The daily meanderings of a teacher

Bird Droppings September 15, 2018 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 talked…

Bird Droppings September 12, 2018  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 deficit. …

Bird Droppings September 11, 2018 Can we see a gray world in color?   Seventeen 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 taught…

Bird Droppings September 10, 2018 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. Today I am finishing up my preprospectus. My title has changed over the years and days.…

Bird Droppings September 8, 2018 Ponderingerest is that even a word?   Coming up some interesting days. One is an interesting and yet solemn day; a day marked by memories, seventeen years ago I started teaching again after a twenty three year layoff, thirty years ago we brought a new baby home. So many memories…

Bird Droppings September 7, 2018 It is about understanding     I read a psychological report of a student 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 to…

Bird Droppings September 5, 2018 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   Whether it is trying to offer a few words of condolence to friends whose loved one has passed…

Bird Droppings August 31, 2018 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 Sunday.…

Bird Droppings August 29, 2018 I am told, there is a reason.   “The purpose of life is a life of purpose.” Robert Byrne I have often wondered about this thought as have so many before me and will after I am gone. Philosophers wonder and wise men ponder, is there purpose, a reason for…

Bird Droppings August 28, 2018 Culture is far more than just a word   “Silence was meaningful with the Lakota, and granting a space of silence before talking was done in the practice of true politeness and regardful of the rule that thought comes before speech. In the midst of sorrow, sickness, death or misfortune…