The daily meanderings of a teacher

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…

Bird Droppings October 12, 2022Walking along the way in my journey I am trying to build up my endurance, and I am trying to walk as much as I can each day. Pat and I are headed to Pawleys island in the morning, and I hope I can get some serious steps in. As I…

Bird Droppings October 10, 2022An epiphany of sorts on a chilly October morning  I spent the better part of yesterday avoiding any direction, so intent on the moment, I was missing cues to the past and future. It was two years ago that our neighborhood changed. On top of everything, I was worn out from…

Bird Droppings October 5, 2022 Teach to where the learning will be, not to where it is I got a text from my middle son about a year ago that a package was coming from my granddaughter and was very fragile. My box came; I thought I should open it while videotaping. I carefully opened…

Bird Droppings October 3, 2022 Why are we deliberately wrong? I stopped playing the lottery nearly four years ago. However, I will admit that I am pondering retiring with a Powerball jackpot of nearly seven hundred million dollars. If I win, I might need to play my numbers. I would if I won devoted time…