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A-Z Challenge Reflection

5/5/2015

16 Comments

 
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Yay! I celebrated after publishing my last A-Z post.  I was one of those nerds that ran up and down my country road with "Eye of the Tiger" song blasting  through my iPhone earbuds. I did some turn-arounds and a few cartwheels - totally worth it! One of my neighbors thought I  had won the HGTV's Martha's Vinyard Home that I entered twice every day. Nope, but this probably felt just as good!

My theme was " Every Hero Has a Story" and bridged storytelling and books to this summer library reading theme. I learned so much about hero characteristics, story heroes that had these characteristics, and made a conscience effort to share tales that could be told or read to kids from age 5 - 14. I now have posts that I can refer back to but also for others who are interested in the various tales I shared to find and use.

It was pretty obvious to me that there weren't many children's librarians/elementary school/middle school educators participating in this challenge so I'm not sure how useful my posts were to the majority of participants.  I appreciated every visitor and hope they found worthy morsels of information, stories, ideas that could be used as springboards for later use. As such, it's my goal to share this A-Z Challenge with my educator friends. Unfortunately, April is a busy month for teachers so I'm guessing not many would be able to participate but I would love for them to know they could scout us out through our list.

What I LOVED:
1. LOVE the A-Z Challenge Survivor T-shirt! So cool. This was the reward I was looking for. Please, pick one up for yourself - you deserve it! I'm hoping to run into you this summer. How will I know it's you if you're not wearing THE shirt?
2. LOVED the support from A-Z Twitter and your posts placed daily to encourage all of us. I'm new and it's fantastic to read the invaluable tips given for bloggers!
3. LOVE the fact that I have time now to go back and read the blogs that everyone is raving about!
4. LOVED the comments posted on each of my posts. A million thank you's to all of you - such a boost!
5. LOVED the menions and organizers who stopped by every once in a while to check on me - thank you!
Changes I would make: 
1. This is my second year to complete the challenge and still found our 1000+ list daunting to organize. I appreciated the tips given throughout the challenge (bookmarking the blogs visited, sign up to follow favorite, blogs, etc.) but do feel that the list need to be organized into it's categories. Many folks forgot to place their category code next to their titles so it became hit or miss.
2. I'm still very new to blogging and probably could bring more folks in but I just don't know how to at this point. I like the fact that my blog is connected to my website but noticed most bloggers are using blog sites only.
3. As a storyteller, I tried to keep my posts short but short to me could be long to many others - ugh!
4. I would love to have your blogging tips and will take them all in and try it differently next year!


Favorite Blogs I visited:

1. Adventures in Storytelling- Julie Moss is a storyteller from Colorado who blogged on several interesting storytelling topics from A-Z.
2. Diary of an Urban Housewife- Kate wrote wonderfully, ingenious posts about
3. Kari Neumeyer ~ Rhymes with Safari - Wonderful blog on training and caring for dogs - her two shephards are beautiful and well loved!
4. Story Crossing - Pam Faro is a fabulous storyteller from Colorado who invested first hand research into Story Slams which are popping up all over the U.S. She attended and participated in a few slams and came out learning so much. Thank you Pam for sharing!
5. Dreams and Dimensions - Jyotsna Bhatia's theme was based on conversations between two people. Her writing was excellent!
6. The Fluff is Raging: Niall Mcardle's splendid blog posts on classic films was so entertaining - quite enjoyed the journey!
7. A-Z Scripture Adventure: Loved her scriptures each day and the connections made to each. We're reminded to repeat the scripture 10 times to hold each close to us!
8. Living My Imperfect Life - fun, short poetry that went with a word for that day's letter.
9. Tales Out of School - Mary is a retired teacher who also storytells and her blog posts were of her bygone days in the classroom - talk about storytelling. She shared wonderful tales that we can all connect to in and out of the classroom.
10. The Multicolored Diary- Storyteller and writer, Csenge Zalka, wrote out 26 amazing epics that opened my eyes to adventure. Her humorous, upbeat writing inspired me to dig deeper into some of these epics of which she would tell us its heros and highlights!
Stop on by the A-Z Blog Challenge Reflections List HERE.
16 Comments
Arlee Bird link
5/5/2015 10:55:16 am

This was totally fun! Thanks for such an energetic upbeat post. And I think this is the first picture I've seen so far with someone wearing the T-shirt. Glad to have you in the A to Z Community.

Someday we're gonna make a list that will work better for everyone. I'd say perfect, but I'll settle for close to perfect.

Thanks for participating in April and for providing this Reflections post.

