I could have spent the last 31 days writing about the question that launched this challenge on March 1st: what happens when we invite our school community to write with us during the month of March?

In late February Dawn and I posted a giant March calendar and asked staff members to sign up for a day to share a slice of their life. We had no idea what would happen, but we were excited to find out.

In those early March days, I would have wrote about my wonders. What are people thinking? Is anyone reading? Will we be able to fill all the days with a different person’s slice?

But then, as March progressed, there was some bright spot in each and every day that could have been my slice of the day. There were conversations from people preparing to write. Conversations among writers. Conversations encouraging people to write. There were comments, in the hallways and online. Conversations overheard and recounted.

There were surprises. People reaching out to see if it was too late to contribute. People just sending their writing along to add to the blog. People writing multiple slices.

There were so many texts with Dawn. Who’s slice is up for tomorrow? Did you read that one? We hit 1,000 views! We met our goal…31 slices before March 31!

This March marks my seventh challenge, and I am renewed once again by community. This year, I was touched, inspired, and entertained by all of the pieces shared here through Two Writing Teachers. I was also blown away by all the ways that our school challenge strengthened our school community.

I’ve been asked before how to measure the impact of my work as a literacy coach. If I were asked today, I’d share this WordPress graph. This graph not only represents the people that showed up to read and write together, for thirty one days- it also represents the community we make up, collectively. Our impact is measured by how we work together. It says a lot about what we value and how we show up in every aspect of our daily work. I believe that through this journey we are better colleagues and better teachers. I’m grateful for each and every very person that took part. There was joy in every day in March because we wrote and shared together. Our impact is collective- how we show up together to not only be great teachers, but to grow a great school. Part of that growing means knowing one another better.

So, where do we go from here? We’re going to keep the challenge going. What happens when we invite our staff to continue slicing on Tuesdays?

I can’t wait to find out.