Welcome to the Group!

I thought it would be a good idea to have a place where those of us 60 and older would have a place to go and communicate.

Talk should be mostly about books but not exclusively so. I hope that talking of books will bring up member's own experiences and how the books affected them.

imho the winds of war/war and remembrance is a phenominal piece of writing. i knew something about wwii but i learned a lot more. about pearl harbor, europe, the death camps, etc. i thought the tv series was excellent also.

Hello, I'll give this group a go. I'm 51, an idealist, an Aquarian, an author, a university lecturer. Fiction (literary) and poetry are my main focus, but I also read lots of non-fiction. I'm not sure if I'll fit in here. What do you think?

An Aquarian as in, "What's your sign?"

If you like literary classics check out the What the Dickens group. We just started Our Mutual Friend yesterday, and it would be fun for you to join in.

As in "What's your sign," yes, I'm afraid so. It sounds so sixties, doesn't it? I believe I would be a duck out of water in a literary classics group. Most of what I read and do is in the 20th Century, although my interests stretch back as far as Walt Whitman. I've read some classics, but don't feel able to bring anything elightening to the fore! Thanks for the invite, though.

I'm over 60, but a social misfit. It would be wonderful to have a group of "experienced" people with whom to discuss books and life.

Doing a quick check, tontine, I see we share no books. However, "social misfit" seems to be a common nomer here, and, yes, I've always felt so, too.

Umm, "experienced" like in how? LOL.

#8 You pick. I ain't 'fessing up.

LOL! LOL! I love your sense of humor!

I am recently on board with the "golden oldies" group. I'm now hauling off to Salvation Army bags of those small paperbacks that have turned yellow and have small print that I could never read today. I've lugged them around through several moves since I acquired most of them many (some many, many) years ago. Sending them on their way seems better than continually buying more bookcases that I don't have room for. But I will be sorry not to just know I own certain books, even if they have become virtually unreadable. How sad is that?

It's always hard for me to get rid of books. I recently had to take a load to Goodwill, also. Also to a used bookstore. There was no getting around that fact that my reading needs had changed and it was time to let some old friends go. It wasn't easy, though.

Let me recommend PaperBackSwap to all who have books they need to let go of. The basic premise is that you post the names and information about books you want to trade. Someone asks for a book and you mail it to them. You receive a book credit for each book mailed. Book credits are used to ask that books be mailed to you. You have to pay postage on books mailed which is the only drawback. Check it out at PaperBackSwap.com.

PaperBackSwap sounds like a fine idea, but I now have six grocery bags of books ready to take flight, having delivered four bags yesterday. I've spent so much time sorting and rearranging what is still here the past two weekends that I need to just get rid of them (before I change my mind and keep them all!). BookCrossing.com is another way to pass on books, but without getting anything back. I think it's a bit harder after 9/11 since leaving a book lying in a public place is likely to get you collared.

I just moved and since I moved I decided to organize my library so I decided to use this website to do that task. In exploring the site I found this discussion group being over 60 it looked like a good fit. The largest item in the moving was my books I am proud to say! Living in Portland, one can take there books to Powells for cash or store credit if I have to move again I am going to make a number of trips to Powells

Over 60/70/80. . . but since you invited me (and it's lovely to be invited!) I'll see what I can do in the next few days to get acquainted. Thank you. Esta1923

Welcome to all our new members! I hope you like the group and will post a lot!

Hi, this looks like it will be a fun group to join. I'm a bit of a social misfit myself ;-) (definitely not good in large groups - would rather curl up in a corner with a good book) or "talk" on the internet!

So, a topic that seems to be emerging is what to do with "older" books. I live in a small community of manufactured homes, with a clubhouse and pool, etc. We have a little library of donated books and I have been sorting them and reshelving, etc. I am finding many hardback novels dating from 1950s or earlier. Quite a few could be classified "romance novels" I bet. I really hate to just toss them in a recycling bin, but I can't really see a used books store or even internet web bookswap sites being interested. Any ideas?

