The daily meanderings of a teacher

Tag: Writing

  • Telling our grandchildren the stories is crucial and can be fun

    Bird Droppings January 25, 2026Telling our grandchildren the stories is crucial and can be fun “I wanted to give something of my past to my grandson. So, I took him into the woods to a quiet spot. Seated at my feet he listened as I told him of the powers that were given to each…

  • Maybe some snow and ice and silence

    Bird Droppings January 23, 2026Maybe some snow and ice and silence “I have never found the companion that was so companionable as solitude. We are, for the most part, more lonely when we go abroad among men than when we stay in our chambers.” Henry David Thoreau, Solitude, Walden, 1854 There has been an attraction…

  • Trying to understand giving thanks, war, and Teaching and heart

    Bird Droppings January 22, 2026Trying to understand giving thanks, war, and Teaching and heart I seldom have a difficult time sleeping. I crashed the other night after a long day of cleaning up after my grandkids and a long week getting stitches out and closure on my surgery, and trying to keep up with my…

  • Why should there be no teasing?

    Bird Droppings January 19, 2026Why should there be no teasing? “Before you speak, ask yourself, is it kind, is it necessary, and is it true, does it improve on the silence?” Hindu proverb So, I often speak first and clean up afterward, simply walking away, leaving whoever I am conversing with confused. I have a…

  • Taking and making the most of each moment and learning about moleskin: I think we need to find moleskin in education, along with switchbacks.

    Bird Droppings January 15, 2026 Taking and making the most of each moment and learning about moleskin: I think we need to find moleskin in education, along with switchbacks. In years past, before my son got married and took Timber with him, I sometimes miss waking up to our dog barking because he needed to…

  • Learning and teaching are not the same, yet they intertwine.

    Bird Droppings January 14, 2026Learning and teaching are not the same, yet they intertwine. “In the case of good books, the point is not to see how many of them you can get through, but how many can get through to you.” Dr. Mortimer J. Adler Dr. Adler founded the Center for the Study of…

  • Our perceptions vary greatly about life

    Bird Droppings January 11, 2026 Our perceptions vary greatly about life “Life is 10 percent what you make it and 90 percent how you take it.” Irving Berlin Over twenty-five years ago, I was waiting to return to teaching after nearly twenty-three years in the publishing business. I was anxious. I had gone by the high…

  • Looking in a different direction to start the morning

    Bird Droppings January 8, 2025Looking in a different direction to start the morning “Beginnings start in the east – from where the sun rises, we begin a new dawn. Each day is a good new day with a fresh beginning, a new start. East is the direction of the physical body and newness, including children…

  • Can we define our success, or does it take another?

    Bird Droppings January 7, 2025Can we define our success, or does it take another? Recently, teachable moments have been rare, as I have been very monastic between retirement, grandchildren, and cautious awareness. Yesterday, while grocery shopping, I ran into a former student of sorts. I think she was in a class with me when I…

  • The symbolism of the Totem Pole

    Bird Droppings January 6, 2025 The symbolism of the Totem Pole Growing up in my family, my father had made numerous totem poles in our backyards over the years. Each was painted with images of creatures. Eagles, bears, and wolves adorned the totem poles. The last one was torn down or fell only a few…