Slice of Life Post March 31, 2023, by Barb Edler

After a full month of blogging every day at Two Teachers Writing, I’ve learned a few things.

1. Having supportive readers is huge. It’s nice to know that someone will read my blog, especially the following people: Glenda Funk, Kim Johnson, Maureen Young Ingram, and Denise Krebs. I owe you the deepest gratitude for sending me positive messages throughout this month. It has been awesome getting to know you all so much better. Your blogging expertise has been a helpful guide to becoming a better blogger, well, at least I hope to be a better blogger one day, and with a classier looking site.
2. I am always amazed at the commonalities I find between myself and another blogger or even between two other bloggers. I now know a couple of other people who live in Iowa and who are Iowa WBB fans. Several people have shared their own personal problems, their fear of AI, the future, and how difficult it can be to get through a day of teaching. Again, this leads back to having a supportive group of readers to hear your words.
3. I have yet to learn how to use WordPress, but I still have plans to dig deeper. I know there’s something about headers and footers that I’m missing. I would just once like to change the color of my title or a single word. These skills evade me.
4. Not everyone you respond to will respond back even if you send them a note most days, they will not respond. They will like your comment and that’s enough for me. Yesterday, my plans went sideways so I wasn’t able to do much responding either, so it is what it is. Life throws curveballs.
5. Blogging is not so easy. Although I do not feel I struggled to find a topic, I clearly do not have the writing chops other bloggers possess. I realize the value of photography and cleverly crafted openings that invite the reader to laugh, cry, celebrate, or ponder a blogger’s words.
6. I now have a lot larger “I need to read this” list. I’ve actually gained a deeper understanding of the difference between a bibliophile and a bookworm. I guess I really did not think too much about this difference until reading someone else’s blog. Hence, you can learn a lot from other people’s blogs. I love that!
7. Blogging has made me have a few regrets. If I had a chance to go back to teaching high school English, I would definitely encourage students to blog. This would be better than journaling since they could read each other’s posts, etc.
8. One thing I learned is a bit of a secret. I conducted a little experiment, and my hypothesis came true. Hmmm…wouldn’t you like to know, but I’m not revealing this super-secret experiment.
9. I owe the biggest thanks to Glenda Funk for encouraging me to join TWT. I hope to continue meeting everyone weekly and to continue blogging on a regular basis. (Kim Johnson, I do not think I will be the faithful blogger that you are, but hey, I’m going to try to continue to blog.)
10. Okay, my final note. Go Hawks! They are definitely the underdogs, but I’m hoping our Iowa Women’s Basketball team can be the David to the South Carolina’s goliaths.