WritingLife – Tammy L. Breitweiser

Weekend Coffee Share #SOLC Day 24

Grab your cup of coffee and sit in a comfortable chair around this oak table and let’s chat! I am having my regular black coffee this morning but I can make you iced coffee if you prefer. Even though it is warmer it doesn’t stop me from drinking several hot cups. I think I will bring us glasses of ice water just for variety.

If we were having coffee, I would tell you I am participating in the Two Writing Teachers March Slice of Life Challenge. Teachers all over the world are posting on their blogs daily and at the TWT blog and then commenting on at least 3 posts. I have read some inspirational posts this week. I am going to miss this challenge when it is over.

If we were having coffee, I would tell you there was lots of testing this week at school. We have a district program called IREADY that requires a diagnostic 3 times a year. We are taking the end of year test a little early in preparation for the state test. There have been some incentives put in place for our 7th and 8th graders and they did much better this time.

If we were having coffee I would tell you I wrote everyday. I also started work on a coaching workshop that I hope to teach within the next year. I want to make it as interactive as possible – no PowerPoint! The other writing I did was reflective. I also worked on a few stories.

If we were having coffee I would tell you I read at least one essay, one poem and one short story every day this week to continue my Bradbury Trio program. I was just recording them in my notebook but now started a Google Folder to log some links. I finished one notebook and started a new one so now the lists are separated!

If we were having coffee, I would tell you our team consultant visited on Wednesday. He is always interesting to talk to. He talked about paying attention to students who are always doing the right thing. Some of the things he said caused me to write 3 notes to students thanking them for various behaviors. One student is a fantastic writer and I am always honored she shares her stories with me. Another student went up 26 points on his diagnostic test which is about 2 grade levels. A third student is always kind and smiling. She is uplifting to everyone around her. I also write a couple thank you notes to teachers. Thank you notes have power!

If we were having coffee, I would tell you the students I gave the envelopes to at first didn’t know what to do with them. In this digital age paper is not common. They weren’t sure if they should open them or not! The looks on their faces were cute and surprised.

If we were having coffee I would tell you I am enjoying the 10 day writing challenge. The prompts are interesting and different. The game name from the Day 1 prompt I liked so well that I am using part of it for my writer bio.

If we were having coffee I would admit to you I did not go to my in real life writing group this week. I was tired and the drive seemed too long to go. I had not prepared a story to share. There is a celebration event I will be going to next month. My online group was not as active this week on the Slack channel. There seems to be a lot going on with them swirling around spring break and college admissions and other life stuff. I have missed the conversations.

If we were having coffee I would tell you yesterday was spent outside. We went to the park and I went for another run. It was 50 degrees and sunny all day! Today will be an inside day with cooler temps and thunderstorms in the forecast. Today is about being low key, reading, and writing!

If we were having coffee I would tell you I loved this chat with you today! It really is a highlight of my week. What is the best thing that happened to you today?

Happy Weekend!

Other weekend coffee share posts are here

You can also read more posts from teacher writers at twowritingteachers.org

March 24, 2019March 24, 2019 by TammyB Categories: Coaching, Justlife, Mywriting, Short Story, Slice of Life, storyaday, Weekend coffee share, Writing Challenge, Writing Exercise, Writing Group, Writing PromptTags: #SOL19, masterclass, neilgaiman, solc19, weekendcoffeeshare, WritingLife 21 Comments

Weekend Coffee Share #SOLC Day 16

Grab your cup of coffee and sit in a comfortable chair around this oak table and let’s chat! I am having my regular black coffee this morning. I am on my third cup though. I have been really tired all this week.

If we were having coffee, I would tell you I am participating in the Two Writing Teachers March Slice of Life Challenge. Teachers all over the world are posting on their blogs daily and at the TWT blog and then comment on at least 3 posts. This weekend there is a comment challenge so there will be lots of activity. If the internet goes down blame it on the teachers! I commented every day and it is always great to interact with people.

If we were having coffee, I would tell you I have had a training yesterday with Jim Knight. I drove into the city which always feels sophisticated to me. They had moved our tables which was jarring! This is a series of workshops and the same group meets every time. We have one more session next month. I spent a lot of the time talking to the coaches at our table. The materials are always great. We talked about learning maps which is something I will bring back to my office. It is a visible learning plan for students and teachers. There were times I had a hard time focusing throughout the day because I had woken up at 2:30 am. I had multiple little baby cups of coffee. I had great conversation about writing with a gifted classroom with an elementary coach too which was fun.

