The daily meanderings of a teacher

Bird Droppings March 24, 2019 Children Teach what they Live   It is a beautiful spring day outside and quiet after a crazy open house next door. It seems the solitude of the country has changed rapidly in only a few weeks. A developer bought sub-division and has put up houses. People are moving into…

Bird Droppings March 22, 2019 Setting priorities on a chilly spring morning   “Keep in mind that you are always saying ‘no’ to something. If it isn’t to the apparent, urgent things in your life, it is probably to the most fundamental, highly important things. Even when the urgent is good, the good can keep…

Bird Droppings March 21, 2019 Are we going in the right direction?   “I believe that education, therefore, is a process of living and not a preparation for future living. I believe that the school must represent present life-life as real and vital to the child as that which he carries on in the home,…

Bird Droppings March 20, 2019 Where is the beginning or end in a circle?   “It is the function of art to renew our perception. What we are familiar with we cease to see. The writer shakes up the familiar scene, and, as if by magic, we see a new meaning in it.” Albert Einstein…

Bird Droppings March 19, 2019 When did Bird Droppings start? On February 3, 2003 I officially started titling my daily emailing and blogging, Bird Droppings. I went back in my files and pulled up a few old thoughts and ideas. As I was reading the local paper today a street poll was included asking locals…

Bird Droppings March 18, 2018 Quietly listening to Bob Dylan and pondering the word inspiration   My mind wandered back fourteen years to a county wide teacher kick off meeting, traditionally a packaged inspirational meeting and welcome back for the new school year hosted by an outside speaker. The county would pay big bucks to…

Bird Droppings March 17, 2019 Is there a difference between progressive and traditional teachers?   In a ninth grade literature class that I happened to co-teach in many years ago, I was introduced to the book, Freedom Writers Diary and the film based on the book. In some ways the story is similar to the…

Bird Droppings March 15, 2019 Teaching and life are simply feeding wolves   As I opened my phone numerous news stories and jokes were addressing the college guidance company that recently was busted for getting wealthy kids into college for money. I recall the urban myths of a college SAT test taker who would using…

Bird Droppings March 14, 2019 Our teaching can make a difference every day   I was looking through data yesterday as I proctored students making up a bench mark test. This is an interesting situation. An extremely poorly made and designed test that students know they are going to fail.  Approximately ninety percent of students…

Bird Droppings March 13, 2019 Should I be a wolf or dog in education?   In light of watching current news and political turmoil I recalled a trip to the Atlanta Zoo. I was approached as I walked up the hill at the Zoo by an elderly man. I had never met this man previously…