Bird Droppings March 12, 2013 The courage to teach “Teaching, like any truly human activity, emerges from one’s inwardness, for better or for worse. As I teach, I project the condition of my soul onto my students, my subjects, and our way of being together. The entanglements I experience in the classroom are often no…

Bird Droppings March 11, 2013 When leaving a piece is always left behind “All changes, even the most longed for, have their melancholy; for what we leave behind is a part of ourselves; we must die to one life before we can enter into another!” Gail Sheehy, American journalist, author It has been a most…

Bird Droppings March 10, 2013 Can we change things? “Therefore the shortage of effective teachers is not a problem that can be solved by a new structure. It is caused by how we train and manage teachers, and can only be solved by improving the way we do this, no matter what the structure of…

Bird Droppings March 8, 2013 Thinking about Dr. Jung and school reform “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 the years I have seen this with myself, so…

Bird Droppings March 7, 2013 Why should life be a difficult journey? “Use what talent you possess: the woods would be very silent if no birds sang except those that sang best.” Henry Van Dyke I was visiting with my mother Monday evening and I walked by my fathers and brothers grave site or I…

Bird Droppings March 6, 2013 What is it like to be caught up in a moment of quiet? An occasionally coo or whisper on the baby monitor here near where I am sitting is my only sound as I start my morning along with I walking out to a smiling moon and clear sky after…

Bird Droppings March 5, 2013 Is it only a dropped feather? “If we consider the eagle feather with its light and dark colors, we could argue that ‘the dark colors are more beautiful and, therefore, naturally more valuable,’ or vice versa. Regardless of which colors are more beautiful, or necessary, or valuable, the truth is…

Bird Droppings March 4, 2013 Changing Behavior “In order to change behavior of a person, the ultimate factor is motivation, and more attention needs to be paid to the mental state.” The Dalai Lama In dealing with students and people in general changing behavior is perhaps one element that crosses so many different aspects of…

Bird Droppings March 1. 2013 An owl calling Last night I woke for a few minutes my wife thought I had left the burner on with a pot still on the stove I had cooked up my world famous chicken and rice for dinner. While up I stuck my nose out the door perhaps intuition…

Bird Droppings February 28, 2013 Practicing Patience It has been nearly forty years since I first went to Hemmingway’s just off the interstate in Decatur Georgia. It was a favorite local entertainment establishment. My wife and I would go prior and after our marriage primarily to listen to a local singer who with his band…