The daily meanderings of a teacher

Tag: Teaching

  • Learning is a journey strewn with boulders

    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…

  • It would be great if we could script great teachers or develop a package that truly provided teachers with student learning.

    Bird Droppings January 14, 2025 It would be great if we could script great teachers or develop a package that truly provided teachers with student learning. I have watched several movies about teachers over the years. It hit me as I thought it would be great if we could provide a package for new teachers…

  • Finding a pathway even when one does not appear

    Bird Droppings December 30, 2024Finding a pathway even when one does not appear The past week has sort of run together, although each was an interesting day in its own right. It may have been sitting and watching movies with the family after sharing gifts, eating all day long, and then getting ready to head…

  • Why do we WORK?

    Bird Droppings December 28, 2024 Why do we WORK? “Pleasure in the job puts perfection in the work.” Aristotle How many times do we all hear how difficult the job is or how “I hate my job?” I am always confused when I hear this. I want to ask why you are doing this if…

  • Reading your view sometimes offers a clue

    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…

  • Is there a difference between progressive and traditional teachers?

    Bird Droppings December 23, 2024 Is there a difference between progressive and traditional teachers? A few years back, in a ninth-grade literature class that I happened to be co-teaching, I was introduced to the book Freedom Writers Diary. We also watched the film based on the book. In some ways, the story is similar to…

  • Determining what to learn

    Bird Droppings December 19, 2024 Determining what to learn “Suppose that we are wise enough to learn and know — and yet not wise enough to control our learning and knowledge so that we use it to destroy ourselves? Even if that is so, knowledge remains better than ignorance. It is better to know —…

  • Where have all the teachers gone?

    Bird Droppings December 15, 2024 Where have all the teachers gone? I first wrote a variation of this essay nearly seventeen years ago. Over the past few days, I have been talking with a few new college seniors who are student-teaching. As I head out to get my odds and ends done for the week,…

  • What is the Holy Grail in education?

    Bird Droppings December 12, 2024 What is the Holy Grail in education? Teachers in Georgia High Schools on block schedules are scrambling this time of year to get ready for the semester’s End-of-course and or tests/milestones. Basically, teachers are told by administrators to prepare for the tests. Teachers are encouraged to be proactive and practice…

  • Understanding the symbols of life

    Bird Droppings December 10, 2024Understanding the symbols of life  Symbols express and represent meaning. Meaning helps provide purpose and understanding in the lives of human beings. Indeed, to live without symbols is to experience existence far short of its full meaning. Ways of expressing and representing meaning include the symbol systems of mathematics, spoke and…