An Unexpected Surprise {SOL 7.25.17}

My husband is out of town which, of course, is prime time for everything in the house to misbehave.

On Monday of last week, our septic pump broke, bringing water into our finished basement. Luckily, we have good friends in town who were able to help me out. John came over on Monday night, pulled out the pump, diagnosed it as broken, went to the store and got me a new one and even installed it for me. (Isn't he AWESOME??!!)

As I wrote John a check for the cost of the pump, I was immensely thankful that he saved me a large expense from a plumber. However, the $246  was not in our budget we had planned for the month. I thought to myself: It is what it is. We will figure it out later.

On Thursday, I picked up the mail and noticed an envelope from my daughter's oral surgeon who recently removed her wisdom teeth. I opened the letter and almost fell over:

This unexpected check would almost completely cover the cost of the pump!

Woohoo!!!

The Law of Attraction worked hard for me last week!

Let's Talk About Writing!: #TeachWrite Twitter Chat

If you are a teacher who writes, I'm pretty sure you know its benefits when it comes to your teaching of writers. 

Teachers who write....

...Know the messiness of the writing process from the inside out.

...Are better at conferring and talking one-on-one with their student writers. 

...Understand that writing is hard work, but so, so worth it.

...See the value in writing and the depth and clarification it adds to our thinking.

...Have a stronger connection with their students as they can empathize with the writer's journey.

...Are awesome!

Becoming a writing teacher who writes has truly changed my instruction....and my life. I have come to enjoy teaching writing (enough so that it is the focus of my new business, Teach Write LLC) and have met so many amazing teacher-writers from around the world that have brought so much friendship to my life.

It is with all of this in mind that three of these such friends and I have decided to start a new Twitter chat dedicated to teachers who write and to help others see the benefit of this rewarding habit.

Join us the first Monday of every month for #TeachWrite, a new Twitter chat dedicated to growing teachers as writers and teachers of writers.

Do you….

Believe that teaching writing is easier when teachers are writers themselves?

Believe that our own writing lives deserve to be nurtured?

Believe that all writers grow through dedicated writing time?

Believe that all writers need support and encouragement?

Believe that writing is a messy process and the best way to learn this is through our own practice?

Believe that when teachers write, they make writing a priority in their classrooms?

Our chat will support teachers not only in their quest to become better teachers of writers but to become better writers ourselves.

In addition, each chat will end with an invitation to write!

Please join us!

Our first chat is Monday, August 7th at 7:30 PM EST with the topic of  “Writing for the JOY of It!”

You can sign up to receive a monthly reminder of our #TeachWrite chat by signing up for a Remind: remind.com/join/teachwri 

Hope to see you August 7th at 7:30 pm EST! (Don't forget to sign up for the Remind: remind.com/join/teachwri)

The Power of the Phone {SOL 7.11.17}

If you are like me, you carry your cell phone with you everywhere. To be without it is to feel like I've lost my right arm. I constantly check to make sure I have it: in my pocket, in my purse, on my coffee table. 

My cell phone is not just my phone, it is also my watch, my alarm, my camera, my to-do list, my notepad, my weatherman, my entertainment center, my map and probably a million other things.

So on Friday, when I went to Six Flags Great America with my family, I panicked a bit when I realized I had left my phone at home. (How that happened, I can't quite figure out.)

At first, I considered going home to get it. But then I thought...seriously?? 

Nope, I would make-do all day without it.

And you know what?  It felt weird, but it was actually kind of nice.

I didn't feel the draw to check it every hour (or sooner, given a state of inactivity).

I could enjoy moments with my family instead of trying to see them through the camera's viewfinder.

It even felt a bit devious to be disconnected from text messages...What would people think if they texted me and I didn't get back to them right away??? (Oh, the horror!! :)

I didn't have those up-to-the-minute updates of who was doing what and where from Facebook.

The only bad part about not having my phone was that I also didn't have a watch on so figuring out what time it was became a bit of a challenge.

What began as a day of panic, actually turned out to be very nice. It also made me realize how much my phone controls me. (Which is actually a pretty scary thought!)

I plan to have more phoneless days in the future. I think the more I do it, the easier it will become. I won't feel like I'm missing a body part.

And maybe I'll take back some of that power I've given away to this inanimate object.