bigtime blogging challenge month-in-review

Hey all y'all! It's the BigTime Blogging Challenge. I'm writing every day in July to celebrate my blog's three year anniversary! Join me - write your post, link it up with mine, leave some love for blogging friends in the form of comments!

I've had so much fun writing with you all for the past month! Sometimes I had a bunch of friends writing with me, sometimes just a few, and one day I didn't even post, but it's all good.

Few things I am taking away with me for the new school year:

1. Kids need to write on a consistent basis. I'm definitely going to have the kids I work with next year consistently use the Quickwriting strategy that Penny Kittle discusses in Write Beside Them. I think it's the balance of the prompt writing - because with quick writing, you do prompt kids, but if they land on something 'hot' as Penny says, then you tell them to stick with it.
2. Some days you just don't feel like it. I mean, for me, I was *not feeling well at all on one particular day, but it's true, sometimes you just don't feel like it. I think we need to remember that with kids. That being said, the more you write, the easier it gets, so skipping it often is also not a wonderful idea.
3. The posts you are most scared to post - those are probably your best ones. We need to take risks with our writing, and in life in general. I just started A Mindset for Learning and I think the traits that they offer are going to be so helpful for students I work with next year!
4. It's crazy how you can inspire others with writing. It's true that a word after a word after a word is power (Margaret Atwood). While a lot of what I write is crap (see #5 below) there are some gems there, too, and sometimes, other people are inspired from my work.
5. Crap. Lots of crap and nonsense here on BigTime Literacy, too. But with reading Use Your Words, I am seeing that the real writers have to sift through years of writing, and lots of it crap, before they can really get anywhere. And along the way, you probably get some great stuff too, but it's a lot of junk as well. So if you're one of those people who don't want to hit publish because it isn't perfect, remember that perfection is the enemy of completion. Just. Click. Publish.

Have you been writing lots in July? Take-Aways? See you back in the coming weeks, but also for the 2017's BigTime Blogging Challenge next summer!

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