Hi katylit! Here's to "talking" on the Internet!

maggie1944> Perhaps you could donate the books to the public library. They might be useful at a book sale.

If there is a community laundry room leave just one or two at a time. . . Someone waiting to move clothes to dryer will pick a book up/start it/ carry it home.

maggie1944--have you any prisons within 30 miles of you? Jails? Recovery houses? Trement Centers? Hospitals? These are who I give my books to. Some of the institutions have funny rules, so ask the administration (usually the director, but sometimes another) if they want them. Are there any waiting rooms for government bennies, such as food stamps, aide to dependent children, social security office, armed forces recruiters, dentist offices, doctors offices. All these anbd more welcome your throwaway books. Also, thrift stores of all kinds sell everything they are given unless it is broken. I don't suppose your books are minus a cover, or have the binding split apart. Beleive me, they will take them, especially the church or faith-backed ones.

Those are some great suggestions. Its just that some of these books are so old and out of date and I think people will think I am crazy to think anyone wants to read them. Like 1950 versions of Romance Novels? Or Zane Grey (actually, some people might read Zane Grey, he's kind of an oldie but goodie). In any case I'll give it a try.

Happy Holidays to all the members of this group and to all members of librarything.com! I wanted to post a new topic. I am finding that I am more interested in novels about reading about people that are older and more reflective about life then being interested in coming of age stories. For example I found Rules for Old Men to Live By (I may have that title wrong) or History of Love more touching then The Empeor's Children. I think Ms. Messud is a very good writer however, sort of a side note. Any the character in the novel Rules touched a cord in me, a man that looks back on his life to look for its meaning. Another example is Old Fitch
I would like to know is others in this group have found there taste in novels has changed in time.
Thanks
Michael

Yes, my taste in novels has changed over the years. I am much less tolerant of predictable plots in which characters are more or less charicatures. I really like books where either the plot, setting and characters are fantastic and unique (sci fi, fantasy) or they are very real and human.

My only criteria is that a book be well written. A high school teacher taught us that if a book is well-written enough it will hold our attention even though the subject matter is something we have never thought about before.

Add-on to #26: The book, "Rules for Old Men Waiting," by Peter Pouncey, is available hardback and paperback (and in libraries). It really is a book worth looking for/reading. There's a touching love story, and much about reactions to war, as well as this highly believable tale of the old man who establishes the rules.

my heavens, has my taste both stayed the same AND changed. The big change came when dealing with the so-called classics. I was forced into those by my B.A. and M.A. degrees in English Lit, but I will not voluntarily sit through (figuratively) a read that uses stilting adverbial blundering, such as most 18th century english playwrights or in our day shirley jackson and john barth. barth's work is for those who must be nailed to a crucifix and die in torture. IMHO.

On the other hand, those chkldhood classics by Edgar Rice Burroughs and Zane Grey are better than ever, although Zane gets close to that stilted prose I mentioned heretofore.

Heretofore? Darn. I'm getting a case of the Trolloppes!

I've been on LT for 3 years now but just now discovered this group! (check out my profile & library) I love LT & spend a lot of time reading threads here. got to go right now but will explore the threads here later on. 8^)

Hi Theresa

Can I put you in my Friends group - if I find out how to do it?

oldstick

Hi. I'm relatively new to LT. I'm a history teacher and adjunct professor of modern history (post reformation to present). I love to read historical fiction, although most of it is trash--I have to search far and wide for something that's not a romance novel. I have found several good authors, ask me if your intersted. I also like novels written before 1900 and period pieces. I just finished 2 great books on President Harding's scandals in office and his fathering a child out of wedlock.

#29-Esta, I also found Rules for Old Men Waiting to be very poignant. I hope that I may spend my final years with such grace and dignity. A bonus was snippets of the wars!

#20-Maggie-if your public library is like mine, the have "Friends of the Library Sales", where they sell donated books to raise funds for the library. Unfortunately, I pick up way too many there and they end up in my TBR pile--but how can I refuse a classic for 50 cents?

Thanks, tess, for your good idea! And welcome Vanye to this fine group.

