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Watching a hawk fly by
Bird Droppings April 18, 2025 Watching a hawk fly by I recall a favorite memory of mine: from five years ago, for the first time in my teaching in public school, nearly twenty years, I was not required to teach to the test, which got me thinking back. Over the years, I have attended numerous…
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Trying to teach an unteachable child
Bird Droppings April 17, 2025Trying to teach an unteachable child “Let us think of education as the means of developing our greatest abilities because in each of us there is a private hope and dream which, fulfilled, can be translated into benefit for everyone and greater strength for our nation.” John F. Kennedy As I…
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Bird Droppings April 16, 2025Can we even compare ethics and politics? I picked up a copy of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution this morning about five years ago. The front page had various articles, but one caught my attention. Having been a student in psychology at Mercer University in Macon, I was required to go on a…
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Is the curriculum sacred or simply someone’s idea of what it should be?
Bird Droppings April 15, 2025Is the curriculum sacred or simply someone’s idea of what it should be? My wife and I are talking about taking a few days’ hiatus to head to the South Carolina coast with no schedule and little baggage—just a spur-of-the-moment trip. I was thinking back to our last crazy trip, which…
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Innocence is more than a definition.
Bird Droppings April 14, 2025 Innocence is more than a definition. “Look at children. Of course, they may quarrel, but generally speaking, they do not harbor ill feelings as much or as long as adults do. Most adults have the advantage of education over children, but what is the use of an education if they…
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In the pursuit of excellence
Bird Droppings April 12, 2025In the pursuit of excellence I was listening to crickets and tree frogs as morning sounds surrounded me with the rustling of leaves in the steady breeze as I sojourned out in the wee hours with a cup of tea. It is a great day to walk in this reality and…
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Trying to find a way back to normal, or is it abnormal? Is your child a hippy?
Bird Droppings April 11, 2025 Trying to find a way back to normal, or is it abnormal? Is your child a hippy? “Your son or daughter may be flashing warning signals that he or she will soon drop out of society and join the “hippie” movement. If you know what to look for, you may be…
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I am pondering and researching education while remembering a waterfall.
Bird Droppings April 10, 2025I am pondering and researching education while remembering a waterfall. It has been almost fifteen years since I stayed at the Sylvan Mills Bed and Breakfast in a room literally over a waterfall. I went up to North Georgia to recharge; perhaps another word might be to rekindle my passion for…
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Should we question our questions many times?
Bird Droppings April9, 2025Should we question our questions many times? Yesterday, I was sitting in my computer area after a week or two of articles and innuendos about who and why Georgia students in high school and middle schools across the state do so poorly on certain mandatory tests. These are Georgia’s version of course-end…
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Occasionally, we need to learn again about the Rock and the Smoke, perhaps before it is too late
Bird Droppings April 8, 2025Occasionally, we need to learn again about the Rock and the Smoke, perhaps before it is too late Thinking back to my biology teaching days, high school students always ask questions about religion as we get into evolution. Occasionally, I get someone who wants to prove a point. A young lady…
The daily meanderings of a teacher 