The daily meanderings of a teacher

Bird Droppings September 13, 2019 Hearing and listening are critical   “We have two ears and one mouth so that we can listen twice as much as we speak.” Epictetus   A simple analogy yet we far too often do not understand that statement and perhaps it is because we have more jaw muscle than…

Birddroppings September 12, 2019 Answers tend to be on the opposite end of questions   “In the beginning of all things, wisdom and knowledge were with the animals, for Tarawa, the One Above, did not speak directly to man. He sent certain animals to tell men that he showed himself through the beast and that from…

Bird Droppings September 10, 2019 It takes more than one strand to make a rope, in life and in 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…

Bird Droppings September 9, 20189 Overcoming learning difficulties   “There are two ways of meeting difficulties. You alter the difficulties or you alter yourself to meet them.” Phyllis Bottome   I had been working on an IEP or should say finalizing one before a meeting a few years back. The student has a reading comprehension…

Bird Droppings September 6, 2019 Can we see a gray world in color?   Almost eighteen years ago, I went back to teaching only to go into lock down. Quite a day and experience for someone who hadn’t been in the class room since 1977. Sharing the fears and anxieties of those kids with me…

Bird Droppings September 5, 2019 Grandparenting/Teaching is telling our students and grandchildren the stories   I have been lazy lately. I have been reading and documenting notes for my dissertation but had not pulled up in a few days. I am finishing up my preprospectus. My title has changed over the years and days. Engaging…

Bird Droppings September 4, 2019 Ponderingerest is that even a word?   Coming up some interesting days. One is an interesting and yet solemn day; a day marked by dark memories, eighteen 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 coming…

Bird Droppings September 3, 2019 It is about understanding   I read a psychological report of a student 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 both needed in order…

Bird Droppings September 2, 2019 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 September 1, 2019 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…