Tuesday SOL How do I make space for writing?

This is a Tuesday
Slice of Life.
All participants are writing about one moment, one part of their day. 

Check out the Two Writing Teachers website for many more reflections on teaching.

I imagined my summer would begin with a bounty of quiet time for writing. I imagined waking up early, as on a typical school day, and - rather than racing into school - capturing these early morning hours for rich reflection. I imagined.

There is so much I want to share, to remember, to hold onto about this year.

Certainly, I can participate regularly in the Tuesday Slice of Life again.

My summer break began yesterday and reality is different than imagination. There is too much going on around me. I am not alone with my thoughts. Take today, for example. My husband surprised me with the news that he is working at home today - which is delightful for him but makes him "underfoot" throughout precious early morning minutes when I imagined him commuting and me writing. Plus, he has the quiet back room for his work, not me. As soon as he disappeared into the back room with a conference call, my sons Wade and Bryce started their day...noisily and excitingly. Still, I sit and write. Is it my imagination or are they pacing the very room I am in? They are, most definitely, loudly bantering about Tom Petty and John Cougar Mellancamp songs - providing me with annoying, varied earworms. I have thoughts to write - please let me be! Both boys had friends stay the night, meaning that there was a late night of Catan and boisterous laughter, resulting in numerous dirty dishes and the sad realization that the Father's Day blackberry cobbler has been entirely gobbled up. (Perhaps it is a good thing that I don't get to feign breakfast with this). My thoughts wander away from my writing goal of this Tuesday slice. Bryce starts a small summer job today and is worried about the logistics and timing of his commute...Wade is finishing packing, running errands, tying up loose ends, before he and his friend Robert drive to Texas for a vacation...before both begin new careers...have I shared that Wade is entering an alternative certification program to become an early childhood teacher? Like mother, like son? So much anticipation, so many questions, so much of me demanded, so much chatter, so little writing.

Except, I force it. I am going to write a slice today, yes, I am. Push out the words. Insist. Demand. Require.

Not my best writing. Not the way I imagined. Not quite my point.

I realize I just have to channel my teaching self - that ability to accomplish the desired goal in the midst of many interruptions and unexpected twists.

Write on.

This past school year, I kept a writer's notebook in my classroom, and I turned to it to make space for struggles, questions, concerns, dreams, expressions, children's voices. I wrote in it at the outset of my day or even the evening before, to remind me of what needed doing. I took notes in it during children's activities, so that I might remember. I wrote in it when things happened that I didn't understand, so that I might puzzle about it later.

My most exciting find - I discovered the power of writing in the moment, in the midst of hard conversations. Because I was carrying this notebook everywhere, I simply turned to it in the midst of strong emotions...daring myself to write first before speaking, to capture what was being said to me and to gather my thoughts before responding. What power this habit gave me! Truly, it was writing as mindfulness technique - helping me to be present and calm. I now know that I can make writing space whenever...and that the written word soothes me, gives me voice, advocates in ways that don't come immediately to me in the moment in spoken word.

At this past Friday's closing circle for staff, we shared either a hope or something we had learned from the school year. I told my peers about my find...this school year, I learned how beautiful, cathartic, and essential writing is for me, helping me to pause and make space in the midst of the turbulence of teaching. Writing is an incredible tool for me.

This summer, I hope everyone finds their own restorative, reflective outlet (perhaps writing, perhaps not), so that we return to teaching with vigor and renewed possibility.

Happy summer!

Yes! I wrote a Tuesday Slice of Life! Goal accomplished.