The daily meanderings of a teacher

Bird Droppings September 14, 2020Just an observation I am that I am. I read that somewhere many years ago a simple definition of one’s self. As I look at its simplicity are we not all who we are? I grew up in a middle-class family first in Pennsylvania and now Georgia. In the old days…

Bird Droppings September 10, 2020 What’s it take, for that light bulb to go on? It has been nearly fourteen years since my doctorial cohort ended and we began the journey on our own. Most of us will have had a few classes or two together here and there and are into and are beginning…

Bird Droppings September 9, 2020 Searching for integrity midst the fogginess of reality “Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumored by many. Do not believe in anything simply because it is found written in your religious books. Do not…

Bird Droppings September 8, 2030Is wisdom contagious? I was reading in a friend’s blog about the Harry Potter series. She was addressing religious beliefs in her blog and how so many adhere verbatim to holy texts. As I read her blog which is rather good the ending was rather interesting. “That doesn’t mean I’m waiting…

Bird Droppings September 6, 2020Why we are not succeeding? Early this morning I stepped outside into the pre-hurricane chill, a few crickets and tree frogs greeted me as I looked around in the darkness. The sky was clear as a bell stars blazing away over my head. Orion was the major force as I peered…

Bird Droppings September 5, 2020 It takes more than one strand to make a rope, in life and education. “You cannot contribute anything to the ideal condition of mind and heart known as Brotherhood, however much you preach, posture, or agree, unless you live it.” Faith Baldwin Every day as I talk to teachers and…

Bird Droppings September 3, 2020 Ponderingerest is that even a word? Coming up are some interesting days. One is interesting and yet solemn day; a day marked by dark memories; nineteen years ago, I started teaching again after a twenty-three-year layoff, thirty-one years ago, we brought a new baby home. So many memories are coming…

Bird Droppings September 2, 2020  It is about understanding   I read a student’s psychological report years back who could decode most any word put in front of them. The confusion comes when trying to tell you what was read. The two components of reading, decoding, and comprehension are needed to be a successful reader.…

Bird Droppings September 1, 2020  Looking for the right words in a new morning   “The place to improve the world is first in one’s own heart and head and hands.” Robert M. Pirsig, American author   “Robert Maynard Pirsig September 6, 1928 – April 24, 2017, was an American writer and philosopher. He was…

Bird Droppings August 31, 2020 Sometimes history is a teacher and for others only a memory   The anniversary of a day that will be a scar on our nation’s history is soon upon us.  On September 15, 1963 an explosion tore through the African-American 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, it was a…