Slice of Life - Letter of Recommendation

Slice of Life is hosted by Two Writing Teachers on Tuesdays.  After the the March Slice Challenge, I decided to continue weekly with Slice posts.
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Unless you have recently looked for a job or applied for something that required a current letter or letters of recommendation, then you probably have not solicited any new ones. Recently, I had several colleagues ask me to write letters on their behalf. Sometimes these are hard to write, even when I really like the person and think very highly of their work. 

When I write a letter of recommendation, I want it to be clear that I know this person and the words contained on the page need to be meaningful and honest. These words without a doubt should let others know how I feel about this person, and what I think of the quality of their work and their character. 

While talking with a friend, she made a comment that everyone should ask for letters of recommendation on a yearly basis.  Her belief is that reading the letter is beneficial and uplifting to the person receiving it. I truly have to agree with her.

Think about this...When I ask a friend to write a letter of recommendation, I usually trust them to write a positive letter or I would not be asking.  Upon receiving the finished letter, I am eager to see what they wrote? Was it unique or a standard format style used to provide a generic letter? As I read through the letter, I am often pleasantly surprised.  Since many of us tend not to let others know when we think they did a good job, people are sometimes unsure of our true thoughts about them.  A sincere letter is like a window into someone's thoughts and provides us with a new understanding of ourselves.

I love when I start reading and I notice someone has commented positively about an area that I think I am not as strong in. The feeling is amazing if the tone of the letter can be read sincerely.  Often times it is just the pick up boost that I need.  

If you are in need of a bit of a pick-me-up, then update your personal files with a few letters of recommendation.  Not only will your files be ready in case you need them, but you will have just the boost that you need.

Slice of Life - 31 of 31 posts!

Slice of Life is hosted by Two Writing Teachers on Tuesdays.  For the month of March, I am participating in the March Challenge by posting a slice daily.
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As I was thinking about how to wrap up the March Slice of Life Challenge, I was going through all of the posts that I have written this month.  Wow! I still surprise myself that I actually did it. There were days when I almost gave up and a couple of days were I posted later in the day, but I did it. I posted 31 Slice of Life posts.

Out of curiosity, I wondered which Slice posts resonated the most with other readers. One way of telling was to see how many people stopped by to read each post.  Here were the top five posts:

# 5 - March 8, 2014 - A Splash of Red

#4 - March 23, 2014 - The One Where I Attempt a Poem

Tied for 2nd:
#2 - March 16, 2014 - New Obsession: Caramel Macchiato

#2 - March 25, 2014 - Finding My Writing Voice

#1 - March 21, 2014 - The One Where I Get Personal

From this writing challenge, I developed a better sense of what it must feel like to be a student who struggles to write. I have new insights and hopefully it will make me a better teacher or at least one who is more understanding.

Though I look forward to gaining some time back to devote to reading, I plan to continue with the weekly Slice of Life posts and the Saturday Celebrate This Week Posts. And I do look forward to continuing with this amazing community of writers who have taught me so much and encouraged me on this journey.

Slice of Life - Encouraging Writers

Slice of Life is hosted by Two Writing Teachers on Tuesdays.  For the month of March, I am participating in the March Challenge by posting a slice daily.
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On Friday, Stacey Shubitz gave a shout out to the Support Team for the Slice of Life March Challenge. You can read it here. 

As a first time participant in the challenge, I want to say how much I have appreciated the Support Team as well as the other Slicers. I am pretty certain that if it wasn't for the support in the form of well-timed comments I might not have made it through to this far.  Initially, the encouragement to keep writing because it would get easier or keep a notebook for ideas was what I needed. I did keep writing even when it was difficult.  I also picked up a small notebook to jot down ideas. I will see something or encounter something and now think that I could write a slice of life post on that idea or experience.  I wasn't sure I would get to this point but those in the Support Team and the other Slice of Lifers did. 

Not only did I start keeping a notebook of ideas, I took some chances with my writing.  Writing things that are more personal is uncomfortable, but I tried and was supported by this amazing tribe of writers. I, also, tried some things that were hard.   Not only did I try one poem but two. It's still hard but I am glad I tried.

This month's journey has made me understand the need to write more regularly, like on a daily basis.  If I struggled to write, and I am a teacher and someone who must regularly communicate using written words, then what about my students who are far less comfortable with words? However, if daily writing and encouragement can change me, it can certainly change their writing.  Through this experience, I have come to think more about how we write with students and how we support and mentor them through the process of learning how to write.  It has taught me more about celebrating writing.

