The daily meanderings of a teacher

Tag: Writing

  • Why do we WORK?

    Bird Droppings December 18, 2025 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…

  • Finding a pathway even when one does not appear

    Bird Droppings December 17, 2025Finding a pathway even when one does not appear The past week has sort of run together, though each day was interesting in its own right. It may have been sitting and watching movies with the family, three hectic days shopping with Pat, our 47th anniversary, chasing sunrises every morning, trying…

  • Looking for synchronous moments

    Bird Droppings December 13, 2025 Looking for synchronous moments Every year for five or so years, I have had lunch during teacher preplanning with my oldest son and a good friend with whom I used to co-teach, and afterward, I walked around the school, visiting with an old friend from the high school where I…

  • Who would have thought that a buffalo snort in the dark could impact me almost thirty years later?

    Bird Droppings November 24, 2024 Who would have thought that a buffalo snort in the dark could impact me almost thirty years later? I use the word synchronicity quite often. Perhaps more than twenty times a day. I drove up to the corner store for gas, and I gathered up coinage from the dashboard. I…

  • Today should always be the first day.

    Bird Droppings December 12, 2025Today should always be the first day. Over the past several weeks, we have been cleaning out our storage buildings. It is a slow, tedious process of finding things we have not seen in twenty or more years. I found a briefcase with my bank statements from 1973-76 or so. I…

  • Can you give it one more try?

    Bird Droppings December 9, 2025Can you give it one more try? “You win some, you lose some, and some get rained out, but you gotta suit up for them all.” Satchel Paige is often attributed to J. Aisenberg In my high school teaching days, teachers at my school judged seasons by testing, not by weather.…

  • Reconciling the importance of the present, past, and future to find balance

    Bird Droppings December 5, 2025 Reconciling the importance of the present, past, and future to find balance I spent the better part of the past few days in Southern Pines, North Carolina, visiting our son, daughter-in-law, and grandkids. On our way home, we side-tracked Pawleys Island, South Carolina, and Huntington State Park for a quick…

  • One puzzle piece at a time, a secret formula for good teaching.

    Bird Droppings December 4, 2025One puzzle piece at a time, a secret formula for good teaching. “Most people would succeed in small things if they were not troubled with great ambitions.” Henry Wadsworth Longfellow How many times are we told “take your time”? So often in life, we are anxious to finish the job or…

  • To think, or at least trying tothis morning, my brain is foggy.

    Bird Droppings December 1, 2025 To think, or at least trying to this morning, my brain is foggy. In the past year, I tore my rotator cuff, and my heart went into A-fib. I have had five biopsies and four surgeries for skin cancer, and I am waiting to hear about the fifth biopsy. I…

  • Living a moment at a time

    Bird Droppings November 26, 2025 Living a moment at a time On Tuesday morning, I walked out into my yard to take a few photos after missing the sunrise. From the field behind us, a red-tailed hawk soared around once and landed in a large, black walnut tree next to us. It was only seventy-five…