The daily meanderings of a teacher

Tag: Life

  • Being patient

    Bird Droppings December 18, 2012 Being patient   I find the end of a semester both exciting and sad at the same time. There are students who I will see every day coming by my room and others possibly never again as in a large high school it is easy to remain hidden away if…

  • Reading about your own views sometimes offers a clue

    Bird Droppings December 16&17, 2012 Reading about your own views sometimes offers a clue   After thirty four years of marriage yesterday it seemed almost like day one. Every day and each day keeps getting better. Periodically I will receive at some odd hour of the night and or morning a paper to review for…

  • Placing the puzzle pieces in specified places

    Bird Droppings December 15, 2012 Placing the puzzle pieces in specified places   “In order to learn the nature of the myriad things, you must know that although they may look round or square, the other features of oceans and mountains are infinite in variety; whole worlds are there. It is so not only around…

  • Go up another rung!

    Bird Droppings December 13, 2012 Go up another rung!   A week of testing is nearly ended and the mountain is nearly climbed as we approach the holidays. I even with my aversion to shopping will be going out with my wife to brave the masses of the malls over the weekend and finish up…

  • Are there any possibilities?

    Bird Droppings December 12, 2012 Are there any possibilities?   “Life has no limitations, except the ones you make.” Les Brown   I was sitting talking with one of my sons yesterday remembering when I was their age. I should say trying to remember when I was their age that would be more appropriate. It…

  • 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…