SOLC17 - Five of Thirty-One - Digital Sunday

SOLC #21/31 - 

      I'm slicing with the Two Writing Teachers community on Day Five of Thirty-One of the Slice of Life Challenge in March.  Thank you Stacey, Beth, Deb, Betsy, Lanny, Kathleen, Lisa, and Melanie.  

     Today I'm also going Margaret Simon who hosts a meme on Sundays, Digilit Sunday, where people share different themes about digital sharing. Today's theme is, appropriately, "SLICING OUR LIVES."  Here is the link.

      Digitally, I've become more adept at navigating the tech world, and on this blog, reviewing more books which is great fun because I get a sneak peek at books coming out. Today, I'm also sharing a peek at a new non-fiction book and as part of the blog tour, offering a giveaway, too! Find that link here also on my blog this Sunday morning! 

     I am retired, stepped away from teaching middle school gifted students in an independent school two years ago. There I taught everything but math beyond pre-algebra in a self-contained classroom. Each student there chose a personal topic around which I, with the student's input, created the curriculum. I was busy!

    And now, free time abounds, and I feel as if I'm busier than ever. The fall after I stopped teaching, I began volunteering in a local used bookstore. It has been open for over forty years, and is run entirely by volunteers. Isn't this a dream job for a retired teacher! About this time a year ago, I became the volunteer coordinator. It's a job certainly of coordination, of stepping in when someone cannot make his or her shift, of finding problems that volunteers have and trying to figure out a way to alleviate that problem. We have two four-hour shifts each day Monday through Saturday, and one shift on Sunday, which I'm doing today! Among other things, I keep a calendar of regulars and openings. I send a Monday email outlining the week, who's subbing for whom (if any) and who needs something. It's been fun, frustrating and I've made mistakes, no doubt about it, in the writing and in the planning. I still haven't met everyone, but am trying to form a caring community as much as possible. Our one commonality is what you will guess: we love reading, books and bookstores, ours especially! 



     It's difficult how I would be able to do this work for the bookstore without email. yet I know people did years ago. We are all so used to instant communication, I imagine that face to face meetings happened more often, or that people dropped in or left a note at the store which meant the volunteer person would need to drop by more often than I do. I communicate mostly via email, do a regular shift on Thursdays and substitute if needed. Today is one of those days, and recently I've also been working with a high school student on Sundays who is doing a school project about non-profits. And that's another slice of my life, retired and back to teaching!

        A few pictures I take and post each week! The books are often changing in availability and then again, some stay and stay, need a little book love!

View from the front desk!