I just joined up with Library Thing a couple of days ago and still trying to find my way around. but I did come across this group. Guess I can fit here, will be 67 in a coupel months.
I am a avid reader plus I also review for several different publishers and authors. Looking forward to learning my way around here

MissLynn, this group can be quiet sometimes. I hope you will look around and check out some other groups in addition to this one. I like The Green Dragon, and the 75 Book Challenge. They are pretty busy and can give you ideas of other groups to follow, if you wish.

Welcome!

Thanks for the welcome. I am still finding my way around little by little.

I didn't know this group existed, just found it. I recently turned 62 ( Social Security ) here I come. Remember the Go Dick, See Jane books. Oh for such innocence... by the way, I still read Nancy Drew books. Hi, to everyone.

Hi, JaneAustenNut. I remember them almost too well: the Dick and Jane readers, with their laughably improbable dialogue. I'm afraid I was a skeptic from the beginning. That the teacher appeared to see nothing wrong with them as stories and as models of speech caused me significant early doubts about the fitness of the educational establishment to lead me toward rather than away from literary proficiency.

How nice it would have been if someone had simply said "These aren't supposed to sound like real people. They're just strings of easy words to help kids start learning to read."

JaneAustenNut--

Hi! I always loved Nancy Drew, although I haven't read any of the books in years. I think the Nancy Drews are probably the reason I love mysteries so much to this day.

I don't really remember the Dick and Jane readers, although I'm definitely from that era. In Texas we had Tom and Betty and Flip and Pony, and even though I didn't really think of them as great stories even then, I did always love the artwork. Still do.

Welcome to the group. It tends to go through slow periods, and then pick up again for some reason.

--Joy

Hey, don't knock Dick and Jane, or The Bobbsey Twins, either. They were the door that opened into the belly of the Great White Whale. They pointed me toward Henry James and Jane Austen. Without them would I have read Middlemarch, or Huck Finn, or, for that matter The laocoon in which all forms of modern art criticism are initially laid out? No, don't disparage Dick and Jane, they taught me to read.

See Dick run.
Run, Dick, Run.

See Jane run.
Run, Jane, run.

See Spot run.
Run, Spot, run.

And down the road I went. Running with them. Never looking back.

Me, too! Read, Karen, read! See Karen read. Karen likes to read.

How about you?

We too had the Dick and Jane books here in Australia in the 50's. I still remember feeling dread and wondering if I would ever learn to read! I didn't speak much English at home and this reading caper seemed beyond me.

A few months later, I was considered "precocious" (at school) and...Well I'm on LT.

ETA. Out "headmaster" was of that old school breed (Probably born 1893) who fostered learning but suppressed vanity.

Hello---I am officially "legal" to join this group now. I'm Linda, and I can't remember when I didn't read. I "learned" to read with Dick and Jane, but I know that books were a big part of my life already when I started first grade in a one-room, 8-grade school house in rural Pennsylvania. I'll be popping in and out with some memories from time to time. Meanwhile, Merry Christmas!!

Welcome! Nice to see you joining in, and hopefully in 2012 we can have some great fun!

I'm Jack, aka Caco Velho, which means something akin to "Old Crock" in Portuguese. I'm 74 and everyone's geriatric nightmare - four stents, two unguinal hernias just sewn back into my innards, and seven spine surgeries so that it is now held together by two metal bars, a metal plate and thirty screws and I walk on two Canadian canes. Nevertheless, I feel fine, think clearly, hold to a multitude of bizarre and/or unpopular leanings and have no friends where I live (Portugal) less than fifteen years younger than I am because I haven't found a single person my age whose company I can tolerate. Anyone who offers to show me photos of their grandchildren finds themselves locked in an unbreakable sleeper hold I learned from Hulk Hogan while I sink my incisor teeth into their carotid artery and drink my fill.

I was partially deaf as a child, and this continued for quite some time before my parents realized that I was not a disobedient numbskull - it was a discovery they were later quite vocal in regretting. However, this period may have encouraged my liking for reading - I loved it and devoured comic books and started to read the Buffalo Evening News before I began kindergarten. I used to ask my widowed Aunt who lived with us every word I did not know...and there were a lot in the beginning. I remember the first new word I picked up from the paper, "yeggs."

