Bird Droppings February 17, 2026
A series of paradoxes and bewilderment

I received the following in an email a few days ago; a friend of mine sent it out, and as I read it the first time, it was humorous. However, as I pondered then as a teacher, I read deeper into what was being said. I happened to hear a few words from a former Georgia Congressman and Speaker of the House of Representatives in Washington, DC. I recalled about sixteen years ago, early in the morning, I by chance hit the AM button in my car. It was a very conservative talk show and on the extremely conservative side. But the comment was “If a Democratic Congress gets in, they will spend the first two years investigating the last two years of the current administration and then raise taxes and…”, and he went on. It interested me that he said something had been done wrong and needed investigating, and then we go right back to investigating it now in a reverse situation. The news stories daily seem to imply that, or are they just trying to stir up conservatives to get out and protect their money? Anyhow, my email was forwarded from a friend:

“Why do I tell you this? Because of the evolution in teaching math since the 1950s: Teaching Math in 1950 – a logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of production is 4/5 of the price. What is his profit? Teaching Math in the 1960s, a logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of production is 4/5 of the price, or $80. What is his profit? Teaching Math in the 1970‘s, a logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of production is $80. Did he make a profit? Teaching Math. In the 1980‘s, a logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of production is $80, and his profit is $20. Your assignment: Underline the number 20. Teaching Math: In 1990, a logger cuts down a beautiful forest because he is selfish and inconsiderate, caring nothing for the habitat of animals or the preservation of our woodlands. He does this so he can make a $20 profit. What do you think of this way of making a living? Topic for class participation after answering the question: How did the birds and squirrels feel as the logger cut down their homes? (There are no wrong answers.) Teaching Math in 2005-6 un hachero vende una carretada de madera para $100. El costo de la producción es $80”

As I read this, I wondered if this is really what the general public thinks. There are numerous books out on the dumbing down of America. No one ever mentions we are one of the few countries with free public education to all children regardless of race, sex, disability, and or income, and in turn, the only one trying to hold educational systems accountable for getting everyone to the same level. Each of the eras above has issues in its systems. However, let me add that I took a general biology course in my second year of college, and the current general biology text for ninth graders at our local high school is significantly more in-depth, covering numerous subjects and information not even conceived of in 1968.

So I look at the above email and see 1950 all was well, 1960 we were concerned about fractions, 1970 we were concerned about semantics, 1980 we are now worried about correct underlining too much Christmas treeing of answers on standardized tests, and in the 1990’s we are concerned about the environment and each other and asking why and how come questioning and wanting to perceive how this as wrong. I was amused by math in the 2000s and how it was a touchy-feely sort of thing. They left out the math in 2010: a forester pays poachers in the rain forest of South America to strip a piece of land unregulated by law, sell it to him at a dirt-cheap price, and then wander off, so literally we have a nearly 100% profit.

In 1919, John Dewey was successfully using reflection as a teaching tool; he was considerably ahead of his time. Sadly, reflection and discussion take time away from memorizing and teaching the test as we are now. Our students have to memorize volumes of material in every subject, and many teachers do not have the time, or they at least think they do not offer context. Then, looking back at the 2005-2006 math comments and inferences about diversification, it was not too many years ago that women could not go to school and/or hold positions in many companies and such. Even today, women are stereotyped into certain positions.

A friend who recently passed away was writing her dissertation on gender biases in public school administration. Sadly, all the public hoopla in one arena is about immigration. I still recall a parent conference five years ago when a good old boy, wearing scruffy shorts, no socks, boots, and a dirty white T-shirt, explained it to me so eloquently. It seems he was out of work, as he was a construction worker and, at that, essentially a gofer. He would be the one toting boards and bricks, whatever. I was filling out forms because he did not read or write, and his son was about to be placed in an alternative school. I asked what he did for a living, and he informed me he couldn’t get work. I was aware of the construction situation in our area, with very few houses being built. However, his answer took me by surprise. He commented with a few expletives, “The @#$% Mexicans work too #$@% hard.” For him, it could have been Afro-Americans, Native Americans, Eastern Europeans, and/or Hispanics; it was anyone willing to work and different from, or not like, him. Did I mention he did not smell very good, sort of like a few old beers and cigarette stale smoke, a paradox of sorts?

And so why am I bewildered that we so often complain, whine, and criticize, often only because we do not understand or lack information? Simply put, it is ignorance among so many wonderful reasons. Parents expect wonders from teachers, and we often deliver, but years ago, I wrote about the sixteen-hour syndrome. Teachers have kids for eight hours and are expected to work miracles only to go home to parents, TV, video, friends, drugs, and many other miscellaneous things. Other distractions, and they have sixteen hours to undo all they learned in those eight. It is sort of a losing battle in many situations.

“Grown men can learn from very little children, for the hearts of the little children are pure. Therefore, the Great Spirit may show them many things which older people miss.” Black Elk

As I read this thought from Black Elk, a Lakota Sioux holy man, written some years ago, I was intrigued by how we adults take these innocents and make them adults today, losing all their innocence. I watch the four-year-olds around our demo school; they are inquisitive and wondering, and yet in a few years they will be blank-eyed and listless, stripped of all their joy and purity by our cultural efforts to make automatons and provide vehicles for the productivity of our manufacturing and corporate greed. This could be why I am bewildered that we have come to this in a free society, and reality is more imprisoned than many so-called third-world countries. We are imprisoned by our self-serving, self-centeredness, and greed, and we are watching calmly as monopolies form again: the big three oil companies are the only oil companies, and Ma Bell is soon to be in charge again. I am paraphrasing and borrowing from an old folk song, “Where Have All the Steel Mills Gone?” or “Where Have All the Textile Jobs Gone?” They have gone to countries all over the world. Then the chorus, oh when will we ever learn, oh when will we learn?

Paradoxes and complexities bewilder and wonder me; I look at Black Elk’s words and wonder why we cannot learn from children and maybe get back some of our lost innocence. Please keep all in harm’s way on your mind and in your hearts and always give thanks namaste.

My family and friends, I do not say this lightly,

Mitakuye Oyasin

(We are all related)

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