The daily meanderings of a teacher

Bird Droppings February 1, 2024 For some people, creating a new thought and writing it down seems so difficult in a digital world, and I have been thinking about Tom Petty. “Experience is not what happens to a man; it is what a man does with what happens to him.” Aldus Huxley This has been…

Bird Droppings January 26, 2024 We have to try and care So far, for this year and the tail end of last year, all the predicted snow, sleet, and ice have never shown up; they are just cold, foggy, wet, and nasty. It has been unseasonably colder than usual, with scatterings of warm weather, but…

Bird Droppings January 15, 2024Passion: Can it be rekindled? April 4, 1968, I was a freshman at West Chester State, now University. I was not seriously politically active, and I would say naïve. I do recall the news stories, and I recall all the tension that followed. I grew up in a town where the…

Bird Droppings January 14, 2024 All in words, we find and how we use them and perhaps other’s perceptions. “The farmer channels water to his land. The fletcher whittles his arrows. And the carpenter turns his wood. So the wise direct their mind.” Dhammapada Many years ago, there was a folk song entitled, If I…

Bird Droppings January 13, 2024 Horses and Trains and learning It has been many years since I last rode on a train. I mean a serious train going more than the distance between concourses at an airport. Years ago, when I lived in the Philadelphia area, we all used mass transit to commute, go “downtown,”…

Bird Droppings January 12, 202Can we define our success, or does it take another? Recently, teachable moments have been rare as I have been very monastic between testing and holidays. Yesterday, while grocery shopping, I ran into a former student of sorts. I think she was in a class with me when I was a…

Bird Droppings January 7, 2024 Taking and making the most of each moment and learning about moleskin: I think we need to find moleskin in education along with switchbacks. In years past, before my son got married and took Timber with him, I sometimes miss waking up to our dog barking because he needed to…

Bird Droppings January 6, 2023Quietly listening to Bob Dylan and pondering the word inspiration. I woke up a bit later than usual, 6:30 AM. I did have an excellent night’s sleep, according to my sleep app, with plenty of REM and deep sleep. I thought I was awake all night; evidently, that was part of…

Bird Droppings January 5, 2023 Sitting at home thinking of a circle I am looking through various shows, movies, and miniseries for a series I enjoyed, Into the West. I will find it one of these days. The series starts and ends with a circle of stones with a line going east to west and…

Bird Droppings January 4, 2023Why should there be no teasing? “Before you speak, ask yourself, is it kind, is it necessary, and is it true, does it improve on the silence?” Hindu proverb So, I often speak first and clean up afterward, simply walking away quite generally, leaving whoever I am conversing with confused and…