The hearing finally got properly diagnosed and taken care of, but I was permanently off and running on the reading and very far ahead of other kids my age, and this accelerated every year I was in school.

I think this is when there began to be two mes. The child who did all the normal stuff and wanted to be liked and part of the fun; and this other guy who read stuff waaaaaay above his head - my first adult book was Frederic Prokosch's "The Asiatics", which I read at age ten, and consequently developed a myriad of interests that were largely meant nothing to anyone else. Oddly, I think, this tendency became more pronounced in my young adult years living in NYC. I lead a relatively wild personal life, often on the wrong side of whatever the latest cutting edge was; and then there was this other bookish guy who had a zillion books and records of all kinds, and a small collection of various eccentric, oddball, freakishly talented friends with whom I had one-on-one relatioships, who represented some of the interests reflected in my books and music....and for the most part, rarely did the twain worlds of these two mes did meet.

Today, as I walk into the setting sun to the sound of native drums - or perhaps it is only an erratic heartbeat , I have simply abandoned any attempts to have a social life with normal people. My small group of face-to-face friends all have unusual occupations and interests, and through the Internet I have met a few people that I write to regularly who fit in the same category, but whom I have never met in person, and probably never will. A few are even distant relatives whom I have become acquainted with through a relatively recent interest in genealogy.

Right now I am reading "A Philosophical Translation of the Dao De Jing" by Roger T. Ames and David Hall, based on the recently discovered oldest manuscipts of the work; and books two and three of the "Studs Lonigan" trilogy, having only read the first book in the past. And I am finding both absorbing.

I have finally gotten around to joining this group, although I'll already turn 63 this fall. I've been hanging around LT for a number of years now, and I know several of you.

I live in the middle of a bleakly beautiful place called Nebraska Sandhills. We raise lots of cattle around here, which takes lots of land and grass, but not very many people. My husband and I were teachers for 30+ years each, and moved here in 1983. I lost Lee to pancreatic cancer in 2005, and have found joy and fulfillment in my books and my grandchildren. My daughter's family lives 4 hours away, but the car knows the way by itself.

I taught speech and English in the high school, but my first calling and my first love was my job as a school librarian (aka media specialist). As such, I dealt with the school kids from kindergarten through senior graduation for several decades. I retired in 2008, and have filling the absence of "my library" at school by building My Library here at home.

I have inherited a great number of books from my grandparents that I treasure (witness my membership in the Tattered But Lovely group here on LT), and a number of 50's and 60's romances that I read as a tween and teen that I have stolen borrowed from my mother. In addition, I find old favorites and new favorites from thrift stores and friends' recommendations. I have two full shelves of picture books that I love on hand for my grandchildren.

I also have two extra LT accounts, maryalice48 to record my mother's books, and jensenkids to keep track of my grandchildren's books. I'm one of those weirdos who love to catalog, and so I work on their books when I'm visiting. Keeps me happy and out of trouble.

This looks like a lively bunch, and I'm sorry I didn't join earlier.

*hugs MerryMary* welcome, dear friend.

I am soon to be 62, and am an avid reader, but I think I am way out of my league with this site. However, I will ask MissLynn_1944: How do you become a reviewer? I would love to do that, or proof advance copies.

trishpaw, here is a group where you can start to learn about Early Reviewers and sign up. This would be for reviewing books, not proofreading them.

http://www.librarything.com/groups/earlyreviewers

I realise I have posted on this group before but never actually got round to joining. Today I rectified that. I'm 62 now.

Hey, John , welcome to our cozy group. Did you get tired of the politics? I did.

>54 geneg:

Thanks. Yes, I find the politics and also the lack of civility on certain other groups very tedious indeed, although I confess I still occasionally dip a toe in those troubled waters. Cosiness as opposed to strife is looking more and more attractive as I get older!

