Tuesday, October 7, 2014

Slice of Life - Writing is Good for Your Health


I love participating in Slice of Life, started by Two Writing Teachers and writing a story, reflection, or musing at least once a week.
     Yikes - I realized it's been a month since I wrote a Slice of Life post!  I don't know how that happened.  I need to recommit to S.O.L writing!!  Now I have more motivation that ever before - I made student blogging, specifically Slice of Life blogging, my Phase III evaluation project.  The culmination/goal will be for my students to participate in the Slice of Life Classroom Challenge in March.  A tweet last night from Michelle Haseltine, looking for student blogging examples, made me a little nervous - we should have examples by now, but we don't.  I need to start this with my students ASAP!  I don't know how it's the beginning of October already, and I haven't done specific writing lessons on the art of blogging yet.  We've been super busy in my classes doing other things and somehow, six weeks have gone by! 
     After reading an article that was shared on Facebook last night, I have even more incentive to keep up on Slicing.  Have you read it yet?  I will share it with my students.  I love this line:
"You don't have to be a serious novelist or constantly reflecting on your life's most traumatic moments to get these great benefits. Even blogging or journaling is enough to see results. One study found that blogging might trigger dopamine release, similar to the effect from running or listening to music." 

     So here's to health and writing and writing goals!!

11 comments:

  1. Welcome back, Holly! That is so interesting that blogging might trigger a dopamine release. I believe it, I almost always feel happier and lighter after I blog.

    Good luck on this journey with your students!

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    1. I feel the dopamine release, too!! When I discovered blogging 2 years ago, it definitely added joy and a creative outlet in my life.

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  2. Dopamine release! I'm all for that! Glad you are back to SOL. I have on my t-shirt today. We have been in school for 9 weeks, so it is time for reflections. I plan to have my students select their best SOL for me to grade on a rubric. To this point, the act of doing it has gotten them the points. I want to encourage them to be more discerning about their posts. I hope we can connect our classes.

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    1. I would love to connect!! I'll get there, I promise! ;-)

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  3. I was just thinking about how long it's been since I sliced...I used to be a regular and never missed a Tuesday. Think it's time I got back to it

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    1. It's easy to slip out of the habit, but it feels good to be back! :-)

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  4. It's hardt o slice once the school year gets going. ..glad to have you back, Holly.

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  5. YAY!!! So glad you're back. If it makes you feel better we don't have blogs either. We spent today reading and commenting on other blogs. Getting ready! I can't wait for my students and yours to have blogs. We can connect all the time!!!

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  6. Wow, Holly, I hadn't seen that article, good to share it with my colleagues, too.Glad to see you back, although I also enjoy your sharing about reading, & your poetry. Good luck with the blogging!

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  7. I had to click on your link, Holly, because I, too, missed an entire month of blogging! September must be a busy month for us all. I'm excited to read the article you linked us to :-)

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  8. Holly, I haven't sliced on Tuesdays in the last four weeks either. Hoping to get back to it--Thursdays too! I think I will share the article with my high school students. Thanks for the link!

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