The daily meanderings of a teacher

Author: birddroppings

  • Being reborn so often takes a religious twist. I see it as listening with the heart.

    Bird Droppings August 29, 2025 Being reborn so often takes a religious twist. I see it as listening with the heart. So often in life, we hear words, rationalize those utterances, develop an opinion, and then logically state a response. I returned to a conversation discussing existentialism with my granddaughter one night nearly eleven years…

  • Teaching as improvisational art using learning as the palette

    Bird Droppings August 28, 2025 Teaching as improvisational art using learning as the palette I wrote the basics of this article nearly sixteen years ago and thought of an artist friend, now a computer programmer, trying to define her art and searching for her meaning in life. My friend often reflected on her political views…

  • Can we use the word sacred truthfully?

    Bird Droppings August 27, 2025Can we use the word sacred truthfully? “Teachers who do not take their own education seriously, who do not study, who make little effort to keep abreast of events have no moral authority to coordinate the activities of the classroom.” Paulo Freire, Pedagogy of Freedom I have been a student and…

  • Doing what you love is not really work.

    Bird Droppings August 25, 2025Doing what you love is not really work. “To love what you do and feel that it matters, how could anything be more fun?” Katharine Graham It seems I learn something every day as I wander about the internet and the books I find along the way. My life’s journey over…

  • Why do we have public education? So we can educate all our Children.

    Bird Droppings August 23, 2025Why do we have public education? So we can educate all our Children. For all teachers, today is a day of action. Stand up for what you believe in. I read an article that references children simply as others yesterday. The way a profiteer looks at children is as entities, simply…

  • Driving up a mountain takes effort

    Bird Droppings August 22, 2025Driving up a mountain takes effort. I am looking forward to another trip to Black Rock Mountain in North Georgia, the site of the Foxfire Museum property and the former site of Piedmont College’s teacher’s class in The Foxfire Approach to teaching. My oldest son took the course as part of…

  • What do teachers know?

    Bird Droppings August 20, 2025What do teachers know? Teachers are one of the nation’s most important resources for providing the skills, values, and knowledge that prepare young people for productive citizenship – but more than this, to give sanctuary to their dreams and aspirations for a future of hope, dignity, and justice. It is indeed…

  • Is it a paradox that sometimes small can be big?

    Bird Droppings August 19, 2025Is it a paradox that sometimes small can be big? August has been a slow month for sunrises, with clouds and fog nearly every morning. Somehow, between the clouds and even in the fog, I have found images worthy of a photo. Finding the tiny pieces within our existence is a…

  • I am told there is a reason.

    Bird Droppings August 18, 2025 I am told there is a reason. Early today, I should not get into disagreements on Covid, and I try to avoid it. I have strong feelings about vaccines, being a polio survivor, and I mentioned I was one of the lucky ones who survived. I started back to teaching.…

  • We are only a small part of all that is.

    Bird Droppings August 15, 2025 We are only a small part of all that is. It is often very difficult for some to accept being simply a part of and not the central focus of life around them. I was watching the beginning of the movie Seven Pounds, and in the first scene or two,…