The daily meanderings of a teacher

Bird Droppings January 11, 2022 Sailing off the edge and or thinking out of a box I was thinking back nearly seventeen years when history was made as a new president was sworn in and as one of my students came into class and asked to start working on his assignments. I did not beg…

Bird Droppings January 10, 2022 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 7, 2022Can 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. I think she was in a class with me when I…

Bird Droppings January 6, 2022 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, 2022Quietly 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, 2022Examining 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, 2022 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, 2022Why 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, 2022 Trying not to trip on a grain of sand on the first day of a new year A new year ahead, 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 might elude…

Birddroppings December 30, 2021 Venting a bit on a Thursday morning I wrote yesterday and was going to be lazy today to get ready for the holiday. Lately, I had a doctor’s appointment and a rapid test, and I did test negative for COVID-19 again for the fourth time, which relieved my asthma has been…