Arlee Bird
A to Z Challenge Co-host
<a href="http://tossingitout.blogspot.com/2015/05/battle-of-bands-je-crois-entendre-encore.html">
Tossing It Out</a>

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Sue Kuentz link
5/6/2015 09:12:12 am

Thank you Arlee for supporting so many of us through this month - it was great to know you are genuine with your words and assistance. The writing professionalism from your posts and so many others was inspiring - hope it all rubs off on me eventually. In the meantime, I'll continue writing and blogging!

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Debbie D. link
5/5/2015 06:18:33 pm

Cool T-shirt and great Reflections post, Sue. Sorry I didn't get a chance to visit during the challenge, but I vow to be better organized next time, by getting all the posts written in advance. Thanks for dropping by The Den. Cheers!

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Sue Kuentz link
5/6/2015 09:13:24 am

Thank you Debbie. We'll have a whole year to visit other blogs - should be quite a journey!

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Sandy link
5/6/2015 01:38:43 am

Popping back in to say hi, hope all is well and to thank you for your sweet supportive visits and comments.

<a href="http://homelessbridge.blogspot.com/2015/05/springtime-offers-hope.html">Sandy at Bridge and Beyond</a>

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JazzFeathers link
5/7/2015 07:43:49 am

I feel exactly like you. I think the master list for the Challenge is intimidating. I wouldn't mind if it were organised in category.

And I love the possibility to explore new blogs now that the challenge is over. For me, exploring during the Challenge was very very hard, so it's only now that I'm enjoying this part :-)

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Sandy link
5/8/2015 08:36:27 am

Making blog rounds to let folks know there's a contest!

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Jeffrey Scott link
5/8/2015 09:42:50 am

Congratulations on finishing the A-Z. It's a daunting challenge, but we all did it!!!! it's cool you bought the T-Shirt, I've been considering it. This was my first year so I was still figuring a lot out. There were some people who stopped by I forgot to check in on. But I did try to make sure I gave return comments to all.

I appreciated the posts from you I read. Sorry I wasn't here every day. 1,000+ blogs makes it hard to visit everyone back every day. Oh, and like you, I tend to reply with longer comments also. I can't help it, it just happens. Once I start typing, it gets away from me.
Hope to see you next year, and I'll be back to check in from time to time.

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Mary Burris link
5/14/2015 12:03:44 am

Great post! I felt like that too when I completed! Just now getting around to visiting the blogs in the challenge. April was a busy month for me. Congrats on completing the A to Z Challenge! Looking forward to next year! See you on the Road Trip!

Mary www.JingleJangleJungle.net

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Paula link
5/14/2015 04:08:38 pm

This was my third year with the challenge. I found the list daunting this year as well. I am not sure why. Yes, I think it being organized by categories would be helpful. But I cannot imagine what an enormous job that would be. I am breezing by today on the A to Z Road Trip. Hope to see you around.

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Hilary link
5/16/2015 08:38:25 pm

Hi Sue - sorry I didn't get back to you .. I struggle to find my way round G+ and even today it took me a few attempts to find the blog - anyway I'm here now.

The bridging storytelling across various groups seems such a brilliant idea and I loved your thoughts under Z for Zorro ...

"Why not inspire others to be champions - whether it be to stand up and ask questions, help out someone in need, work as a team to create something great for others, or to build confidence to make a new friend."

We all need to do that in all walks of life ...

Re categories - I can see the logic .. but I probably wouldn't look at some of them - yet know that I'd miss some fun blogs - whose theme is only for the Challenge ...

We just have to do what we do ... I'm way behind, having taken on a 2nd project ... but it's such a great place to meet new people and see what everyone is doing in the blogosphere ...

No wonder you did some high jinks after the A-Z finished ... the cartwheels sound intimidating!!! I'd spill the drink ... cheers Hilary

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Sandy link
5/25/2015 01:32:25 am

Me popping back in, are you not blogging anymore since the challenge?

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Sue Kuentz link
5/25/2015 12:08:05 pm

Hi Sandy,

My blogging starts up again this weekend - I took a break while on vacation in Colorado. Thanks for checking in - posting soon!

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Random Musings link
5/25/2015 02:45:06 am

Loving your theme :) I think it's really interesting seeing what everyone chose for their themes!
Popping by on the A to Z Road Trip
Debbie
www.myrandommusings.blogspot.com

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Linda link
5/26/2015 07:42:54 pm

I didn't get to your blog during April and I am pleased to taking the Road Trip to be able to visit at a leisurely pace. Lots of reading here and I admire the research that has gone into each post during April. How did you find the time when you're teaching as well? Linda :)

Reply
Entrepreneurial Goddess link
6/21/2015 10:01:46 am

Hello there.
Congratulations on completing the challenge! This was my second year taking part too. Thanks for visiting me during the crazy month of April. You look GREAT in your survivor t-shirt! I'm popping over again today from the Road Trip/Reflections linky.

http://entrepreneurialgoddess.blogspot.com

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