Soon to be 63 years young. I'm still currently teaching HS history and college Western Civ. I like the classics and the heavy historical fiction (not the romances). For enjoyment I usually do not pick up the non-fiction, as it's too much like work!

I am sad to see how quiet this group is; do we have some recommendations for books to read for those who are more experienced? I am enjoying reading about national politics which I realize is not everyone's cup of tea.

Al Franken: Giant of the Senate was both informative and funny. I read it fairly quickly because it was not ponderous, and not preachy.

What Happened by Hillary Clinton - I have just started it and I cannot say that, so far, it offers anything new to me. But of course I'm addicted to MSNBC on the TV so I have heard lots about what happened. I came to the book believing that in many ways the Clintons have both created their own difficulties and have been the victim all too happy to take advantage of overtime they made poor decisions.

Fantasyland: How America Went Haywire - again, I've just started this book. I bought it due to a review declaring it was the most important book about what is going on. It is an interesting romp through the history of the United States of America, from the beginnings. I'm not sure it is "most important" but does provide an interesting glimpse into the tendency of the citizens of this brave new world, of this young experiment in government by the people, for the people, and of the people; the tendency of these citizens to picture reality through the lens of fantasy, not reality.

Unbelievable by Katy Tur. Yet again, I've only started this book, but I have watched Katy Tur cover, for NBC/MSNBC, Donald Trump from the beginning of his campaign. She is intelligent and gutsy. She tolerated being verbally abused by Trump from his "pulpit" and by his followers who cause the Secret Service to protect her occasional retreat from the field. I look forward to read her interpretation of what his character and behavior told her.

Lastly, I'm also reading Reclaiming Epicurus about this Greek philosopher who recommended "moderation in all things".

Perhaps these recommendations might stimulate some discussion?

I'm new here, but am not gonna discuss politics or political themed books!

Hi, Tess. I understand and am OK with that. I'm just trying to start some discussion here so that the thread does not go dormant.

You might look at Reclaiming Epicurus as it is from the ancient Greeks and may be pretty uncontroversial.

>57 maggie1944: Thanks for the recommendations. Although not everyone wants to discuss politics (I quit Twitter during the election and haven't gone back) I think people our age do have a different perception about the past and how it has shaped us.

Fantasyland sounds very interesting. There is a lot about our history that we assume; different perspectives can be eye openers.

A while back I read Indian Givers which had sat on my shelves for a couple of decades. I read it so I could get rid of it in good conscience. I had expected it to be a rah-rah Native Americans are so cool! kind of book, but it was anything but. I have a much younger friend who has been talking to me about colonialism for a few years now; this book really filled in a lot of blanks about that era on our continent. I started watching PBS's The Vietnam War the other night and kept thinking, wow, without French colonialism, no war, and our US history (and my youth!) would have been completely different.

>60 PhaedraB: I'm not making the connect, without French colonialism the U.S. would not have been involved in Vietnam? Please explain!

>61 Tess_W: Vietnam was part of French Indochina. The French fought the Vietnamese for many years before the US took over. The whole conflict was between a colonial government (the French) and the colonized people. If the French hadn't been there, the communist Nationalist movement which that led to the US involvement wouldn't have happened.

Colonialism has warped the history of many parts of the world. Europe, looking at you.

The United States politicians, and some in the colonial powers of Europe, were obsessing about "communism" and were worried that "communist China" would overrun Viet Nam, and the specter of communism would target places like Australia after. There was a popular short film called communism on the map showing a inexorable creep of red paint flowing from "communist China" to the rest of SE Asia, and onwards to other nearby areas such as India, and Australia. My impression of the era, which I lived through, was that the right wing politicians were hysterical.

>63 maggie1944:

Am I right in thinking that in 1954, following their overwhelming defeat at Dien Bien Phu, France had made agreements in Geneva with Laos, Cambodia and the two parts of Vietnam, with the latter moving towards elections to decide on the future of the divided country, but that the USA supported the South Vietnamese government in breaching the agreement, probably for the very reasons you mention?

