The daily meanderings of a teacher

Tag: Life

  • Why is seeking peace so difficult?

    Bird Droppings June 10, 2025Why is seeking peace so difficult? Around the world, armies are moving as I write. There are missiles being aimed and tanks rolling. War is a profit-driven machine for industry, and sadly, it is more about money than ideology. I have always been against war and have always felt that there…

  • Teaching and or 2.7 seconds on a bull named Fu Manchu

    Bird Droppings June 16, 2022Teaching and or 2.7 seconds on a bull named Fu Manchu After returning from taking pictures, I walked into the house after running a few errands and sat down to write. I will assume retirement will not be as tense and hectic as my first day teaching high school on September…

  • Is the curriculum sacred?

    Bird Droppings May 26, 2025Is the curriculum sacred? Today is Memorial Day, and we honor our fathers, grandfathers, mothers, and grandmothers who have served our country. As I drove around this morning, I pondered my dad and his stories of World War II. He was a medic on an LSM in the South Pacific and…

  • Bird Droppings May 24, 2025 To die a happy death: I taught high school for nearly twenty years, and after summer break, another year ahead, hopefully doing some part-time work. I am starting my writing day a bit later than normal since we had grandbabies over and I am plum tuckered out. Over the past…

  • Can we even compare ethics and politics?

    Bird Droppings May 21, 2025Can we even compare ethics and politics? I picked up a copy of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution about eight years ago. The front page had various articles, but one caught my attention. Having been a student in psychology at Mercer University in Macon, I was required to go on a field trip…

  • Bird Droppings May 19, 2025 Innocence is more than a definition. “Look at children. Of course, they may quarrel, but generally speaking, they do not harbor ill feelings as much or as long as adults do. Most adults have the advantage of education over children, but what is the use of an education if they…

  • Bird Droppings May 17, 2025 Is there a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow? “Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be.” Abraham Lincoln Perhaps some people are inherently grouchy in the scheme of things; in Lincoln’s view, they want to be grouchy. Sitting here pondering…

  • Searching for a flower, the butterfly pea (Clitoria marina), or is it gone now

    Bird Droppings May 7, 2025Searching for a flower, the butterfly pea (Clitoria marina), or is it gone now Interestingly, I had two thoughts earlier in the week as I started the day that made me think of them. One I heard on the radio was that I was going to get some gas in my…

  • Wondering is a powerful tool.

    Bird Droppings May 6, 2025Wondering is a powerful tool. Several years back, we started a school-wide vocabulary of the week during the school year. I was reminded of this as I looked through my various files for quotes. About eight years ago, as the day wound down, an email from the head of the English…

  • Bird Droppings April 27, 2025POTENTIAL is only a word unless applied “Love is a complex experience which seems to follow no rules but its own. Romantic love can have the power of a hurricane or the tenderness of a soft, wet wind. I have known, too, a chance introduction which instantly and magically merged into…