The daily meanderings of a teacher

Author: birddroppings

  • Our goal in teaching is for students to create new questions

    Bird Droppings January 18, 2019 Our goal in teaching is for students to create new questions   Over the past month now back in active teaching again, I have been pondering. I have received advice through email and even a billboard or two driving home from Mount Yonah on a quick trip with my son…

  • A chill in the air but not in the heart, thank you Maya Angelou

    Bird Droppings January 17, 2019 A chill in the air but not in the heart, thank you Maya Angelou   For several weeks now we have been balancing between warm and cold weather in the early mornings which still is too cold for the crickets and tree frogs who need an ambient temperature a bit…

  • Examining the threads of life

    Bird Droppings January 16, 2019 Examining the threads of life   “Man did not weave the web of life he is merely a strand in it. Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself.” Chief Seattle, 1854   It has been a few years since I read a National Geographic article where the…

  • Reconciliation of trust

    Bird Droppings January 15, 2019 Reconciliation of trust   “It’s the examination of conscience. Unless you examine your conscience, you don’t know what you have to be sorry for and what to confess” Thomas Richstatter, O.F.M., S.T.D., Ten Tips for Better Confessions, The Gift of Reconciliation   Sort of difficult beginning a dropping with a…

  • Is it counting knuckles, or is it no child will be left behind, doing what we want and that is considered totally normal.

    Bird Droppings January 13, 2019 Is it counting knuckles, or is it no child will be left behind, doing what we want and that is considered totally normal.   One of my students asked a few years back what day of the month the following Friday would be and I responded January 30. Just as…

  • Sitting thinking of a circle

    Bird Droppings January 12, 2019 Sitting thinking of a circle   I am looking through various providers of shows, movies and miniseries for, Into the West, and one of these days I will find on one of the providers. The series starts and ends with a circle of stones with a line going east to…

  • We are neither wolf nor dog

    Bird Droppings January 10, 2019 We are neither wolf nor dog   It has been some time since I first read a book by this name written by one of my favorite authors Kent Nerburn. In much of his writing Kent Nerburn addresses the spiritual significance and depth of life of our Native Peoples. While…

  • Finding a way to forgive

    Bird Droppings January 9, 2019 Finding a way to forgive   “The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.” Mahatma Gandhi   It was a little over eight years ago I spent the morning on a field tip of sorts for a graduate school class. We visited the MLK Jr. Memorial…

  • Looking in a direction to start the morning

    Bird Droppings January 8, 2019 Looking in a direction to start the morning   “Beginnings start in the east – from where the sun rises we begin a new dawn. Each day is a good new day with a fresh beginning, a new start. East is the direction of the physical body and newness including…

  • Why should there be no teasing?

    Bird Droppings January 7, 2019 Why should there be no teasing?   “Before you speak, ask yourself, is it kind, is it necessary, and is it true, does it improve on the silence?” Hindu proverb   So often I speak first and clean up afterwards many times simply walking away quiet generally leaving whoever I…