The daily meanderings of a teacher

Tag: Education

  • Our example is how children learn.

    Bird Droppings February 2, 2025Our example is how children learn. “We taught our children by both example and instruction, but with an emphasis on example, because all learning is a dead language to one who gets it second hand.” Kent Nerburn, The Wisdom of the Native Americans For nearly fifteen years, I have looked to…

  • A morning meandering while thinking about the moon glowing.

    Bird Droppings January 31, 2025A morning meandering while thinking about the moon glowing. Last night, as I looked out at the night sky, I honestly was not sure if the moon was glowing or not. It was too overcast. However, I started thinking back to tutoring a student trying to get caught up and return…

  • I am reading a friend’s book for the sixth time and each time find a new thought.

    Bird Droppings January 29, 2025I am reading a friend’s book for the sixth time and each time find a new thought. I was so tired when I laid down last night after dinner and a bit of TV. I had spent the day driving around doing errands, going to my grandson’s concert, and attempting to…

  • A series of paradoxes and bewilderment

    Bird Droppings January 27, 2025A series of paradoxes and bewilderment I received the following in an email several years ago. A friend of mine sent it out, and as I read it the first time, it was humorous. However, as I pondered then as a teacher, I read deeper into what was being said. I…

  • What is the freedom we desire?

    Bird Droppings January 25, 2025What is the freedom we desire? “Brute force, no matter how strongly applied, can never subdue the basic human desire for freedom and dignity. It is not enough, as communist systems have assumed, merely to provide people with food, shelter, and clothing. Human nature needs to breathe the precious air of…

  • For some, creating and writing in a digital world is difficult.

    Bird Droppings January 22, 2025For some, creating and writing in a digital world is difficult. “Experience is not what happens to a man; it is what a man does with what happens to him.” Aldus Huxley In 1965, I was introduced to this author in a tenth-grade English Class. The book Brave New World was…

  • Learning is a journey strewn with boulders

    Bird Droppings January 21, 2025 Learning is a journey strewn with boulders “In a word, learning is decontextualized. We break ideas down into tiny pieces that bear no relation to the whole. We give students a brick of information, followed by another brick, followed by another brick, until they have graduated, at which point we…

  • It would be great if we could script great teachers or develop a package that truly provided teachers with student learning.

    Bird Droppings January 14, 2025 It would be great if we could script great teachers or develop a package that truly provided teachers with student learning. I have watched several movies about teachers over the years. It hit me as I thought it would be great if we could provide a package for new teachers…

  • Bird Droppings January 10, 2025 Caregiving and or being cared for, we need both? “To care and be cared for are fundamental human needs. We all need to be cared for by other human beings. In infancy, illness, or old age, the need is urgent and pervasive; we need caregiving, and we need the special…

  • I am sitting by my computer, thinking of a circle.

    Bird Droppings January 2, 2024I am sitting by my computer, thinking of a circle. I missed the last rerun of a favorite miniseries, Into the West, and one of these days, I will find it streaming somewhere. The movie starts and ends with a circle of stones with a line going east to west and…