March is for Slice of Life!

FYI - Beginning tomorrow, March 1st,  I am beginning the Slice of Life Story Challenge.

I am going to attempt to record little slices of my life with preschoolers every day for the month of March. I will post them on this blog.

I'm not entirely sure why!

But I did want to give my readers a "heads up" that I am doing this, so that you won't be looking for my more traditional blog posts.  I'm not sure that I will have time for the more traditional ones.  We'll see.

I'll be including the acronym "SOLSC" on my blog title, if the post is for the Slice of Life Story Challenge.

And you will see the following graphic at the top of the post:

This way, you can decide to skip it, if you want.
(If you do read my "Slices of Life," please know, I welcome your comments and feedback!)

I'll be honest, there are a lot of protest voices in my head:

• You don't really teach writing, Maureen!  C'mon, they are only preschoolers!
• Goodness, you don't blog every day!  You are going to attempt to write every day for the month of March? Ha!  You are a "once a week-er"! What will you possibly find to share?
• Writer? You? Ha! Do you really consider yourself a writer? Who are you kidding?
• What exactly is the point?  Why bother?

I'm going to ignore those negative voices and concentrate, instead, on the many positive reasons for participating:

• It is important to jump without a net every now and again.  I think it is particularly important for teachers.  It is good to experience the discomfort of learning, of trying, of putting oneself out there.  I want my students to take risks, to fall on their faces and pick themselves up and continue on boldly.  Why not try it myself?  Perhaps it will make me more sensitive to student struggles.

• I would like to improve my writing habits.  I write daily in a journal, in long-hand, in a private notebook.  Anything goes when you write like that!  How will my writing be affected if I actually posted it daily, for others to see, in this blog?  I'd like to see!  

• I already know that this is a great community of teachers, having enjoyed Two Writing Teachers for the past many months.  Wouldn't it be a blast to dialogue with other writers and teachers, to see how they are cultivating the joy of writing in their students? What dynamic conversation awaits!

• Last but not least - what will 31 days of thoughts about teaching preschoolers reveal? This could be eye-opening!

So, here goes!

·