The daily meanderings of a teacher

Tag: Parenting

  • A morning meandering while the rain keeps coming down

    Bird Droppings March 10, 2025A morning meandering while the rain keeps coming down Almost ten years ago, after tutoring in an after-school program with a student who needs constant repetition of material to remember, I read through several old emails from my doctoral and graduate cohort friends as some are defending their dissertations in the…

  • Children are being taught as they live.

    Bird Droppings March 8, 2025Children are being taught as they live. It is a beautiful spring day outside and quiet after a crazy couple of days of severe weather. It seems the solitude of the country has changed rapidly over the past years. A developer bought our subdivision and has put up thirty more houses.…

  • Bird Droppings February 5, 2025It has been a long time, and yet, it is only a moment. I was sitting along the edge of reality one evening a few days back after having a bad day with bronchitis and asthma. Somewhere, I was in my backyard listening to the wind as it blew through the…

  • All of life is connected and intertwined.

    Bird Droppings February 3, 2025All of life is connected and intertwined. “In all likelihood, one is in the past while in the present. The present is then veiled; the past is manifest and apparent. However, so transparently present that is veiled., and one assumes oneself to be in the present when one is not. To…

  • Why should there be no teasing?

    Bird Droppings January 13, 2025Why should there be no teasing? “Before you speak, ask yourself, is it kind, is it necessary, and is it true? Does it improve the silence?” Hindu proverb So, I often speak first and clean up afterward, simply walking away quite generally, leaving whoever I am conversing with confused and bewildered.…

  • Who would have thought that a buffalo snort in the dark could impact me twenty-five years later?

    Bird Droppings November 24, 2024 Who would have thought that a buffalo snort in the dark could impact me twenty-five years later? “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…

  • The Power of Example goes beyond the curriculum and seeps into life.

    Bird Droppings October 30, 2024The Power of Example goes beyond the curriculum and seeps into life. “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…

  • Do we listen to what we say in our word salads?

    Birddroppings October 2, 2024 Do we listen to what we say in our word salads? “Before you speak, ask yourself, is it kind, is it necessary, and is it true, does it improve on the silence?” Hindu proverb So, I often speak first and clean up afterward, simply walking away quite generally, leaving whoever I…

  • Innocence is more than a definition; it is of the heart.

    Bird Droppings September 26, 2024 Innocence is more than a definition; it is of the heart. “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…

  • Trying to watch a smiling moon

    Bird Droppings November 22, 2011 Trying to watch the smiling moon “Most of us become parents long before we have stopped being children.” Mignon McLaughlin, The Second Neurotic’s Notebook, 1966 Over the past few weeks I have been told about, read about and actually met with parents to be and new parents who are still…