Meet the Teacher Edition of the Education Buzz–Life's a Carnival

Welcome to the Meet the Teacher Edition of the Education Buzz–Life's a Carnival, an eclectic smattering of things buzzing about the EduSphere.

Hurry up! Let's go over to the science wing. I hope our favorite science guy, Steven Spangler, is here. He always knows a fun way to get this school party started and raise money for a good cause. Check it out. They even got to do the famously fun mentos diet coke geyser exploding experiment.

And while we're on the topic of explosions, my head nearly exploded when I ran into Darren from Right on the Left Coast and he wanted help with a little math problem in his post, Collaboration Time. But don't let the math scare you, you can read the post without having to figure anything out except why they have "short Thursdays." 

Before we leave the math/science hallway, let's stop by and see Old Andrew's classroom and check out  failing departments over at Scenes from the Battleground.

Hey, has anyone seen Mister Teacher? Only three weeks into the school year and already he's  struggling with HLTs (and that doesn't stand for Hailsbails Let's Teach, either. ). Once again a new something (High Level Tasks) to add to the other somethings that no one can seem to complete. 

 

I heard education guru Joanne Jacobs is in the technology wing asking why school districts continue to pour money into technology when studies fail to show any increase in test scores.

Forget about all that high tech stuff, could someone, anyone please just lift up the auditorium screen?

What's Jane Goodwin over at Scheiss Weekly at yelling about? Oh my, watch out! You better duck and cover. Here come the helicopter parents! I'm OK because they can't see me. I'm Ninja Teacher!

All this running around has made me hungry. Anyone else want to head on over to the cafeteria? Cooking Up Good Speech has this rather tasty looking lunch and a little speech lesson as well.  Although this post is aimed at parents, more teachers could probably eat healthier as well. (Check out my "Frying In My Own Fat" weight loss challenge.)

Don't forget to grab your free goodie bags before you leave. The people over at the Education Sector created a Facebook page  called Teacher Sector which they said is designed "to find out what teachers think about education and share their good ideas." So, now you know. You can also entered into a drawing for $450 for school supplies.

Oh, and speaking of FREE stuff, time is running out to send in your entry to our good friends over at the Dow Jones News Fund for free subscriptions to the Wall Street Journal's Classroom Edition. Check it out. Deadline is Sept. 19.

And finally, don't forget to stop by and meet Pat over at Successful Teaching who reminds us that our voice really does matter and Carrie over at Jedi Music who reminds us to be grateful.

That concludes our Meet The Teacher night. Please start making your way to the exits so our tired teachers can go home, grade some papers, plan tomorrow's lessons and maybe eat some dinner. 

Join us here again on Wednesday, Sept. 28 for our next edition of the Education Buzz. Please submit your posts no later than Saturday, Sept. 24 by 5 p.m. CDT. Use this handy dandy form for your submissions and please keep in mind our submission rules…

1. No spam
2. Must be education related
3. Since the carnival may be organized around themes, not all submissions may run.
4. Please remember to post and link back to the carnival.

If you would like to host a carnival, pah-leese 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.

The Education Buzz–Life's a Carnival is up!

Woo-hoo! The Education Buzz–Life's a Carnival is up and running over at I Want To Teach Forever. There are lots of great posts for those of you who want to be in the know on what's buzzing about the EduSphere. So go on and really get back to school and see what's happening. You'll be glad you did.

Don't forget that the next Education Buzz will appear right here on Wednesday, September 7. You can submit your entries using this handy, dandy form. Just be sure that you do so by Saturday, September 3 before 5 p.m. CDT.

Oh, and if you would like to host a carnival, pah-leese let me know by emailing me at mybellringers@gmail.com.

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.

Education Buzz Life's A Carnival

Well the carnival finally rolled into town. Sorry, folks no theme this time, but did you really expect one? Jeez Louise! It's summer after all. Grab a drink, some chips & salsa and take a look at these posts…

It ain't easy being green, but Maryland high school graduates will need to be. Check out Joanne Jacobs' latest post.

