Leaning in…

I joined the Slice of Life challenge after a friend shared that she had signed up. I remembered taking a Writing Workshop course in grad school and the way keeping a notebook made me look at the word differently. I’d suddenly be drafting as I was driving or doing some other mundane task. By the time my pen hit the paper, the ideas where already there and the words flowed freely. Then the class ended and despite a vow to continue writing, it wasn’t the same. I want to see my life through that lens again.

As I read other participants’ posts today, I was in awe of the communities of writers that exist out there in the world. I read about teachers who have done this for years, who have even made friends through this experience! I was most inspired by the teachers who have committed to the challenge along with their students. I would love to help foster the kind of writing community within our school that someday leads to this kind of work.

And then I saw a glimmer…I walked into a fourth grade classroom expecting to meet a teacher to do some planning. Instead, I walked into a story. A student reading aloud from his computer, tucked into the corner of the classroom. It wasn’t the story so much that drew me in, but the other students scattered around the classroom. Some sitting in chairs, others standing around the room, and one student even bouncing slightly on a giant red exercise ball (the benefits of flexible seating!). They were listening, leaning in even. They were drawn into the story being told by their classmate and everything else was still.