I have two jars on my shelf for students to use if they can’t come up with anything to write about during free-write time. Today, that’s me. Here goes…
- The day Albert Einstein invaded my brain
- The day I woke up invisible
- Describe how you would modify a snail to go faster
- My pet tarantula is loose
- Explain how you would use a hat to catch a butterfly
- The struggle to eat neatly while in a car or on a plane
[Self-defeating sigh.] I expect my middle schoolers to have no problem letting loose and and use their young brains to creatively write about these silly topics. Unfortunately, I’m finding it hard to do the same today. Perhaps an influx of adult-ing has stifled my whimsy. Maybe I’ve spent too much time writing academically. It may be that my willingness to put forth the effort between classes and afternoon meetings has dwindled. Formulating decent lesson plans, managing a few challenging classroom situations and attending collegial gatherings as well as the work associated with a last minute 10-week course to satisfy a county requirement has squashed my brain. Hopefully it’s just for today. Better luck tomorrow. OH WAIT. We have parent-teacher conferences tomorrow after school and Friday. Such is life for a teacher.
50somethingstew 
I think this is one of the best parts of the challenge. As adult writers, we get to step into the shoes of our students and we have to figure out how to write ourselves out of a stuck spot. It isn’t easy! But it sure does allow us to empathize with kids on a deeper level.
Have you checked out the “Be Inspired” Padlet that Kathleen Sokolowski created? It’s embedded in this post, https://twowritingteachers.org/2020/02/21/the-new-slicers-survival-guide-to-the-march-solsc/. It’s a great resource if you ever find yourself in a stuck spot later on this month.
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Coming up with something can be the biggest challenge! It gets easier as the month goes by, which is exactly why I make sure my students write daily – I know it will get easier for them too.
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I always think that no one really wants to hear about the boring and mundane life that I lead, but really this is more for us than for the readers. We can all relate, we have all been there.
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I also wrote about my mind being blank this morning. I think that’s why it’s a good idea to write every day. We learn about the struggles writers face and can help our student writers by having similar experiences that we share with them.
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I love how you shared example prompts from the jars, and STILL it’s difficult. After a full day of PD, I certainly have a newfound appreciation for my students and what they experience day in and day out. Thank you for sharing the struggle.
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“Squashed my brain” – I love that phrase. Thanks for sharing a post that I relate to. We have student led conferences next week and I have been madly getting the room and students prepared.
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I feel this way often. I am notebooking and slicing, and sometimes it’s hard to come up with something to write about, or to not write about how tired…teacher-tired…I am. Thank you for letting me know I am not alone.
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That is one thing that I try to keep in mind (but I often don’t), our students might not be in the mood to write, even with funny prompts. Hope your conferences go smoothly.
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