Meanwhile, Darren over at Right on the Left Coast is almost human. He also examines why "Berkeley Schools Suck at Teaching Minorities."

Pat over at Successful Teaching talks about Celebrating Uniqueness.

Mandy discusses whether current events have a place in public education.

Kate over at Parenting is… talks about  honesty & politeness.

Tim over at Assorted Stuff is hopeful that perhaps one day we will move from viewing students as merely consumers, but creators when it comes to technology.

For those of you who are fans of the show "Minute to Win It" will want to be sure to check out our favorite science guy Steve Spangler to see some of his science experiments and tricks that have made the show.

It's definitely not Mamacita's fault! Check out her post at Scheiss Weekly.

Of course, you'll want to read all about how I'm spending my spare time in my post "Summer, the Denton Beach House & Vanilla Ice."

Well that's all I have time for. I've got to go see how over-budget we are. The next carnival will appear here on July 6 (if this home renovation thing doesn't kill me). Send your posts using  this handy, dandy form.  Please send them before by July 3. You can send more than one if you would like.

Education Buzz Life's A Carnival Slacker Edition

It's the end of the year and I know many of you are busy trying to close out the school year so submissions were a bit thin this carnival (other than the onslaught of advertising folks and people that have nothing to do with educational type issues). And since I was swamped with yearbooks and yearbook distribution, I didn't even get a chance to write anything particularly funny or insightful. I guess we're all just a bunch of slackers.

But here are three submissions worth looking at…

Darren on Right on the Left Coast questions an appeals court decision that upheld the dismissal of a San Diego schoolteacher who was fired for posting a sexually explicit ad and photos on Craigslist.

Stephen Karlson  provides us with an illustrative gallery of economic concepts as interpreted by elementary and middle school students while Joseph Kaye said we should incorporate graphic design for deeper learning.

We probably will take a break this summer. However, I will leave the carnival submissions open for those of you who still plan to write over the summer and will run the carnival once I receive enough stuff, so make sure you check back here throughout the summer.

Remember if you want to submit to the carnival, you can use this handy, dandy form.

In the meantime, here are people worth dropping in and checking out  through the summer. They tend to post on a regular basis…

Of course, I plan to post throughout the summer, so you will want to check back here.  Joanne Jacobs posts frequently. Does does Pat over at Successful Teaching, Mr. Teacher, Darren on Right on the Left Coast, and Old Andrew at Scenes from the Battleground. Mamacita over at Scheiss Weekly is worth a gander as well as our science guru Steve Spangler. 

And, of course, don't forget Tim over at Assorted Stuff.

Also, I am launching a new blog featuring Howard the Shelter Cat and my German Shepherd Jack. It's an animal advice thing. Check it out here. You can send your animal questions, funny animal stories and funny animal photos there.

The Mother of all Mothers Edition of the Education Buzz: Life's a Carnival

Now that Mother's Day has come and gone it seemed fitting to have a Mother of all Mothers Edition of the Education Buzz: Life's a Carnival, presenting an eclectic smattering of educational type things buzzing about in the EduSphere.

We had a few new contributors this time  so here's a big hideeho welcome to our newcomers. They brought some new thoughts to toss out on the midway. 

Aparna Vashisht over at Huffpost Education talks about the need for a parent revolution. Now before you start hyperventilating, this post is worth a look. Only one point I have always wondered about and teachers hear it often, "I know we are often afraid of the teacher because we don't want any backlash." Backlash? I'm sure there are some teachers out there like that, but there are those type of people in every profession. I would say most teachers would never do that. We are professionals. OK, sorry for the editorial comment, but I encourage you to hop on over there and read that post. She has a lot of interesting things to say.

Joseph Kaye in his post Earthquake & Education analyzes a recent article he read. He makes an interesting observation that "the natural disaster is simply the end product of a series of social disasters." Check it out.

Dan Leeman over at Music Education For All discusses the national standards for music education and promises to provide  "hands-on, take-back-to-your-classroom resources."

Sherry over at Opinion Writing posts, "We Call Teachers Professionals but is that the way we treat them?"

