The daily meanderings of a teacher

Bird Droppings January 23, 2023 All in words, we find.. “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 were a carpenter. As I read this passage this…

Bird Droppings January 16, 2023 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 14, 202Can we define our success, or does it take another? Recently teachable moments have been rare as I have been very monastic between retirement and Covid and cautious. Yesterday while grocery shopping, I ran into a former student of sorts. She was in a class with me when I was a…

Bird Droppings January 6, 2023 Taking and making the most of each moment and learning about moleskin: I think we need to find the moleskin in education along with switchbacks Sometimes I miss waking up to our dog barking because he needs to run outside for a second. Not always the best way to wake…

Bird Droppings January 5, 2023Quietly listening to Bob Dylan and pondering the word inspiration I woke up a bit earlier than usual, although I did have an excellent night’s sleep. I started thinking about a day thrown off by an administrator’s discipline talk. The afternoon immediately following, we dealt with behavior issues the rest of…

Bird Droppings January 4, 2023Examining the threads of life “Man did not weave the web of life; he is merely a strand in it. Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself.” Chief Seattle, 1854 It has been a few years since I read a National Geographic article where the lead-in photo was…

Bird Droppings January 3, 2023 Sitting 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 one going…

Bird Droppings January 2, 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 often speak first and clean up afterward, simply walking away quite generally, leaving whoever I am conversing with confused and bewildered.…

Bird Droppings January 1, 2023 Trying not to trip on a grain of sand on the first day of a new year With a new year ahead, and so many things to see and do, I was so remarkably close to starting this day with the title of Bentley; however, as I thought further, some…

Birddroppings December 30, 2022 Venting a bit on a Friday morning I wrote yesterday and was going to be lazy today to prepare for the holiday. Lately, I have had a severe sinus infection; to be safe did several Covid rapid tests, and I did test negative, which was a relief, but my asthma has…