The daily meanderings of a teacher

Tag: Education

  • Can you give it one more try?

    Bird Droppings December 29, 2024Can you give it one more try? “You win some, you lose some, and some get rained out, but you gotta suit up for them all.” Satchel Paige is often attributed to J. Askenberg In my high school teaching days, teachers at my school judged seasons by testing season, not weather.…

  • Why do we WORK?

    Bird Droppings December 28, 2024 Why do we WORK? “Pleasure in the job puts perfection in the work.” Aristotle How many times do we all hear how difficult the job is or how “I hate my job?” I am always confused when I hear this. I want to ask why you are doing this if…

  • Reading your view sometimes offers a clue

    Bird Droppings December 26, 2024Reading your view sometimes offers a clue After forty-six years of marriage, it seems almost like day one. Every day and each day keeps getting better. Periodically, over the past years, I received at some odd hour of the night and or morning a paper to review for my youngest son…

  • Is there a difference between progressive and traditional teachers?

    Bird Droppings December 23, 2024 Is there a difference between progressive and traditional teachers? A few years back, in a ninth-grade literature class that I happened to be co-teaching, I was introduced to the book Freedom Writers Diary. We also watched the film based on the book. In some ways, the story is similar to…

  • Determining what to learn

    Bird Droppings December 19, 2024 Determining what to learn “Suppose that we are wise enough to learn and know — and yet not wise enough to control our learning and knowledge so that we use it to destroy ourselves? Even if that is so, knowledge remains better than ignorance. It is better to know —…

  • Where have all the teachers gone?

    Bird Droppings December 15, 2024 Where have all the teachers gone? I first wrote a variation of this essay nearly seventeen years ago. Over the past few days, I have been talking with a few new college seniors who are student-teaching. As I head out to get my odds and ends done for the week,…

  • What is the Holy Grail in education?

    Bird Droppings December 12, 2024 What is the Holy Grail in education? Teachers in Georgia High Schools on block schedules are scrambling this time of year to get ready for the semester’s End-of-course and or tests/milestones. Basically, teachers are told by administrators to prepare for the tests. Teachers are encouraged to be proactive and practice…

  • Understanding the symbols of life

    Bird Droppings December 10, 2024Understanding the symbols of life  Symbols express and represent meaning. Meaning helps provide purpose and understanding in the lives of human beings. Indeed, to live without symbols is to experience existence far short of its full meaning. Ways of expressing and representing meaning include the symbol systems of mathematics, spoke and…

  • Finding a pathway even when one does not appear

    Bird Droppings December 9, 2025Finding a pathway even when one does not appear The past week has all run sort of together, although each was an interesting day. It may have been sitting and watching movies with the grandkids, eating all day long, and then getting ready to head to North Carolina or South Georgia…

  • Foxfire is a name for a fungus glowing in the dark until you wander up Black Rock Mountain.

    Bird Droppings December 4, 2024Foxfire is a name for a fungus glowing in the dark until you wander up Black Rock Mountain. A few weeks back, I was involved in another synchronous adventure, as I am daily. I have been thinking about it ever since. I have been a fan of Carl Jung and the idea…