The daily meanderings of a teacher

Bird Droppings March 12, 2023Can we teach a love of learning again? This has been a perplexing time of my life out of the classroom, giving advice here and there to fellow teachers, parents, and students. I recall a car wreck in which a young man died, and his passenger, my youngest son’s and my…

Bird Droppings March 11, 2023Are we going in the right direction? I reviewed my student’s online work status three years ago. A couple of surprises and some that were not. I thought that when the virus finally moved on and the smoke cleared, some grades would go up, and some would drop. We were told…

Bird Droppings February 9, 2023What is the freedom we desire? “Brute force, no matter how strongly applied, can never subdue the basic human desire for freedom and dignity. It is not enough, as communist systems have assumed, merely to provide people with food, shelter, and clothing. Human nature needs to breathe the precious air of…

Bird Droppings February 26, 2023All of life is connected and intertwined. I went out on my back porch for breakfast this morning, and I had gone out to get a few pictures of the sunrise but another morning of black and white sunrises in the cloud cover. I often turn my Merline Bird app on…

Bird Droppings February 25, 2023A series of paradoxes and bewilderment I received the following in an email back a few days. A friend of mine sent it out, and as I read it the first time, it was humorous. However, as I pondered then, as a teacher, I read deeper into what was being said.…

Bird Droppings February 22, 2023It has been a long time I was sitting along the edge of reality one evening a few days back after having a bad day with bronchitis and asthma. Somewhere I was in my backyard listening to the wind blows through the pines; it seemed pine trees make a better sound…

Bird Droppings February 18, 2023Doing what you love is not work, even if you are tired at the end of the day. “To love what you do and feel that it matters, how could anything be more fun?” Katharine Graham I learn something daily as I wander the internet and read books I find along…

Bird Droppings February 17, 2023A substation in our journey of life, is it saying goodbye, or is it hello? I had seldom pulled out my Eagle Scout card from 1967; by chance, I cleaned up my dresser and held it for a few minutes, thinking back. I put all of my Boy Scout patches and…

Bird Droppings February 16, 2023Life is a journey only made difficult if there is no learning involved My lead teacher in fourth-grade reading was out today, and I was covering and going to class earlier than usual. A little boy, I think kindergarten in age, was walking towards me in the hallways with a tear…

Bird Droppings February 12, 2023I am reading a friend’s book for the sixth time. My youngest son is now a travel nurse in ICU units in South Georgia. My niece is a pediatric nurse in Savannah, and my wife is a family nurse practitioner. There is a community among nurses. About eight years ago, five…