Bird Droppings June 23, 2016 Why do we fail? Many times, I have wondered why people stop learning. I see it in high school students, in college and graduate students. Almost as if a switch is thrown and poof no more learning, I have reached my limit. I had a teacher approach me before school…

Bird Droppings June20, 2016 A spiritual side to teaching “Solitude does not necessarily mean living apart from others; rather, it’s never living apart from one’s self. Not about absence of other people – it is about being fully present to ourselves, whether or not we are with others.” Parker Palmer Dr. Parker Palmer is an…

Bird Droppings June 18, 2016 The head of education in the US should not be an idiot It was six years ago I was reading an article actually an interview with Arne Duncan, the former Secretary of Education. I selected a few choice quotes from his interview to savor and ponder for a few days.…

Bird Droppings June 16, 2016 Trying to teach an unteachable child “Let us think of education as the means of developing our greatest abilities, because in each of us there is a private hope and dream which, fulfilled, can be translated into benefit for everyone and greater strength for our nation.” John F. Kennedy As…

Bird Droppings June 15, 2016 I am always thinking about where I am going It has been a hectic few days starting last Friday. I drove down to Savannah to present my portion of a new book coming out soon edited by Dr. Bill Reynolds. Rural Places: Cartography of the forgotten, is based on critical…

Bird Droppings June 13, 2016 I wonder what my favorite store is; Then again is it even important? Interesting two thoughts while similar struck me this morning as I started the day out. One I heard on the radio going to get some air in my wife’s tire in her car from a radio announcer…

Bird Droppings June 10, 2016 Teaching and or 2.7 seconds on a bull named Fu Manchu I will be having my sixteenth first day of school at this high school. I will just assume it will not be as tense and hectic as my first on September 11, 2001. I began the day thinking back…

Bird Droppings June 8, 2016 I am always searching for the ends of a bell-shaped curve I was reminded as a former student ran into me at Kroger last night of how we as teacher’s impact lives. Students are so much more than test scores and grades. So much more than content we teach. I…

Bird Droppings June 7, 2016 Wondering is a powerful tool Several years back during the school year we started sort of a school-wide vocabulary of the week I was reminded of this as I was looking through my various files for quotes and such. About three years ago as the day wound down an email…

Bird Droppings June 6, 2016 Don’t cross word puzzles take some time? Towards the end of my last History class that I teach in college one of my students was working on a particular assignment and had to define bias. She was not sure which definition was correct and asked my opinion. I explained in…