The daily meanderings of a teacher

Interconnecting threads make a tapestry Bird Droppings November 15, 2022 All through history, weaving has been a critical aspect of civilization. For thousands of years, people have been weaving cloth for clothes and blankets to survive, and soon after, weaving began for art’s sake. “For certain fortunate people, there is something that transcends all classifications…

Bird Droppings November 14, 2022Reconciling the importance of the present, past, and future I spent the better part of yesterday avoiding my direction, so intent on the moment I missed the past and future cues. As an empathetic human being, I get caught up at times in the emotions and feedback of the present. I…

Bird Droppings November 8, 2022It is a new day, a new start, and always day one I am feeling old today; now that I am working on my seventieth third year of life and a cold front is coming in, my bones are aching. I remember nearly sixteen years ago, as we got closer to…

Bird Droppings November 3, 2022I 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 November 2, 2021Education is turning an ugly face jug, not pouring in a mold I turned seventy-three yesterday and, of all days, had a good case of the flu. I was sitting on my back porch, eating a late breakfast and sipping a cup of tea, listening to the birds. I have used…

Bird Droppings October 31, 2022 Have we sold our souls for a few trinkets and or don’t want to die in Georgia First thing this morning, one of the student’s tasks was identifying famous movie villains from cartoonish drawings. One of the images looked like Richard Nixon, and I blurted his name out, and one…

Bird Droppings October 24, 2022Did you know trees can talk? “Did you know that trees talk? Well, they do. They talk to each other, and they’ll talk if you listen. Trouble is, white people don’t listen. They never learned to listen to the Indians, so I don’t suppose they’ll listen to other voices in nature.…

Bird Droppings October 23, 2022 Have we sold our souls for a few trinkets and or don’t want to die in Georgia Morning is a special time for me, always a new beginning. Today I went out a bit early from the house to take out the garbage and stand silently for a moment. As…

Bird Droppings October 22, 2022An eclectic morning 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, walking about in flip-flops. I walked my wife to her car; she was headed to Warner Robins to visit her…

Bird Droppings October 19, 2022 What is that piece you cannot teach teachers? “Studies suggest that instructional and management processes are key to effectiveness, but many interview and survey responses about effective teaching emphasize the teacher’s affective characteristics, or social and emotional behaviors, more than pedagogical practice.” James H. Stronge, Qualities of Effective Teachers I…