It has been such a long time since I posted.  I didn't think that I would continue this blog after I left my teaching position, but I still have my hand in teaching as a volunteer.  

Since my unofficial sabbatical began last June, I have been volunteering in my son's classroom two days a week.  Mostly I just help out where I'm needed during "Reader's Workshop".  I have a regular group of kids that I meet with to discuss aspects of their novels.  Sometimes I facilitate a creative project collaboration.

I have also been serving as Co-chair of the Enrichment Committee in my son's program.  In this role I have organized a number of whole-school assemblies: Tufts Treasure Trunk, David Zucker's Poetry in Motion, Infinities Chamber Ensemble's "Meet the Woodwinds with Peter & the Wolf", and The Roots Music Collective's "Roots of American Music".  In May, the 2-4 grades will attend a production of Charlotte's Web at the Wheelock Theater.  In February, The Amatuer Telescope Makers of Boston helped us host a "Star Party".  These events were an overwhelming success.  I hope I have the opportunity to continue this work next year.

I have also been volunteering after school teaching an art club for k-2 students.  I designed the program to introduce the students to famous artists and their styles and to provide them with an opportunity to explore various media in a safe and creative environment.  We read Peter J. Reynold's wonderful book Ish during the first class.  The kids then had a fun time identifying their Miro inspired line drawings as "flower-ish" or "dinosaur-ish."

Next week, I will teach my first sports club: Kids at Play.  This club combines traditional sports with favorite gym games: dodgeball, capture the flag, nuke 'em, pinball, etc.

Also, two days a week I have been leading a book group of 5/6 students.  We had a rich discussion of metaphor on Tuesday, and we finish the novel, The Birchbark House by Louise Erdrich, tomorrow.  I am excited to see the students final assignment: "Design-Your-Own Homework."  A couple of the students are as perspicacious as any grade 9 student I have taught.

Finally, I am starting a book group at a retirement community in Randolph.  I am awating copies of our first read, Jodi Picoult's 19 Minutes.  While I did not like My Sister's Keeper or The Tenth Circle, I am optimistic about this story.