Bird Droppings February 25, 2025 I ponder educational genocide as this administration tries to gut education and or NCLB, norming children, only leaves the best I was huddled in my Carhart vest as I went outside to chase a sunrise this morning. I stopped along the way to think a bit about the up-and-coming defense…

Bird Droppings February 22, 2025Are we going in the right direction? I reviewed my student’s online work status four years ago. There were a couple of surprises and some that were not. I thought that when the virus finally moved on and the smoke cleared, some grades would go up, and some would drop. We…

Bird Droppings February 21, 2025The Power of Example goes beyond the curriculum. “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 twenty-five years, I have…

Bird Droppings February 20, 2025Do we have a desire for freedom? “Brute force, no matter how strongly applied, can never subdue the basic human desire for freedom and dignity. It is not enough, as communist systems have assumed, merely to provide people with food, shelter, and clothing. Human nature needs to breathe the precious air…

Bird Droppings February 8, 2025I am pondering about Dr. Carl G. Jung and “school reform.”I find the answer is simple: CARING. “If there is anything we wish to change in the child, we should first examine it and see whether it is not something that could better be changed in ourselves.” Carl G. Jung Over…

Bird Droppings February 2, 2025Our example is how children learn. “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 fifteen years, I have looked to…

Bird Droppings January 29, 2025I am reading a friend’s book for the sixth time and each time find a new thought. I was so tired when I laid down last night after dinner and a bit of TV. I had spent the day driving around doing errands, going to my grandson’s concert, and attempting to…

Bird Droppings January 25, 2025What is the freedom we desire? “Brute force, no matter how strongly applied, can never subdue the basic human desire for freedom and dignity. It is not enough, as communist systems have assumed, merely to provide people with food, shelter, and clothing. Human nature needs to breathe the precious air of…

Bird Droppings January 21, 2025 Learning is a journey strewn with boulders “In a word, learning is decontextualized. We break ideas down into tiny pieces that bear no relation to the whole. We give students a brick of information, followed by another brick, followed by another brick, until they have graduated, at which point we…

Bird Droppings December 26, 2024Reading your view sometimes offers a clue After forty-six years of marriage, it seems almost like day one. Every day and each day keeps getting better. Periodically, over the past years, I received at some odd hour of the night and or morning a paper to review for my youngest son…