The daily meanderings of a teacher

Tag: Parenting

  • I am pondering and researching education while remembering a waterfall.

    Bird Droppings April 10, 2025I am pondering and researching education while remembering a waterfall. It has been almost fifteen years since I stayed at the Sylvan Mills Bed and Breakfast in a room literally over a waterfall. I went up to North Georgia to recharge; perhaps another word might be to rekindle my passion for…

  • It is in pondering the questions that understanding comes through

    Bird Droppings March 18, 2025It is in pondering the questions that understanding comes through It has been an interesting start to spring, weather-wise. I have been battling allergies and sinus issues daily, exacerbated by the fluctuating weather, including both cold and hot temperatures, rain, and periods of drought, as well as pollen. When I headed…

  • Teaching and life are simply feeding wolves.

    Bird Droppings March 12, 2025Teaching and life are simply feeding wolves. When I opened my computer this morning, the news stories were depressing.  It has been about five years since numerous news stories and jokes addressed the college guidance company that was busted for getting wealthy kids into college for money. Today we are faced…

  • 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…