The daily meanderings of a teacher

Tag: Education

  • Quietly listening to Bob Dylan and pondering the word inspiration.

    Bird Droppings March 7, 2025Quietly listening to Bob Dylan and pondering the word inspiration. My mind wandered back fifteen years or more to a county-wide teacher kick-off meeting. I thought back to 2020 and many teachers still monitoring lessons from computers but not in the classroom. Many communities banned gatherings of fifty or more. With…

  • Is there a difference between progressive and traditional teachers?

    Bird Droppings March 6, 2025Is there a difference between progressive and traditional teachers? In a ninth-grade literature class I co-teach many years ago, I was introduced to the book, Freedom Writers Diary, and the film based on the book. In some ways, the story is similar to the story of Foxfire. Erin Gruell, a first-year…

  • Our teaching can make a difference every day.

    Bird Droppings March 5, 2025Our teaching can make a difference every day. I recall one day that I was looking through data as I sat through a special education training session. This is an interesting situation. I was reviewing data from a recent benchmark test in biology. It is an extremely poorly made and designed…

  • A series of paradoxes and bewilderment

    Bird Droppings February 26, 2025A series of paradoxes and bewilderment I received the following in an email back a few days 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…

  • I ponder educational genocide as this administration tries to gut education and or NCLB, norming children, only leaves the best

    Bird Droppings February 25, 2025 I ponder educational genocide as this administration tries to gut education and or NCLB, norming children, only leaves the best I was huddled in my Carhart vest as I went outside to chase a sunrise this morning. I stopped along the way to think a bit about the up-and-coming defense…

  • Are we going in the right direction?

    Bird Droppings February 22, 2025Are we going in the right direction? I reviewed my student’s online work status four years ago. There were a couple of surprises and some that were not. I thought that when the virus finally moved on and the smoke cleared, some grades would go up, and some would drop. We…

  • The Power of Example goes beyond the curriculum.

    Bird Droppings February 21, 2025The Power of Example goes beyond the curriculum. “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 twenty-five years, I have…

  • Do we have a desire for freedom?

    Bird Droppings February 20, 2025Do we have a desire for freedom? “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…

  • Can we teach a love of learning again?

    Bird Droppings February 10, 2025Can we teach a love of learning again? This has been a perplexing time of my life out of the classroom, giving advice here and there to fellow teachers, parents, and students. I recall a car wreck in which a young man died, and his passenger, a good friend of my…

  • I am pondering about Dr. Carl G. Jung and “school reform.”I find the answer is simple: CARING.

    Bird Droppings February 8, 2025I am pondering about Dr. Carl G. Jung and “school reform.”I find the answer is simple: CARING. “If there is anything we wish to change in the child, we should first examine it and see whether it is not something that could better be changed in ourselves.” Carl G. Jung Over…