If we were having coffee I would tell you the conference I want to go to in November has posted the registration this week. I cannot sign up quite yet but will. There are studies that show the more you anticipate something the more happiness you glean from it. I will be taking full advantage of this fact with the writing conference in Salem! I have been there once. The Sunday before I ran the Boston Marathon I spent the day walking around the city. It was fascinating and I cannot wait to go back.

If we were having coffee I would tell you I read at least one essay, one poem and one short story every day this week for my Bradbury Trio. I found the formats and the ideas finding their way into my writing this week which is a good thing. The essays mostly were Ray Bradbury and Natalie Goldberg.

If we were having coffee, I would tell you a teacher left our building in the middle of the year. She had her reasons and I support her, but I am sad about it. She is the second math teacher to do it this year. I feel bad for the kids. Some of them are not dealing with the feelings of abandonment well.

If we were having coffee I would tell you my writing has been all over the place. I wrote every day but I am not working on any particular short stories. I do have the rejected flash fiction story I want to revise and send back out this weekend. I plan to work on some longer word count short stories for the month is April. I also will get 3 critiques back on another story from my group so I will be able to revise it next month and send it out too!

If we were having coffee I would tell you I loved this chat with you today! It really is a highlight of my week. What is the best thing that happened to you today? I would love to hear about something inspiring you read.

Happy Weekend!

Other weekend coffee share posts are here

You can also read more posts from teacher writers at twowritingteachers.org

March 16, 2019 by TammyB Categories: Coaching, Justlife, Mywriting, Short Story, Slice of Life, storyaday, Weekend coffee share, Writing Challenge, Writing Exercise, Writing Group, Writing PromptTags: #SOL19, masterclass, neilgaiman, solc19, weekendcoffeeshare, WritingLife 24 Comments

Weekend Coffee Share #SOLC Day 10

Grab your cup of coffee and sit in a comfortable chair around this oak table and let’s chat! I am having my regular black coffee this morning. I am on my third cup though.

If we were having coffee, I would tell you I am participating in the Two Writing Teachers March Slice of Life Challenge. Teachers all over the world are posting on their blogs daily and at the TWT blog and then comment on at least 3 posts. There are lots of teacher-writers there I follow regularly and I have already met new ones. I started participating the year I went to Hawaii for spring break so I think that might have been 2006? 2008? I have been doing this challenge for a long time.

If we were having coffee, I would tell you I have had a great time this week connecting with other bloggers and teachers. I always love chatting with people through the comments. As a writer, it is exciting to see what jumps out to people and resonates with them. I learn so much from everyone.

If we were having coffee I would tell you I had a Google call with one of my writing friends which was completely fulfilling to me! We are not geographically close enough to meet in person. She helped me realize a few things right in front of me.

If we were having coffee I would tell you I am thinking about hosting a gathering surrounding the Bradbury Trio. I think this would lead to a great reading and writing discussion. Read my thoughts about it here.

If we were having coffee, I would tell you that I received another rejection. Sticker went in the book! I received some feedback so that made me happy.

If we were having coffee I would tell you, the time change is something I abhor. I wish we didn’t do it at all. I usually say it is jet lag without the trip. This year I have to travel by car for a sporting event for my daughter. Monday is going to be ROUGH.

If we were having coffee I would tell you I loved this chat with you today! I would love to hear something wonderful that happened this week for you. I want to hear about what or who is inspiring you!

Happy Sunday!

Other weekend coffee share posts are here

You can also read more posts from teacher writers at twowritingteachers.org

March 10, 2019March 10, 2019 by TammyB Categories: Coaching, Justlife, Mywriting, Short Story, Slice of Life, storyaday, Weekend coffee share, Writing Challenge, Writing Exercise, Writing Group, Writing PromptTags: #SOL19, masterclass, neilgaiman, solc19, weekendcoffeeshare, WritingLife 27 Comments

Weekend Coffee Share #SOLC Day 3

Grab your cup of coffee and sit in a comfortable chair and let’s chat! I am having my regular black coffee this morning.

If we were having coffee, I would tell you I am participating in the Two Writing Teachers March Slice of Life Challenge. Teachers all over the world are posting on their blogs daily and at the TWT blog and then comment on at least 3 posts. There are lots of teacher-writers there I follow regularly and I have already met new ones. I started participating the year I went to Hawaii for spring break so I think that might have been 2006? 2008? I have been doing this challenge for a long time.

