Bird Droppings October 21, 2019 Can we change things?   “Therefore, the shortage of effective teachers is not a problem that can be solved by a new structure. It is caused by how we train and manage teachers, and can only be solved by improving the way we do this, no matter what the structure…

Bird Droppings October 20, 2019 Hearing an owl   “If you observe a really happy man you will find him building a boat, writing a symphony, educating his son, growing double dahlias in his garden. He will not be searching for happiness as if it were a collar button that has rolled under the radiator.”…

Bird Droppings October 18, 2019 I am always finding where community exists   I am sitting listening to Allman Brother’s Fillmore East CD on a Friday morning a moon hidden in our infrequent lately clouds outside. As I think about heading to school today I had several thoughts streaming through my head. How do two…

Bird Droppings October 17, 2019 Have we sold our souls for a few trinkets?   Morning is a special time for me always a new beginning. That might be far too easy of a way to say what I am trying to say. Today I got out a bit early from the house to turn…

Bird Droppings October 16, 2019 What about adding to our current reality TV: The great teachers of America?   I am back in grad school and finishing my twelve yearlong doctorate, today working on writing. A time ago I had been set up to teach several new college classes when I received notification of a reduction…

Bird Droppings October 15, 2019 Am I a Weginahsa?   “The work of a teacher – exhausting, complex, idiosyncratic, never twice the same – is at its heart, an intellectual and ethical enterprise. Teaching is the vocation of vocations, a calling that shepherds a multitude of other callings. It is an activity that is intensely…

Bird Droppings October 14, 2019 How do we find democracy?   It was three years back I was still recovering from a slight change in medication for my blood pressure. I went home from school and dozed off for three hours afterwards. Immediately the next day we were rushing around with our heads cut off…

Bird Droppings October 13, 2019 We are so missing out on teaching creativity   It was another quiet morning as I wandered out although a bit too chilly for crickets and frogs. Yesterday afternoon as it warmed up however several tree frogs visited around the house. The air was still, not a breeze as I…

Bird Droppings October 11, 2019 Are great teachers intuitive? IESP   I have mentioned over the years I can tell when a child has emotional issues most of the time after observing a few minutes and listening. Granted observations are part of most evaluations but I was referring to an intuitive aspect of observation. Something…

Bird Droppings October 10, 2019 How do you feed the wolves?   I walked outside very early this morning to a sky filled with clouds leaving and a brisk wind. Crickets were almost silent chirping slowly in the unusually cool weather. My morning started long before sunrise today and the sounds as I went on…