected as the character in the movie decides to start a daily blog. Throughout the movie I kept making connections to my own experience through this Slice of Life challenge.

My favorite part by far, however, was when Julie, after having an article about her in the New York Times, comes home to 65 messages on her answering machine. This is when (with the help of her husband) she realizes- SHE IS A WRITER!!

I've written and posted on this blog for 26 days in a row- I AM A WRITER!!

My fellow slicers- WE ARE WRITERS!!

Keep writing...