The daily meanderings of a teacher

Tag: mental-health

  • Can we define our success, or does it take another?

    Bird Droppings January 7, 2025Can we define our success, or does it take another? Recently, teachable moments have been rare, as I have been very monastic between retirement, grandchildren, and cautious awareness. Yesterday, while grocery shopping, I ran into a former student of sorts. I think she was in a class with me when I…

  • Who would have thought that a buffalo snort in the dark could impact me almost thirty years later?

    Bird Droppings November 24, 2024 Who would have thought that a buffalo snort in the dark could impact me almost thirty years later? I use the word synchronicity quite often. Perhaps more than twenty times a day. I drove up to the corner store for gas, and I gathered up coinage from the dashboard. I…

  • One puzzle piece at a time, a secret formula for good teaching.

    Bird Droppings December 4, 2025One puzzle piece at a time, a secret formula for good teaching. “Most people would succeed in small things if they were not troubled with great ambitions.” Henry Wadsworth Longfellow How many times are we told “take your time”? So often in life, we are anxious to finish the job or…

  • Reflecting on getting older, I might ponder here for a bit.

    Bird Droppings November 1, 2025Reflecting on getting older, I might ponder here for a bit. As I am now another year older, I have been thinking or pondering, as I say. I started writing my daily sojourns nearly twenty-five years ago. I first used a YAHOO group, then Myspace, and graduated to WordPress and Facebook.…

  • Who would have thought of a buffalo snort in the dark?

    Bird Droppings October 16, 2025Who would have thought of a buffalo snort in the dark? “Life is no brief candle to me. It is a sort of splendid torch which I have got a hold of for the moment, and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to…

  • Like the spider web, all of life is connected and intertwined.

    Bird Droppings October 3, 2025Like the spider web, all of life is connected and intertwined. As I thought about the Sydney J. Harris passage below, I recall a walk one morning out to a quiet spot where I would meditate, and something hit me as I faced east towards the rising sun, the gossamer threads…

  • Ponderingerest is that even a word?

    Bird Droppings September 2, 2025 Ponderingerest is that even a word? Coming up are some exciting days. One is an interesting yet solemn day marked by dark memories; twenty-four years ago, I started teaching again after a twenty-three-year layoff; thirty-six years ago, we brought a new baby home. So many memories are coming up this…

  • I am told there is a reason.

    Bird Droppings August 18, 2025 I am told there is a reason. Early today, I should not get into disagreements on Covid, and I try to avoid it. I have strong feelings about vaccines, being a polio survivor, and I mentioned I was one of the lucky ones who survived. I started back to teaching.…

  • What does it take for that light bulb to go on?

    Bird Droppings August 3, 2025What does it take for that light bulb to go on? It has been nearly nineteen years since my doctoral cohort at Georgia Southern ended, and we began the journey on our own. For a couple of semesters, I was a member of a new cohort at Piedmont College and wandering…

  • I find myself lately asking. How do we know if we are still human?

    Bird Droppings July 25, 2025I find myself lately asking. How do we know if we are still human? Perhaps it is from growing up in a situation where we were daily aware of special needs children and adults from the birth of my younger brother till his passing almost twenty years ago. Those in my…