John, I'm not familiar with the details of the events leading up to the USA entrance into this "war". I just know it was an intersection between colonialism and anti-communism.

I'm not sure (in my own mind) about the direct connection between colonialism and the U.S.'s involvement in Vietnam....but I don't have the time to do extensive research at the moment.

>63 maggie1944: right wing politicians hysterical? Do you mean in the U.S.? You mean Kennedy and Johnson who ramped up our involvement in Vietnam? Or Truman who first sent MAAG to Vietnam in 1950?

I was referring to the present day "conspiracy" crowd who are sure that the whole world is out to get the USA. Those who believed candidate Trump when he said "Mexico is sending us their rapists".

Since this is the over 60 group, I'm sure we all lived through it. What I was less clear about is what happened before the US got involved. Ken Burn's well-researched documentary on Vietnam spends it's first episode on the pre-US French era.

How about if we have a separate thread for politics and history? Not everyone translates that as "welcome."

OK. Fine. I thought to start some conversation which I believe I have done. However, if this is not a friendly group who can discuss matters, even when there are a variety of opinions, I'll retreat to the groups where friendly, pleasant conversations are welcome even if the topic is difficult.

>70 maggie1944: I believe the request was to save this particular thread for welcomes and introductions, not to suppress topics in other threads in the group.

The best book I've read on the earliest days of America's involvement in Vietnam is the story of Paul Vann, the real Quiet American, A Bright and Shining Lie by Neil Sheehan.

I joined LT when I had a job with a lot of down time. In fact, I'm really glad I actually read and didn't delete the latest e-mail I got, which mentioned this group. I'm barely legal (61) and I recently ate up (finished in two days) A Circle of Friends by Maeve Binchy. It's definitely about young people, but not exclusively. A friend sent it to me, darn the guy. It ate up those two days!

>73 malarkeyus: LOL to barely legal. We are not legalistic here! We have some who are not yet 60, and that's ok! It's just (so I was told) that age 60 was chosen so people would have a lot in common to talk about. Welcome to the group!

I'm dis many LXIV.

>75 LarryPepper: Me too. For a while anyway.

>76 krazy4katz: You are a youngster! I am currently LXVII.

> Me II, come May.

Just turned LXIII here.

And this is about my favorite group at LT. ❤

>77 LadyoftheLodge:

I'm LXVI - you've got a year on me!

Hi folks! LXXIII here .Found this group by chance while searching for a different one.I seem to have a lot of shared memories with John5918.I am from Seaham Co Durham.We saw a lot of hardship and poverty in our area,but it made us tough. lol.

>11 PDE: indeed Sad. I am now 60+ Retired Military and moved more times than I can count. I've always been a bookworm back to grade school. I still have a fair amount of print books but rely more on my Readers and Audible. Check out my Goodreads list and my reviews on my blog brucesbible.website.

>82 bdinsman: It’s not polite here to ask people to go offsite to your blog in talk; in fact it can be flaggable as spam. You are welcome to place that sort of information on your profile page.

>79 terriks: I like this group too. I feel at home here with others my age and with similar experiences. No one here complains when we reminisce.

>81 dustydigger:

Ah yes, I remember Seaham. I spent three years in Durham in the early '70s during which time I had an old Ford Anglia and we used to get around the county quite a bit. I returned to the north east frequently for a number of years, including volunteering at a children's camp on Lindisfarne.

>84 LadyoftheLodge:. Not only do they not complain, they encourage us! :)

>25 maggie1944: If memory serves, Zane Grey wrote a great WWII novel about the Bread Basket of the World being under attack by foreign operatives. They would throw a clod of slow-combustible chemicals into the grain fields and wait for the sun and time to set fires to square miles of grain. It also show cased how large machinations were pulled by teams of mules so vast that one of the two mushers had to pitch pebbles at their backsides where no whip would reach.

>39 Meredy: During that same 1960's era, there was a book, You Will Go to the Moon. I did not see how going to a place with no soil, no oxygen, no chlorophyll, no materiel to build shelter; would ever be viable. "See Spot run. Run, Spot, run! See Spot running." still echoes. I suppose it is as plausible as teaching kids poor spelling with Pokémon characters.

