The daily meanderings of a teacher

Tag: Writing

  • Hunting for the right words on a spring morning

    Bird Droppings March 21, 2026Hunting for the right words on a spring morning “The place to improve the world is first in one’s own heart, head, and hands.” Robert M. Pirsig, American author Whether we are trying to offer a few words of condolence to friends whose loved ones have passed away or trying to…

  • Why is seeking peace so difficult?

    Bird Droppings March 19, 2026Why is seeking peace so difficult? Around the world, armies are moving as I write. There are missiles being aimed and tanks rolling. War is a profit-driven machine for industry, and sadly, it is more about money than ideology. I have always been against war and have always felt that there…

  • Keeping the stories going, remembering a dear friend

    Bird Droppings March 16, 2026Keeping the stories going, remembering a dear friend For years, I would visit, take photos, and offer my two cents at the Foxfire Approach to Teaching Course, hosted by Piedmont College for graduate students and teachers already in the classroom in Mountain City, Georgia. This course was an elective graduate class…

  • Bird Droppings March 12, 2026Passion: Can it be rekindled in teachers? The past few days have been most interesting. I have been struggling with a blood pressure issue from a new medication, and I hope to have that resolved. Yesterday, the thought crossed my mind: why do students want to be in my classroom? Over…

  • Reflecting on getting older, I might ponder here for a bit since I might forget something.

    Bird Droppings March 9, 2026Reflecting on getting older, I might ponder here for a bit since I might forget something. As I am now seventy-six, going on twenty-five, I have been thinking, or pondering, as I say. I started writing my daily sojourns nearly twenty-five years ago. I first used a YAHOO group, then Myspace,…

  • Finding the right spot for the puzzle pieces once we realize we have a puzzle

    Bird Droppings February 8, 2026 Finding the right spot for the puzzle pieces once we realize we have a puzzle “In order to learn the nature of the myriad things, you must know that although they may look round or square, the other features of oceans and mountains are infinite in variety; whole worlds are…

  • Our teaching can make a difference every day, pouring a gallon of information into a liter bottle.

    Bird Droppings March 3, 2026Our teaching can make a difference every day, pouring a gallon of information into a liter bottle. I recall one day when I was looking through data while sitting through a special education training session. This is an interesting situation. I was reviewing data from a recent biology benchmark test. It…

  • Why should life be a difficult journey? Perhaps if it were not, we would not learn.

    Bird Droppings March 1, 2026 Why should life be a difficult journey? Perhaps if it were not, we would not learn. “Use what talent you possess: the woods would be very silent if no birds sang except those that sang best.” Henry Van Dyke It has been a few years since I visited with my…

  • Teaching as improvisational art using learning as the palette

    Bird Droppings February 28, 2026 Teaching as improvisational art using learning as the palette I wrote the basics of this article nearly 17 years ago, thinking of an artist friend, now a computer programmer, who was trying to define her art and searching for her meaning in life. My friend often reflected on her political…

  • Where is the passion in our teachers?

    Bird Droppings February 27, 2026Where is the passion in our teachers? Two events happened to me over the past two days. Yesterday I spent fifteen minutes talking with a friend who was retiring as principal of a school I hold dearly. In the course of the conversation, she said I miss teaching, maybe I will…