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Mar 29

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Slice of Life 29: An Unexpected Book Club

By Janice Ewing

For as long as I can remember, my brother and I have led different reading lives. Growing up, I was the girl valiantly bringing home as many books as I could carry from the neighborhood library each week, in addition to collecting and devouring my beloved Nancy Drew mysteries. He pored over the coveted action hero comics of the day with his friends, eventually moving on to war and crime novels, while I grew into a love of character-driven realistic fiction.  Read more

Mar 28

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Slice of Life 28: Writers’ Group

By Janice Ewing

At first it was called the Retired Writers Group, but that’s really a misnomer, as most of us are working in some capacity and we’re certainly not retired from writing.  A more fitting, although clunky name might be Flexible Enough to Meet During the Day Writers.  Actually, we’re doing just fine without a name.  Read more

Mar 27

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Slice of Life 27: Conversation after Class

By Janice Ewing

I had been warned by a previous instructor that the night custodian was irritable, and just couldn’t wait for the class to leave so he could finish up his end-of-evening chores. I hadn’t met him until last night, when he came in to empty the trash. The last students had just left and I was still gathering my things.  Read more

Mar 26

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Slice of Life 26: Time for Pattern Seeking

By Janice Ewing

We are approaching the conclusion of the month-long Slice of Life Challenge (twowritingteachers.wordpress.com). I had been aware of the challenge in past years, and read some of the posts, as well as some of the weekly SoL posts that appear on Tuesdays throughout the year, but this has been my first experience as a participant. I began the challenge with mixed emotions – interest, excitement, motivation to strengthen my writing muscles, and that “what am I getting myself into?” feeling as well. I wondered what I would write about, in what genre, and whether I would explore one topic in a variety of ways or wander around the landscape.  Read more

Mar 25

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Slice of Life 25: Teaching Humans

By Janice Ewing

Yesterday, I wrote about attending an informational session concerning the Being a Writer Program. The morning started with a collegial breakfast, and ended with my misplacing the validated parking ticket (of course I found it as soon as I got home, hiding in my messy purse), and receiving a get-out-of-the-parking-lot-free pass from the attendant because I was clearly coming from the same event as my colleagues. In between, there was a lot of food for thought.  In the previous post, I mentioned the assessment aspect of the program, which impressed me because much of it focused less on grades than on observation of writerly habits and participation in a writing community. Upon further reflection, something larger is standing out to me.  Read more

Mar 25

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Guest Post: Finding and Honoring Our Many Stories (Part 1)

By Brittany Carlino

First day of school with VPG in backgroundI spent last year teaching in Budapest, Hungary through the Fulbright Classroom Teacher Exchange program. This means I traded places with a Hungarian teacher; she came to teach at my U.S. school, Great Valley High School, and I taught in her place at Veres Pálné Gimnázium.  As you might imagine, there were myriad ups and downs in that experience, but I would do it again in a heartbeat.  It made me into a better student, teacher, and person.  Most important, it sharpened the need to look for the many stories – personal, cultural, societal – that can be honored and celebrated, and how imperative it is that we teach our students to do so.  Read more

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