Everyone, no matter how young or old, has something to say and everyone must find their writing voice.  As writers, we learn that words can make a difference. Our words can inspire someone, or make someone laugh.  Our words help others experience emotions when we write in a way that they can feel the same sense of joy, or pain that we felt while writing our slice. Our words hold power.  Power that can build up or tear down.  We need to learn responsibility with our writing as well.

Writing can transform us and those that read what we wrote.  Maybe the transformation over the month has been subtle, but the ripple effect of those changes will be felt for a much longer time.

Though, I am not sure if I know everyone who is on the welcome committee that stopped by regularly (or even sporadically), but I do want to thank Tara Smith, and Melanie Meehan, and Linda Baie who commented daily or nearly daily.  Your presence and encouragement was felt. And for the other Slicers who stopped by and commented regularly your support was felt as well.  Thank you all for being so faithful and committed to this element of learning. I have learned so much from you and your writing as well.

Thank you dearest Slicers for welcoming me into your tribe and for giving so much of your self this month during the challenge.  I have been honored to be a part of a truly special group of people.  

Slice of Life - Celebrate This Week - 3/29/14

Slice of Life is hosted by Two Writing Teachers on Tuesdays.  For the month of March, I am participating in the March Challenge by posting a slice daily.

This year, I am trying to increase my awareness of the many good things that happen, which are frequently overlooked by me.  To help me, I am joining Ruth Ayres' Celebrate This Week.

Here's what I am thankful for this week... 

1. Back to work - I miss the lazy schedule of last week.  The first week back to work after a break always seems crazier than normal.  It was a good week and I am celebrating that I made it through the week.

2.  Comprehension Lessons - For the next 6 to 8 weeks, I will be piloting a series of comprehension lessons in a couple of 1st and 2nd grade classes.  I started by working with a fabulous first grade teacher at one site.  Her class is a lot of fun and we made an immediate connection.  I start with the other classes in the next week or two.

3.  Earthquakes - Well I am not really celebrating an earthquake, more like celebrating that everyone and everything is alright. This was the second or third one that we had recently.  Not really a fan of earthquakes and like when I just sleep through them.  However, the one last night was a little longer than we have had in awhile.

4.  Math Field Day - I am going to celebrate this one a bit early.  It is happening this morning (Saturday) and I will be helping with registration and some other logistics this year.  

So, what are you celebrating this week?

Update on 3/30/14 - Some of you have asked about Math Field Day.  Here is a post that I added to Facebook that I thought I would share here as well...
This has been my 8th year at Math Field Day for our District. My heart always broke as I watched teams of student receive no medals and other teams sweep their category. The results were always teams of kids who would burst into tears and think they sucked at math and never wanted to try again. Though I think there is a place for competition and winners and losers, I was pretty sure that wasn't the message we wanted to send to students about math or learning, but I could never figure out how to make it more equitable.

Thanks to some changes in logistics, process and scoring there will be more winners and more recognition of hard work. Nothing is ever perfect and someone will inevitably not like the new system, but if it will result in less tears and more opportunities to build a love of math and a confidence in learning then for this I celebrate.

Slice of Life - It's Day 28! - Writing by Hand or Computer

Slice of Life is hosted by Two Writing Teachers on Tuesdays.  For the month of March, I am participating in the March Challenge by posting a slice daily.
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It's Day 28! I can't believe that this is my 28th Slice of Life post for the month.

In looking at my last several posts, I realized that they were a little heavier in mood.  So to celebrate four weeks of slicing, I am going with something more fun.

My question to everyone - Do you prefer to write with a pen? pencil? dictation? computer? The reason I bring it up is that I find that normally I do a lot of writing by computer keyboarding.  I like the ease.  You can delete, cut and paste, insert something and it still all looks neat.  However, I do have to say that there are times that I prefer to switch to longhand with pen and paper.

There is something to be said for engaging a different set of muscles.  With paper, I have a bit more freedom.  I can use a pencil or a pen or even switch to markers in different colors. I can use really bold lines or super-micro fine lines.  I can write from left to right, in circles, or I can continue a sentence that I started left to right and have it look like it went right over a cliff.  I can also include doodles or sketches or the real form of cut and paste (cutting something out of a magazine and pasting it into a journal). 

Just as I have freedom with the type of writing utensil, I also can have more freedom with the type of paper I use.  It can be different colors, or different sizes. I can adhere sticky notes on top of other pages.  I can use a spiral bound notebook, or a bound journal or loose-leaf notebook paper, or my favorite - large chart paper.

If you are feeling a bit stifled in your creativity, or just need to change up your routine, maybe it is time to engage more senses while you write and take a walk on the wild side.