Celebrating Blogger's Voice

When Alabama southern charm met New York voice a happening occurred. Last night, #NYEDChat and #ALedchat joined together to Celebrate Blogger's Voice. The merger of the two state chats into one unit, #NYALedchat, created an explosion of thought and trended on Twitter. Voice was emphasized and celebrated by a variety of educators and thought leaders.  

The connection started months ago when Jennifer Hogan and Dr. Holly Sutherland, #ALedchat moderators, met two #NYEDChat moderators, Dennis Schug and me, on the Twitter channels.  A virtual, collegial friendship began and from this connection a new chat group, #NYALedchat, grew. #NYEDChat moderators welcomed the idea and we prepared for a chat for a Twitter audience. The event was publicized and leaders gathered to converse. You can read the Chirpstory that Lisa Meade, #NYEDChat co-moderator, created from the Twitter chat here. 

Understanding that voice plays a significant role in shaping ideas and movements, the topic, Celebrating Blogger's Voice, proved to be a worthy one. Diverse perspectives openly expressed their thoughts to questions revolving around the 5 W's and H. It was a grand idea to merge an old school questioning technique with a new school environment and methods of communicating. Learning flowed like water from virtual spaces. 

My takeaway from the conversation: it is important to realize that all voices matter as we continue to impact life, teaching, and learning. Utilizing social platforms to converse, we flatten our walls and reach out to others for support and continued knowledge. In this connected space, we grow as learners of life. 

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When we allow reflective thoughts to form in our inner spirits, voice itches to take flight. Voice shapes our being, frames our journey, and sets our path. Within each word that springs forth is a golden thread that is woven to form a tapestry of thought. 

My advice to those new to blogging and tweeting:

Pause-Observe-Reflect-Connect!

Write from the heart.

 Find your inner voice.

Let it fly. 

It has wings that will soar into the sky. 

The poem below is a composition created after the #NYALedchat to showcase the wonder of expressive thought.

A Poetic Composition

On Blogger's Voice

Perhaps hidden in the recesses of your spirit,

you will find your inner voice.

It wiggles; has a short encounter with doubt.

At times, it moves cautiously outward

weaving a tapestry of thought.

Other times, itching to take flight,

it engages in a leap of faith.

In a sea of talk, your words float,

ideas rush in, spin, churn, 

then recede, reflect and turn 

in a quick backward flow.

In this sea of talk, voices rise,

linguistic floodgates open.  

Beyond regions, connections grow 

and new channels of communication form.

Continue in earnest to explore ideas.

Engage in virtual and face-to-face spaces.

Pursue perspectives. Seek creative outlets.

Immerse yourself in accountable talk.

Then, sit back to reflect; linger in the moment.

As you connect, emerge as one

unified body of practitioners of life. 

Carol Varsalona © 2015

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On Tuesdays, Two Writing Teachers offer space for writers to create a slice. Since my experience last night was so rewarding, I decided to pen my thoughts as Tuesday's Slice of Life. You can read other slices here.


Mary Lee Hahn offers space to contribute to her PO-EMotions. Yesterday's word was wonder. I offer my poem, On Blogger's Voice, to explore the wonder of expressive thought. 




You can find many more poetry selections for National Poetry Month at #digipoetry, a site created by Margaret Simon.  

Slice of Life: Giving Tuesday Offers Hope to Others

I was planning on slicing today about learning but an email came across AOL and it touched my heart. It spoke about the stories we create and reminded me of the topic of NCTE 14. Just two weeks ago I was at the convention with educators from the Two Writing Teachers, Poetry Friday, Nerdy Book Club, and other groups. We shared stories of our learning, of students grappling with their learning, and ones of connected communities. We laughed, ate and learned together, and also perused and purchased books. Our stacks became larger each day. As we left the convention center, we took back priceless gifts: friendship, literacy learning, and our treasured friends-books.

This is not the way it is all around the world. There is a refugee village in Uganda by the Nile River that is populated by the Masese mothers and children who are struggling for food, education, and learning. It is through the gracious gift of time, support, and learning that the village has celebrated their good fortune of meeting the helping hands of H.E.L.P. Uganda. 

I have blogged about this organization and the gift of giving before (here and here). A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of working at a fundraiser for this group at our church. There were so many wonderful parishioners who listened intently to the story of creating hope from paper and wished to support the cause. 

On that day, children and adults listened to the story of the Masese mothers and children and supported the hope of sharing joy with others who are struggling. All twenty paper bricks on display were sold in the hopes of raising funds to construct three new classrooms. Beautifully handcrafted bags and jewelry were displayed, exhibiting the art of rolling paper into designed creations. A story unfolded about the generosity of St. Agnes Cathedral parishioners who crowded around the tables to share a gift of giving at the holiday. 

In the passage below you will read a joyful story of a Ugandan child reading aloud. It is a story to be told again and again. It touched my heart as an educator and it will touch yours because this is the gift of reading and learning that we bring to life each day in the classroom. 

Today is Giving Tuesday, 
the single most charitable day of the year. 

On this day, we ask that you help us continue to create more stories. Every time we have a team go to Uganda, we return with stories. Stories of lives that have been changed. Stories of success. Sometimes it's a story about a mother who carried her unconscious child from her home to our school, just in time for him to be rushed to the hospital, moments before he would have likely died. Sometimes it's not a story of an exact life changing moment, but a more gradual one, one that might be easy to go unnoticed. These are the ones that show the change that is happening in our village, the long term change, the change that gives us the encouragement to keep doing what we're doing. 

In October, at the end of a visit from a medical team, the children at HELP School put on a program for their visitors. At the end of this program a young girl, around 13 years old, stood up to read from a book. Before she read, she told her story about how before our school, she had never attended school, she just ran around the streets all day. And there she stood, reading perfectly.

What we are building there is more than just a classroom building or a fence. We are building a community up, and building a future full of promise.  When you purchase a brick to help build a new classroom at our HELP School in Masese, Uganda - you also get a Brick Gift Card to give to someone special in honor of them!

H.E.L.P. Uganda

Click here to learn more about the H.E.L.P. School in Masese.

Now stroll over to Slice of Life where you can write a slice of life story, read slices from other writers in the community, and provide comments to at least 3 of the SOL 14 bloggers.