If we were having coffee, I would tell you this writing advice from Neil Gaiman has stuck with me:

There is power in finishing. That might mean the blog post, the short story, the essay, the day’s words, or the novel chapter. Neil says a writer learns more from finishing a story than just starting it even if you don’t like the story or how it turned out. This is just one of the nuggets of wisdom I have learned from his Masterclass.

If we were having coffee I would tell you, part of the reason this lesson stuck with me is I learned it by experiencing it with first with Julie Duffy’s Storyaday challenge which she runs in May. Writers start and complete one story a day for the month. Part of the challenge is to show yourself you can write every day and indeed finish a daily story even when you didn’t think it was possible. The endings of my stories and how I loop details together became a lot more skilled after I have done this story challenge now 3 times. Before September of 2016 I had a bunch of stories started and notebooks and notebooks of ideas. Now I have folders of real stories.

If we were having coffee I would tell you I believe endings are hard for writers because we don’t practice them enough. Personally, I get shiny ball syndrome and keep starting new things because I have a lot of ideas. This past week I worked hard to get several stories polished and submitted. I had to write an essay for one submission and was able to finish it within the time constraints.

If we were having coffee, I would tell you that I received two more rejections this week but ON THE SAME DAY. That was a bit rough. I went to my Superstar writing group for support. They didn’t disappoint.

If we were having coffee I would tell you, I connected with some of my husband’s family this past week. It was a nice afternoon and we have some great coffee too!

If we were having coffee I would tell you this week at work was a bit trying but I cannot exactly tell you why. There seem to be many underlying things that are eating away at the morale there. There has been a lot of sickness among the teachers and serious issues that are uncontrollable. The state-mandated high stakes test is looming as well as the district high stakes measure. I have been doing sessions of smaller PD with teachers but not the coaching work I normally do because of other obligations. To combat this feeling I plan to write a post about the things I am grateful for SPECIFICALLY at work. There are many times the grass seems greener anywhere else. I work with a lot of great people – teachers and students. I need to change my mindset.

Happy Sunday!

Other weekend coffee share posts are here

You can also read more posts from teacher writers at twowritingteachers.org

March 3, 2019March 3, 2019 by TammyB Categories: Coaching, Justlife, Mywriting, Short Story, Slice of Life, storyaday, Weekend coffee share, Writing Challenge, Writing Exercise, Writing Group, Writing PromptTags: #SOL19, masterclass, neilgaiman, solc19, weekendcoffeeshare, WritingLife 24 Comments

6 Word Memoirs

Six- word memoirs are a go-to quick writing idea. Do not be disillusioned by their small stature though. They can be difficult to write. Practicing making your language concise is a trying practice for some authors no matter if you are 5 or 50 or somewhere in between.

Here are a couple of examples:

Lost in places where I belong.

I’ve waited in the wrong line.

Lost my mind. Gave up looking.

I’m forcing the puzzle pieces together.

More examples can be found here: https://www.sixwordmemoirs.com/

Teaching Idea:

Use 6-word summaries for text students have read or you have read aloud.

Examples from Stellaluna

Fruit bat misses mom and birds.
Stellaluna has lost identity and mother.
Friends are different and the same.

2. Have students use the 6 words for their check for understanding for the day or a specific lesson.

3. Use as a recap of the most important thought of the day. Track them over time.

4. At the end of each grading period have students write a 6-word memoir of the most memorable thing. Reflect at the end of the year.

5. Another variation is to write an 18-word memoir from last year (2018) – what sticks out to you?

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February 20, 2019 by TammyB Categories: Justlife, Questions, Slice of Life, Writing Challenge, Writing Exercise, Writing PromptTags: 6wordmemoir, writing, WritingLife, writingprompt 15 Comments

I Wrote it Anyway

I am thrilled to be included in the anthology I Wrote it Anyway edited and created by Caroline Donahue from the Secret Library Podcast. If you want to hear more about the WHY behind the book and the process of publishing a passion project which also happens to be an anthology, tune into this fantastic DIYMFA podcast.

My essay is titled My Almost Secret Writing Life.

Here is a link if you would like to purchase the book. All proceeds of this collection benefit 826 LA in the US and Arts Emergency in the UK.

This book is perfect for any writer on your holiday gift list. If you have a friend or loved one who is holding back from writing this may be the inspiration they need!