Is It Really THAT Time of Year Again?! Edition of the Education Buzz–Life's a Carnival

I spent the last few weeks pretending I didn't own a calendar and squinting my eyes like sliver's of almonds when I passed by anything that remotely resembled a calendar so as not to see the day, the week or month. I do that every year until that dreaded little email lands in my inbox.

You know the one. That nifty little email that outlines that fun-filled extravaganza awaiting me next week called teacher back-to-school professional development.

I don't know if that (the professional development week) makes me nuts and crazy or if it's this record streak of 100-plus days or if it was the Denton Beach House shelves that fell and whacked me on my back or a combination of all the above.

So now it's time to rummage through our closets to see what we have to wear and what school supplies we still need. Oh yeah, don't forget to look through that Summer Stack O Stuff we brought home ostensibly to work on over the summer…if only, if only.

Let's get things off to a great start with a survey. The National Council on Teacher Quality and U.S. News & World Report are reviewing teacher preparation programs around the country and want to hear from teachers (even veteran teachers) about what they think about the training they received. Go here to take it and get a chance to win a $25 Amazon gift card. What's not to like about that?

Still in the contest/free stuff category, Let's Do Math has a contest for a chance to win a free paperback book, but you have to solve a Fibonacci puzzle, and I suppose if you don't know what in the fibonacci a Fibonacci Puzzle is then you probably should just cut your losses and move along. Now if don't give a fibonacci, you can still go there, and if you leave a comment, you get entered into the e-book contest. What's not to like about that?

I see Dead Class Pets is right there with me rummaging through that Summer Stack O Stuff looking for those overdue library books.

Teaching My Baby To Read provides some advice and cheap alternative solutions for parents who need to help their kids who struggle in school.

Jeepers Creepers, I wasn't going to include Michaele Sommerville's submission because she makes me look pathetic with my Summer Stack O Stuff, but you have to see this. Michaele over at Kindergarten's 3 R's: Respect, Resources & Rants already has a photo tour of her classroom up and running.

If you are looking for some free lessons because you can't find your old ones in that Summer Stack O Stuff sitting on the floor, then you might want to go here for 30 sites for free lessons.

I Want To Teach Forever gives us a list of must-have magazines for your classroom.

Why not welcome back your co-workers with this little science prank from our science buddy Steve Spangler?

Other posts worthy of note…

•Ah yes, say hello to Mamacita and her caffeine molecule over at Scheiss Weekly.

•Joanne Jacobs talks about those nationalized chickens coming home to roost.

•Tim over at Assorted Stuff once again tells us it really, really is time to kill the computer lab.

•Old Andrew from Scenes From The Battlefield re-visits why he blogs–the behavior crisis, the dumbing down of education  and poor management within our educational institutions.

Well, that's it for this edition of the Education Buzz–Life's a Carnival. I Want To Teach Forever will be hosting the next edition of Education Buzz over at his site on Wednesday, August 24. Submission deadline will be 5 p.m. Central Standard Time on August 21. You can send your submissions there by using this handy, dandy form.

If you would like to host an edition of the carnival, please let me know by emailing me at mybellringers@gmail.com.  Also, don't forget to let me know if you find any broken links or problems with this edition of the Ed Buzz. 

As always…

“I’ve got this feeling that there’s something that I missed…”
–Snow Patrol

And, if I did, my apologies.