The daily meanderings of a teacher

Bird Droppings December 31, 2017 Building Sandcastles drip by drip   It was nearly sixteen years ago when I was physically attending classes in graduate school nearly every day and before switching to Internet classes and WebCT. This took some getting used to going to school and then going to teach school. I was teaching…

Bird Droppings December 26, 2017 A chill in the air but not in the heart   For several days the now we have been at or below freezing in the early mornings which totally silences the crickets and tree frogs who need an ambient temperature a bit more warm maybe high fifties low sixties. So…

Bird Droppings December 24, 2017 How we perceive is often the beginning of the discussion   A dear friend brought up a conversation with a flat earth believer the other day. This person he had been talking with essentially disavowed science in many areas. My son offered is Mars visibly round from a telescope and…

Bird Droppings December 22, 2017 Naughty or Nice   “The best portion of a good man’s life: his little, nameless unremembered acts of kindness and love.” William Wordsworth   One day when you look back and try and remember what was that act I did or when did I do it, you may not remember…

Bird Droppings December 20, 2017 Is there topsoil left midst an erosion of soul?   “To be rooted is perhaps the most important and least recognized need of the human soul.” Simone Weil   “The need for roots,” I saw this idea earlier as I web surfed thinking and pondering this morning or perhaps as…

Bird Droppings December 19, 2017 Can teachers use learning as their pallet?   I wrote the basics of this article nearly thirteen years ago and at the time was thinking of an artist friend now a computer programmer who was trying to define her art as well as searching for her own meaning in life.…

Bird Droppings December 18, 2017 It is the small pieces that seriously matter   “Until you can clearly see each piece of the puzzle you will never be able to understand the whole.” Frank Bird, grandfather, teacher and ponderer   I am sitting here on my computer writing while many of my friends are awaiting…

Bird Droppings December 17, 2017 Should children be left behind?               “I believe that our own experience instructs us that the secret of education lies in respecting the pupil. It is not for you to choose what he shall know, what he shall do. It is chosen and foreordained, and he only holds the…