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Wondering is a powerful tool.
Bird Droppings May 6, 2025Wondering is a powerful tool. Several years back, we started a school-wide vocabulary of the week during the school year. I was reminded of this as I looked through my various files for quotes. About eight years ago, as the day wound down, an email from the head of the English…
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Is there such a thing as an unteachable child
Bird Droppings May 2, 2025Is there such a thing as 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.…
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Should we sharpen the machete or bring a really big shovel?
Bird Droppings April 30, 2025Should we sharpen the machete or bring a really big shovel? I have been reflecting on the concept of critical pedagogy, and in that reflection, I recall an incident nearly fifty years ago that calls to mind my interpretation and understanding of what we as teachers are all about. I purchased…
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I have found a spiritual side to teaching
Bird Droppings April 29, 2025I have found 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…
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Hunting for the right words on a spring morning
Bird Droppings April 28, 2025Hunting for the right words on a spring morning “The place to improve the world is first in one’s own heart, head, and hands.” Robert M. Pirsig, American author Whether we are trying to offer a few words of condolence to friends whose loved ones have passed away or trying to…
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Bird Droppings April 27, 2025POTENTIAL is only a word unless applied “Love is a complex experience which seems to follow no rules but its own. Romantic love can have the power of a hurricane or the tenderness of a soft, wet wind. I have known, too, a chance introduction which instantly and magically merged into…
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Going to school again for the first time
Bird Droppings April 25, 2025 Going to school again for the first time So often, as I start my writings each morning, there has been an experience recently to build upon. It is utilizing these previous experiences to provide windows and doors for future experiences. I was driving through our town, and a shop I…
The daily meanderings of a teacher 