Slice of Life: Slicing with Fellow Slicers! #TWTBlog #SOL19

For those of you in the SOL community … you know the power of response. You know the connections that are made over the years. You know it is difficult to put into words the true meaning of this writing community.

When I told my husband last week that I wanted to fly to Philadelphia for the day, he was all in. When I tried to explain my relationship with these women, I realized just how difficult it is to explain. We may only see each other once or twice per year. We may have initially met as professional colleagues. We may share virtual words more often than direct communication. We may not seem likes friends on the surface … but these women mean the world to me.

We truly became friends through Slice of Life. We have laughed, worried, mourned, cried, and questioned together. We have shared joy, disappointment, sorrow, beginnings, and endings. I am so grateful for what I have learned from each of them, as a person, a teacher, a mother, a friend, and a writer.

As I reflect on our journey, it makes me wonder if we are providing this type of opportunity for the young writers in school. Do we create space for them to find other writers to authentically connect with? Do we allow them to have meaningful conversations that are not guided by a checklist? How are we helping them connect to each other - emotionally, cognitively, and socially? Do we value the response as much as we value the draft?

When the members of this community hit “publish” for 31 consecutive days in March, it mirrors writing workshop more than any other writing experience for me. It is truly living the “writerly life” every single day. What seems to differ, is the opportunity for response. In most classrooms, response is typically only during the publishing phase. I want to think about how we can get more frequent, informal, meaningful responses happening — every day!

Thank you - Stacey and all the Two Writing Teachers (Betsy, Beth, Deb, Kathleen, Kelsey, Lanny, and Melanie) for this weekly forum and all you do to inspire the power of writing community. You have changed my life!