The daily meanderings of a teacher

Bird Droppings December 15, 2019 A chill in the air but not in the heart   For several days the now we have been at or below freezing in the early mornings which totally silences the crickets and tree frogs who need an ambient temperature a bit warmer, maybe high fifties low sixties. So, for…

Bird Droppings December 13, 2019 Is there a difference between progressive and traditional teachers?   A few years back in a ninth-grade literature class that I happened to be co-teaching in, I was introduced to the book Freedom Writers Diary. We also watched the film based on the book. In some ways the story is…

Bird Droppings December 12, 2019 Who would have thought of a buffalo snort in the dark?   “Life is no brief candle to me. It is a sort of splendid torch which I have got a hold of for  the moment, and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it…

Bird Droppings December 11, 2019 I am just sitting, pondering and thinking wiping away a tear or two   I was outside very early today to check the air and temperature. In the darkness I could hear a great horned owl it might have been what was irritating our dog keeping him up. It seems…

Bird Droppings December 7, 2019 How we perceive is often the beginning of the discussion   A dear friend brought up a conversation with a flat earth believer the other day. This person he had been talking with essentially disavowed science in many areas. My son offered is Mars visibly round from a telescope and…

Bird Droppings December 6, 2019 Naughty or Nice, might be in the semantics   “The best portion of a good man’s life: his little, nameless unremembered acts of kindness and love.” William Wordsworth   One day when you look back and try and remember what was that act I did or when did I do…

Bird Droppings December 5, 2019 Is there topsoil left midst an erosion of soul?   “To be rooted is perhaps the most important and least recognized need of the human soul.” Simone Weil   “The need for roots,” I saw this idea earlier as I web surfed thinking and pondering this morning or perhaps as…

Bird Droppings December 4, 2019 Teaching as improvisational art using learning as the pallet   I wrote the basics of this article nearly fifteen years ago and at the time was thinking of an artist friend now a computer programmer who was trying to define her art as well as searching for her own meaning…

Bird Droppings December 3, 2019 Sitting, wondering, pondering and dishwashing   In a roundabout way several earlier readings on the internet got me thinking and pondering as I do. So often we take our technology for granted.  It has been about thirteen years since we moved into this house and a brand-new dishwasher. About a…

Bird Droppings December 2, 2019 Example is such a simple lesson plan   “We taught our children by both example and instruction, but with an emphasis on example, because all learning is a dead language to one who gets it second hand.” Kent Nerburn, The Wisdom of the Native Americans   I have over the…