The daily meanderings of a teacher

Bird Droppings November 2, 2023Teaching today is tying a knot with only one hand. It was a Saturday morning a few years back, and no one else was up but me. I was about to go out and wander in the darkness for a bit and remembered my cast. I have, over the years, enjoyed…

Bird Droppings October 26, 2023Education often draws from NOW. A few years ago, a teacher offered me a book on curriculum, or she said “Dumbing down of America” by Dr. Samuel Blumenfeld. It has been a few months since I picked this book off the shelf while reading various books at Barnes and Noble, as…

Bird Droppings October 22, 2023 Can we find answers outside our windows? It had been a few years since we were at Pawleys Island, SC when the largest-ever lottery drawing was about to occur. The frenzy of buying a ticket happened at every convenience store and lottery outlet. Just a few weeks ago, a repeat,…

Bird Droppings October 21, 2023Wondering why, on a Saturday morning and taking a few photos of sunrises I watched the debate roughly three years ago from our condo on Pawleys Island. My wife and I escaped for a long weekend. It was to give her a break from a hectic clinic schedule and me from…

Bird Droppings October 20, 2023Listening to a five-note flute and pondering at a Honda dealer I arise relatively early, even in retirement, on my days off from my part-time teaching. Each morning, I run up to my corner store for conversation and to stock up. I need a couple of Smart water bottles, sometimes the…

Bird Droppings October 19, 2023Education is turning an ugly face jug, not pouring in a mold. I will be turning 74 soon. I will be getting my flu shot and COVID-19 vaccine. I was sitting on my back porch, eating a late breakfast and sipping a cup of tea, listening to the birds. I have…

Bird Droppings October 18, 2023I still like the Seagull book. As I get older, I feel seventy-three years and two days old today. Many years ago, as I drove my kids to school each morning, I would spin yarns of various Indian tribes and Great Grandpa Niper. Some were stories told to me by my…

Bird Droppings October 15, 2023Can we change things? “Therefore the shortage of effective teachers is not a problem that can be solved by a new structure. It is caused by how we train and manage teachers and can only be solved by improving the way we do this, no matter what the structure of the…

Bird Droppings October 12, 2023 Have we sold our souls for a few trinkets, or don’t want to die in Georgia? Morning is a special time for me, always a new beginning. Today, I left the house early to take out the garbage and stand silently for a moment. As I drove from the house…

Bird Droppings October 9, 2023An eclectic morning pondering mortality I walked out into a clear sky, and stars gleamed above me. The smiling moon had settled behind the pine trees to the east. My feet got cold, and I walked about in flip-flops. I walked my wife to her car; she was headed to work…