Bird Droppings August 11, 2014 Teaching and or 2.7 seconds on a bull named Fu Manchu Today is my fourteenth first day of school at this high school. I will just assume it will not be as tense and hectic as my first on September 11, 2001. I began the day thinking back to a…

Bird Droppings August 10, 2013 A quick reflection this morning and thinking of others “I think that empathy is important not only as a means of enhancing compassion, but I think that generally speaking when dealing with others on any level, if you are having difficulties, it’s extremely helpful to be able and try and…

Bird Droppings August 8, 2013 I am always searching for the ends of a bell-shaped curve I was reminded as former students came by last night at Open House of how we as teacher’s impact lives. Students are so much more than test scores and grades. So much more than content we teach. I was…

Bird Droppings August 7, 2014 Teachers need to try and care With school starting back again, it is like remembering years past the past few weeks as numerous former students have called, emailed, come by and visit my room or messaged me on Facebook. Some are former students and non-students who would spend time in…

Bird Droppings August 5, 2014 Wondering is a powerful tool Several years back we started sort of a school-wide vocabulary of the week and with today being the first day of teachers going back to school I was reminded of this as I was looking through my various files for quotes and such. About three…

Bird Droppings August 3, 2014 Why do crossword puzzles take so much time? Towards the end of my last History class that I teach in college, one of my students was working on a particular assignment and had to define bias and was confused. She was not sure which definition was correct and asked my…

Bird Droppings August 1, 2014 Why do more than expected? “Choices are sacred to life’s journey. They lie along the path that all of us must follow for ourselves. An important Cherokee lesson is that if you involve yourself in any decision, you also experience the consequences of that decision.” Dr. J.T. Garrett, Meditations with…

Bird Droppings July 31, 2014 Doing is the best teacher It has been an interesting week. I did my usual going into school and working in my room. I spent a good bit of the mornings taking advantage of weather and light and getting some rather interesting photographs. Later yesterday afternoon after almost fifteen hours…

Bird Droppings July 30, 2014 Maybe we are in the wrong “I am tired of talk that comes to nothing. It makes my heart sick when I remember all the good words and all the broken promises. There has been too much talking by men who have no right to talk. Too many misinterpretations have…

Bird Droppings July 29, 2014 Doing 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 books I find along the way. My life’s journey the…