I've just got to share the good stuff I read.

I love to read. I read every chance I get. If I read something really good, I want to share it with my friends and co-workers. I make copies of magazine articles, read aloud to my students, tell others about good books I'm reading, and keep a book with me at all times.

I love teaching and learning new things. I need a place to share some of the lessons and what my students and I learn. Since my teaching situation is different from everyone else's in my school, I would like to tell all of you in the blog-o-sphere about these great lessons.

Feel free to share what you are reading, teaching and learning with us in the comments.

Friday, July 23, 2010

Last days of vacation


We start on the journey home in the morning. The scenery is so beautiful here. The rolling hills of farmland with the sea in the distance is just perfect. Wildflowers are every where along the side of the roads. We've had some great food, too. All kinds of sea food and fresh vegetables from the island. Prince Edward Island is much bigger than I thought. We are staying in the middle and have driven in every direction to see the sights. One surprise is the red sand. Even the beaches have red sand.
There have been frequent comments about our accents. Most people are just curious. One sales girl today was a little indignant that she couldn't understand us because of our accent. Whatever...
Tomorrow we are driving about 9 hours back to Portland, Maine. Then we'll get up Sunday and take the train back to Boston. May have time to get more Italian cookies before catching the flight home. We'll see.
I'm ready to get back home. Once again there's a long list of things to-do. All I want to do is work on a little quilt with the fabric I found here. Got to get that newsletter done first.

Thursday, July 15, 2010

Not a writer yet


Everyone was so complimentary of the short play I dashed off for the camp musical. I had begun to think of myself as a writer. People (children) were going to perform my work. Oh, me! I might have to autograph someone's program. So... the reality wasn't quite like I imagined. Either the acting stunk or the writing was lacking or both. The one adult part was performed by a kid who didn't have a clue, couldn't remember the lines or speak them with expression. They stood in a line and didn't add anything to the script. I added a note giving permission/suggestion to ad lib as needed. Boy, it was needed. Next time I will try to give more directions. I guess they couldn't read between the lines or ad lib.
Tonight is the final night of camp. We got through the week and didn't lose anyone to homesickness-almost, but not quite. This was a good camp but I miss the days when I had outgoing, friendly, talented kids, who kept busy and didn't need much hand holding. The fifth graders have made progress from last year and were asking about other camps and longer camps. Pretty amazing compared to last year.
The singing was very good. The songs were singable and just challenging enough to keep the better musicians interested. The staff was congenial but I miss the guys from years ago. Why do things have to change?
And speaking of change. I don't know if I can deal with another college kid music director at church. I may have to go somewhere else on Sundays and just help with Bible Club and children's choir.