The daily meanderings of a teacher

Tag: Chief Luther Standing Bear

  • Longing for the simplicity

    Bird Droppings December 11, 2012 Longing for the simplicity   My reading and writing has taken a beating with the getting ready for the end of the semester, a trip to North Carolina and new grandbaby, and driving my wife to and from work since she broke her foot. Of course nothing would have stopped…

  • We seek the Holy Grail in education, but should be looking for a paper cup

    Bird Droppings December 10, 2012 We seek the Holy Grail in education, but should be looking for a paper cup   “Instead of seeing these children for the blessings that they are, we are measuring them only by the standard of whether they will be future deficits or assets for our nation’s competitive needs.”  Jonathan…

  • Sometimes there is no concrete answer

    Bird Droppings December 9, 2012 Sometimes there is no concrete answer “Obsessive search for the holy grail through only that which can be measured and documented effectively diminishes the sacred and leaves us standing empty without souls.” Dr. Grant Bennett               A day or two ago I got a bit carried away and wandered…

  • There is an aspect you cannot teach

    Bird Droppings December 7, 2012 There is an aspect 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…

  • Looking to nature for answers

    Bird Droppings December 6, 2012 Looking to Nature for answers   As I read and pondered a world engrossed with money and how we can spend money. I wonder if perhaps some of the thinking that is bringing so many American Indians back to their more traditional world views has merit. I was beginning to…

  • A new life coming

    Bird Droppings December 3, 2012 A new life coming Resurrection By Susan Thomas Underwood The universe is energy in constant motion. There are ebbs and flows; Outcomes and income, And change…… Always change.   The physical world reflects this motion In the cycles of life, There is spring and fall, winter and summer, Birth and…

  • Listening to a philosopher

    Bird Droppings November 30, 2012 Listening to a philosopher A beautiful sky this morning as I walked out and actually not too cold which is surprising as the sky while filled with clouds was clear. A moon reflecting across from the west is lighting up the sky and white billowing clouds presented a surreal picture…

  • Observation is a skill therefore observing is learned

    Bird Droppings November 29, 2012 Observation is a skill and therefore observing is learned   “I do not write from mythology when I reflect upon Native American spirituality in this book. In my own opinion, mythology leads to superstition; and superstition has proved fatally destruction to many millions down through time. It is ironic, then…

  • Some will see a tapestry as a spider spins others a cobweb

    Bird Droppings November 28, 2012 Some will see a tapestry as a spider spins others a cobweb   “For certain fortunate people there is something that transcends all classifications of behavior, and that is awareness, something which rises from the programming of the past, and that is spontaneity; and something that is more rewarding than…

  • Can we really see while looking?

    Bird Droppings November 25, 2012 Can we really see while looking?   “Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it.” William Arthur Ward, college administrator, writer (1921-1994)   It has been several weeks now that I have been fighting a tough cold and this week bronchitis so I…