The daily meanderings of a teacher

Bird Droppings January 12, 2019 Sitting thinking of a circle   I am looking through various providers of shows, movies and miniseries for, Into the West, and one of these days I will find on one of the providers. The series starts and ends with a circle of stones with a line going east to…

Bird Droppings January 10, 2019 We are neither wolf nor dog   It has been some time since I first read a book by this name written by one of my favorite authors Kent Nerburn. In much of his writing Kent Nerburn addresses the spiritual significance and depth of life of our Native Peoples. While…

Bird Droppings January 9, 2019 Finding a way to forgive   “The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.” Mahatma Gandhi   It was a little over eight years ago I spent the morning on a field tip of sorts for a graduate school class. We visited the MLK Jr. Memorial…

Bird Droppings January 8, 2019 Looking in a direction to start the morning   “Beginnings start in the east – from where the sun rises we begin a new dawn. Each day is a good new day with a fresh beginning, a new start. East is the direction of the physical body and newness including…

Bird Droppings January 7, 2019 Why should there be no teasing?   “Before you speak, ask yourself, is it kind, is it necessary, and is it true, does it improve on the silence?” Hindu proverb   So often I speak first and clean up afterwards many times simply walking away quiet generally leaving whoever I…

Bird Droppings January 6, 2019 Decontextualizing – Learning is a journey strewn with boulders   “In a word, learning is decontextualized. We break ideas down into tiny pieces that bear no relation to the whole. We give students a brick of information, followed by another brick, followed by another brick, until they are graduated, at…

Bird Droppings January 5, 2019 Walking and listening among the Cotton Woods   Since starting my breathing treatments for sleep apnea, I awake to vivid dreams on some nights. Today I walked outside briefly as I do listening, observing, trying to understand this reality I am walking about in. The sky was blanketed with clouds…

Bird Droppings January 4, 2019 Caring is a very precious commodity in life And some thoughts from Maxine Greene   As I am pondering my early hours today before getting my day started an article dealing with charter schools and how they exclude many students caught my attention. The air temperature is freezing outside and…

Bird Droppings December 28, 2018 Within the circle of life infinity exists   Resurrection By Susan Thomas Underwood   The universe is energy in constant motion. There are ebbs and flows; Outcomes and income, And change…… Always change.   The physical world reflects this motion In the cycles of life, There is spring and fall,…

Bird Droppings December 27, 2018 Can we find Responsibility?   As I begin my morning of writing and wondering and my almost official eighth year as a grandfather the idea of responsibility sort of hit me. We live in a world of passing responsibility off to another generation be it natural resources, fiscal, educational, philosophical,…