The daily meanderings of a teacher

Bird Droppings June 24, 2017 Why is seeking peace so difficult?   “In this week of great destruction, we must each choose what road we are to walk and live. The road of destruction is war, it has always been so. The road of creation is deeper and more complicated; it has always involved forgiveness,…

Bird Droppings June 22, 2017 Why do we wish, wonder and wait?   “Calamity is the perfect glass wherein we truly see and know ourselves.” William Davenant   It has been nearly eleven years since we moved last and found ourselves in this house.  I wasn’t sure from where to start several ideas have been…

Bird Droppings June 21, 2017 Learning and teaching are inevitable – if we try   “In the case of good books, the point is not to see how many of them you can get through, but how many can get through to you.” Dr. Mortimer J. Adler   Dr. Adler founded the Center for the…

Bird Droppings June 20, 2017 Constructivism Montessori, Piaget, Vygotsky, Dewey and others With the bulk of education in the early 1900’s following closely the Industrial Revolution and mass production, a few great thinkers took the concept of the individual child in psychology and education in new directions as to its relationship to children. How children…

Bird Droppings June 19, 2017 Life is making a quilt   It was nearly ten years ago today my wife walked in and told me that my mother said this was to be a happy time, a joyous occasion, as we celebrated my father’s life. She said I think we are even having a snow…

Bird Droppings June 16, 2016 Teaching can be successful   Just about a year ago I was waking up in a Bed and Breakfast nestled off the road in Rabun Gap Ga. The previous night sunset was set against the mountains of north Georgia. So as I do on many mornings when I get the…

Bird Droppings June 15, 2017 Why do we fail?   Many times, I have wondered why people stop learning. I see it in high school students, in college and graduate students. Almost as if a switch is thrown and poof no more learning, I have reached my limit. I had a teacher approach me before…

Bird Droppings June 14, 2017 A spiritual side to teaching   “Solitude does not necessarily mean living apart from others; rather, it’s never living apart from one’s self. Not about absence of other people – it is about being fully present to ourselves, whether or not we are with others.” Parker Palmer   Dr. Parker…

Bird Droppings June 13, 2017 The head of education in the US should not be an idiot   It was nearly seven years ago I was reading an article actually an interview with Arne Duncan, the former Secretary of Education. I selected a few choice quotes from his interview to savor and ponder for a…

Bird Droppings June 12, 2017 Trying 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…