>40 jlshall: My seventh grade buddies were into the Doc Savage series. They were more than a little improbable, but entertaining none the less.

I am LXXI. There used to be a group for 70 year-olds, but I'm really comfortable right here.

Hi all; I'm recovering from knee replacement surgery, so this looks like a good site to rest, recover, and commizirate with folks my age.
The above discussion on Viet-Nan reminds me of my early days of teaching American History in High School. That was over 50 years ago. They were exciting times, especially if we forget the tragedies and loss of so many young soldiers and Vietnamese people.
My deepest desire is to get past the hatred and divisivness of that era which unfortunately is still with us. It saddens me to see and think of the horrors we commit, when I know how much better we are. watching a concert and seeing the wonderful music we can make.
Enough of that. There are many topics in this group that are interesting.
The first book I read in High School was Hemmingway's The Old Man and the Sea. I selected it because it was the shortest book on the list and didn't think the teacher would know that. I am now trying to get copies of the books tha made a difference in my life. I have Tom Sawyer, Robinson Crusoe, Catch 22, Currently rading Dante's Commedia.

>91 cbellia: Welcome! I'm also a retired high school history teacher (now professor) who has had both knees replaced. This is a great place to rest and recover!

Thanks for the welcome, Tess. I too, was an an Ajunct Professor, teaching economics at Fairleigh Dickinson University, here in New Jersey. I don't know how I managed two jobs for so many years Now I am fully retired, but I do miss the students and the staff.

>93 cbellia: Hi there, welcome! You are among friends here. I am retired from full time work in education, but I still teach online as an adjunct professor. My students sometimes drive me nuts, but I am not burned out on teaching them. I like the flexibility of serving as an adjunct--no faculty meetings! No strategic planning or publishing required!

LadyoftheLodge: Thanks for the note. I watched my daughter teach her 5th Grade class on line. It seems like double the work with half the reward. I doubt that I could do it.

>95 cbellia: Ha! I used to teach middle school science for an online academy. It was a lot of work--more than I ever did when I was teaching face to face. I am glad to be out of it now and just an adjunct prof.

I have been teaching medical students virtually (faculty in med school). The zoom stuff is really weird when you have 200 students taking lectures and doing labs (histology) as part of one course. They come together in a group of 200 and a faculty member does a bit of a powerpoint introducing the subject (like the stomach, for example). Then they break out into separate rooms of 6, which are still zoom rooms because they are all getting together virtually. Each of the faculty visits a few of this smaller zoom rooms to see whether they have any questions. After about 10 minutes, they come back together as a group of 200 and get some more lecture from another faculty member. It can go back and forth like that for 2 hours. Simply amazing!

>91 cbellia: Hello, love the idea of collecting works that made a difference in your life. I love Dickens, Kingsolver, Dostoyevsky, ...unusual combination I guess. I am a retired art teacher, rediscovering Pottery making and loving it. I too was an adjunct professor in Art Ed. Did two full time jobs for 7 of the last years and don't know how I did it. Went backing 2019 before Covid thinking I would like to be an Education Coach and found the job overwhelming for pennies of pay. Quit before all hit the fan.
Glad to have found this group.

>98 DebraGraham: Welcome, Debra!

98: I had five years between high School and College, did a lot of reading, including Dostoyevsky. He had a big impact on me, except, none of my contemporaries were able to share his intensity. By the time I got to college I was well read but somewhat out of place. Too far ahead of the other students. I eventually caught up.

I am a soon-to-be retired English teacher (6th grade, this year) and school library media specialist. We've been face-to-face all year, but have to add in more on-line systems. I am looking forward to June! Maybe after that, I'll decide what I want to be when I grow up.

>88 smirks4u: You Will Go to the Moon graces my living room shelves! It is one of the few books my mother-in-law had saved from my husband's childhood.

>101 Hope_H: Welcome, Hope! You are in good company, there are many of us retired or soon to be retired teachers and professors.