Bird Droppings June 22, 2014 What does it take to see the fluidity of life? “Adverse circumstances test our courage, our strength of mind, and the depth of our conviction in the natural law. There is nothing exceptional about practicing in a good environment and atmosphere. The true test is if we can maintain our…

Bird Droppings June 20, 2014 Why do children do what they do? “Our task is to make our children into disciples of the good life, by our own actions toward them and toward other people. This is the only effective discipline in the long run. But it is more arduous, and takes longer, than simply…

Bird Droppings June 19, 2014 Translating and communicating are critical elements in teaching “Scientific management is always on guard against people who don’t fit securely into boxes, whether because of too much competency, too much creativity, too much popularity or what have you. Although often hired, it is with the understanding they must be kept…

Bird Droppings June 18, 2014 Empathy; do we all have it? It was a year ago I was sitting at breakfast beside a waterfall on the side of the mountain outside Clayton Georgia. It was wet there being it is a temperate deciduous rainforest in North Georgia and cooler at night than what I was…

Bird Droppings June 17, 2014 Pondering and researching education while listening to a waterfalls A year ago today I was staying at the Sylvan Mills Bed and Breakfast in a room over a waterfalls. I went up to North Georgia to recharge perhaps another word might be to rekindle my passion for education and learning…

Bird Droppings June 16, 2014 Should we be trying to fill a liter bottle? The current educational trends are analogous to trying to pour five gallons of material into a liter bottle using a funnel. As you try obliviously a large portion of material spills out and is discarded or lost. I use a liter…

Bird Droppings June 15, 2014 Amazing how intertwined the strands of life really are and or my reflection on a Foxfire trip I was asked at lunch Thursday when did I start teaching and I responded at age twelve. The group I was with was thinking I was being my typical sarcastic self. Then I…

Bird Droppings June 13, 2014 Is not every day a new journey begun? “School divides life into two segments, which are increasingly of comparable length. As much as anything else, schooling implies custodial care for persons who are declared undesirable elsewhere by the simple fact that a school has been built to serve them.” Ivan…

Bird Droppings June 12, 2014 Can you be dreaming, imagining, thinking, pondering and reflecting all in a few minutes? I drove to south east Georgia over five years ago to take my oral exams for my doctorate. This was basically a follow-up face to face with my committee of professors and in turn responding to…

Bird Droppings June 11, 2014 Should not a teacher be allowed a recharge? Keeping the energy flowing is crucial I visit, take photos and offer my two cents at two and sometimes three Foxfire Approach to Teaching Courses a year put on by Piedmont College for graduate students and teachers already in the classroom in…