The daily meanderings of a teacher

Bird Droppings June 24, 2022Today should always be a first day “I have seen that in any great undertaking it is not enough for a man to depend simply upon himself.” Lone Man (Isna-la-wica)Teton Sioux So often in life, we think we are the one and we can do it all on our own with…

Bird Droppings June 17, 2022 Why do we wish, wonder, and wait? “Calamity is the perfect glass wherein we truly see and know ourselves.” William Davenant It has been nearly fifteen years since we moved last and found ourselves in this house.  I was not sure where to start. Several ideas have been running through my…

Bird Droppings June 16, 2022Teaching and or 2.7 seconds on a bull named Fu Manchu After returning from PT, I walked into the house after running a few errands, swam about a mile, and sat down to write. I will assume retirement will not be as tense and hectic as my first day teaching high…

Bird Droppings June 15, 2022Life is making a quilt Nearly fifteen years ago, my wife told me that my mother said this would be a happy time, a joyous occasion, as we celebrated my father’s life on a Sunday. She said we even have a snow cone machine, and I thought it gets hot in…

Bird Droppings June 14, 2022Teaching in a spiritual sense “Solitude does not necessarily mean living apart from others; rather, it’s never living apart from oneself. Not about the absence of other people – it is about being fully present to ourselves, whether or not we are with others.” Parker Palmer Dr. Parker Palmer is an…

Bird Droppings June 13, 2022Wondering is a powerful tool Several years back, during the school year, we started a school-wide vocabulary of the week. I was reminded of this as I looked through my various files for quotes. About six years ago, as the day wound down, an email from the head of the English…

Bird Droppings June 12, 2022Can you be dreaming, imagining, thinking, ponderingAnd reflecting all in a few minutes? I drove to southeast Georgia over ten years ago to take my oral exams for my doctorate. This was a face-to-face follow-up with my committee of professors and, in turn, responding to my three written questions which were…

Bird Droppings June 7, 2022 A firefly crossed my path  I wonder how many even notice when a firefly crosses their path. Most will not even stop to look at an insignificant moment in time. Today, as I sat in the darkness of a quiet morning, fireflies graced my yard for the first time; I…

Bird Droppings June 6, 2022Keeping the stories going remembering a dear friend For years, I would visit, take photos and offer my two cents at the Foxfire Approach to Teaching Course by Piedmont College for graduate students and teachers already in the classroom in Mountain City, Georgia. This course had been an elective graduate class…

Bird Droppings June 3, 2022Trying to teach an unteachable child “Let us think of education as the means of developing our greatest abilities because in each of us there is a private hope and dream which, fulfilled, can be translated into benefit for everyone and greater strength for our nation.” John F. Kennedy As I…