Bird Droppings August 3, 2018 Should children be left behind?               “I believe that our own experience instructs us that the secret of education lies in         respecting the pupil. It is not for you to choose what he shall know, what he shall do. It     is chosen and foreordained, and he only…

Bird Droppings August 2, 2018 Do we teach or are we taught, a great question?   “The only thing that interferes with my learning is my education.” Albert Einstein   Andrea Teader does Podcasts, I happened upon one while sitting in my doctor’s office looking up storytelling on the internet. She started her Podcast, The…

Bird Dropping August 1, 2018 Why is it hard to think about compassion?   Almost six years ago I was quietly sitting in a hotel room in South Carolina it was still dark outside and it was odd not being at school. I so seldom missed a day of school. My middle son and his…

Bird Droppings July 18, 2018 Doing is the best teacher   It has been an interesting week already. Monday I had two of our grandkids over and we swam and played all day. Yesterday sat down and talked with my mother looking at old photos and just remembering. Today is work on paper day and…

Bird Droppings July 9, 2018 In a world of data can we still use intuition?   I mentioned to a fellow teacher I can tell when a child has emotional issues most of the time after observing a few minutes and listening. Granted observations are part of most evaluations but I was referring to an…

Bird Droppings June 20, 2018 Constructivism Montessori, Piaget, Vygotsky, Dewey and others With the bulk of education in the early 1900’s following closely the Industrial Revolution and mass production, a few great thinkers took the concept of the individual child in psychology and education in new directions as to its relationship to children. How children…

Bird Droppings June 17, 2018 Amazing how intertwined the strands of life really are   I was asked at dinner one time when did I start teaching and I responded at age twelve. The group I was with was thinking I was being my typical sarcastic self. Then I explained I started teaching swimming with…

Bird Droppings June 13, 2018 Why is seeking peace so difficult?   Around the world armies are moving as I write. There are missiles are being aimed and tanks rolling. War is a profit driving machine for industry and sadly more so about money than ideology. I have always been against war and always have…

Bird Droppings June 5, 2018 I wonder what my favorite store is; Then again is it even important?   Interesting I had two thoughts earlier in the week 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 satellite…

Bird Droppings June 4, 2018 Teaching and or 2.7 seconds on a bull named Fu Manchu   I just finished my first year of teaching retirement from high school. Thinking back my last day was rough but not quite as bad, tense and hectic as my first on September 11, 2001. I began my last…