"In like a lion, out like a lamb"

As I sat down to write this blog post on the last day of March, and the last day of the Slice of Life Writing Challenge, the phrase used to describe March’s typical weather “in like a lion, out like a lamb” came to mind.

Well, I don’t think there was anything especially big-cat like with how I personally started my efforts, the collective efforts of Slice of Life network arguably does have some of that majestic nobility. And if there’s any resemblance between this tiny blog to a lamb, it’s pretty sickly lamb that once in while catches your eye and looks cute. I only managed to blog on 12 of the 31 days of March. Not great.  BUT in fairness, as March 1 approached and I needed an actual concrete concept to tie it all together, I decided to take “Slice of Life” phrase at face value. I wanted to be it to be a series of vignettes, primarily written during afternoon downtime to reflect on the school day; it was not something I was ever planning to devote a lot of time to at home, while traveling, or at weekend.

(Also, interesting sidebar: I was wondering if the phrase “in like a lion, out like a lamb” was a British thing; but no, it’s used in the United States too, especially in New England. The origins apparently have as much to do with the astrological signs – that is, Aries at the start of the month and Leo at the end of the March – than the weather patterns.)

Some closing thoughts:

• This whole Slice of Life experience has given me a clarifying insight (something I knew already but a useful reminder): It’s impossible to write something worthwhile without a clear sense of audience in mind. Writing for “the world at large” or “the internet” inevitably leads to either writers’ block or fuzzy writing.
  
  
• I can’t really imagine ever wanting to blog on a daily basis or having the stamina to commit to it voluntarily. Perhaps it would work if it were explicitly part of my job. However, I do like writing on deadline (in my previous life, pre-teaching, I was a journalist) but dailiness can be a grind; weekly is more my kind of rhythm.
  
  
• Writing about my students, with their identities disguised, works well enough but there is an  inherent "ick factor" at play here and this sort of enterprise invites worries about invasions of privacy that I don’t really know to navigate. I could, of course, choose “slices of life” that don’t focus on the teacher-student relationship but that is such a large part of my professional life and how I spend my time daily that it seems the most natural topic for a "teacher blog." And writing about your family and home life brings up a whole other set of concerns.
  
  
• I am always appreciative to be part of a small community of writers. So special thanks for Tracy Brosch for prodding me to do this, Katelyn Delvaux for sticking with it, office mate Emily Lawson for her blog and interesting chats between classes,  and Slice of Life for the overall framework and vision.

Over and out! See you next March?