Ruth Ayers and Stacey Shubitz, at Two Writing Teachers have challenged us to begin a new habit.....writing every day for the next 30 days. They say it takes 30 days to build a habit. I am so not into habits like this because I more often than not...okay....all of the time...don't EVER develop the habit. Sort of like the "I'm going to have a P90X body and eating the chocolate cake on day three" kind of habit. 30 days is a dang long time to do the same thing over and over and over. BUT, I have to admit that Ruth and Stacey are right. This writing challenge is important. It's important for my students. It's important for my growth as a teacher and as a person. It's important that I learn to recognize that my own writing and my own life have special meaning and that I will learn tons from the online community of writers participating along with me in this challenge. It's just important that I suck it up and do it. If I want to be the writing teacher my students deserve, then they need a teacher who's doing exactly what I expect them to do every single day: WRITE.
Before I begin I have a confession. I'm a procrastinator. I do everything at the VERY LAST SECOND. If I don't absolutely HAVE to do it, I won't. I will choose to do something else....like organize the shoes in my closet....throw out the experiments in my refrigerator, read twitter and re-tweet for hours....make a to-do list of all the things that I won't do until the VERY LAST SECOND. I do everything I can do to avoid writing.
So tomorrow, I'll begin to develop this new habit....of writing when I really don't have to(or want to)....when there's no deadline...no one counting on receiving my draft....no one waiting to hear a response...no one wondering why in the world that girl hasn't finished her work yet....posting my "slices of life".....defined by Webster as this-slice of life
I have no clue what I'll post from day to day, and I think that might be the reason I feel butterflies and a bit of anxiety over not knowing what I'll say....This has got to be the feeling my 6th graders feel constantly. Wow. I'm already stepping into their shoes so it will help us all in the long run. Thanks, Ruth and Stacey, for pushing us all to do this.
One more thing.
Honestly and regretfully, I do have a draft of something that's due first thing in the morning.....so my slice might be that last minute article draft for a possible future professional journal publication. It'll be scary to put it out there for others to read, but, oh well. Here goes.....
Happy Slice of Life Eve!
AM
#slice2012