Some of our old friends are back…

Michaele Sommerville talks about developmentally appropriate practice over at Kindergarten's 3 Rs: Respect, Resources and Rants.

And speaking of those little kindergartner tykes, Mathew Needleman  over at Creating Lifelong Learners examines whether those little guys are too young to be given iPads. (Jeez Louise, I wish someone would give me an iPad!)

Darren over at Right on the Left Coast, who is still recuperating from his ski accident, met with his long term substitute teacher and writes about a little faux pas that occurred.

Oh dear, Joanne Jacobs presents this post (which many of you may have already seen): "Who is Osama bin Laden?" Truly an OMG moment. 

And just in case you didn't know these guys, David Singer at Criminal Justice USA, gives you 10 other Al Qaeda players you should know.

Alicia Arnold over at Daily Creativity says it's important to take time to get back in touch with your playful side.

And this post really doesn't have much to do with anything, other than if you like space stuff, here's a list of 10 sites that monitor that sort of thing.

Well, that's it for this edition of the carnival except for my post, "May, Panic & Yearbooks" which you might find somewhat amusing. 

The next carnival will be back here Wednesday, May 25. If you would like to submit, the deadline is 6 p.m. central time, Saturday, May 21, and you can use this handy, dandy form.  I'm not sure what our summer schedule for the carnival will be, or if we'll just take a break I'll let you know.

Until then, 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.

The Willy-Nilly Edition of the Education Buzz--Life's a Carnival

Welcome to the Willy-Nilly Edition of the Education Buzz--an eclectic smattering of educational type things buzzing around the EduSphere.

Topics were all over the place, so nothing fell into a nice little tidy theme package. But isn't that like school toward the end of the year? Instead—you guessed it—topics were willy-nilly here and willy-nilly there. Thus, we now have a theme of sorts–the Willy-Nilly Edition which makes me a happy camper indeed.

I must say that I have to agree with Darren from Right on the Left Coast that if you're going to walk the walk and talk the talk, you probably ought to dress the part. Just a thought.

While Alicia Arnold at Daily Creativity talks about using nursery rhymes to boost creativity, Pat over at Successful Teaching ponders new teacher's softness and veteran teacher's toughness.

Nancy Flanagan over at Teacher in a Strange Land remembers Columbine 12 years later. Definitely some thought-provoking stuff there.

Matt Needleman over at Creating Lifelong Learners presents two rap videos created by teachers who were pink slipped in California. Amusing, but sad. 

Grace Nunez over at Education Quick Takes reminds us why some employers value a solid liberal arts education.

Mamacita over at Scheiss Weekly had a nice little Easter post.

Steve Spangler the Science Guy offers to help President Obama  "make science cool."

For those of you who live for contests, Mr. Teacher over at Learn Me Good has this little name game thing going on. Winner gets some free business cards which might come in handy especially with all those teacher lay-offs going around.

If you're all in a dither about twitter, then you probably will enjoy my post, "Journalism Day, Fired Up & Bad Tweets."

Here are some other posts worthy of checking out while you are willy-nilly surfing the Internet…

•Loved Joanne Jacobs post "Oviparous!" 

•Tim over at Assorted Stuff has a point when he says there's no normal to return to.

•If you're tired of everyone on the planet blaming teachers for everything wrong with the planet, check out "Stop labeling teachers, label the lawmakers."

I wanted to included something from Old Andrew over at Scenes from the Battlefield, but he must be getting ready for all that royal wedding hoop-de-do because he only had a guide to his blog posted. Still, if you've never checked out Old Andrew's blog, you really should.

*****

So that about does it for this edition. The next Education Buzz will be right here on May 11. You can use this handy, dandy form to submit. Deadline for submissions is Saturday, May 7.

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.

Education Buzz is Up!

Woo-hoo! The Education Buzz–Life's a Carnival is up and running, but it's over at Scheiss Weekly hosted by the fab-u-lous blogger Mamacita. There's lots of good stuff buzzing about in the EduSphere to head on over there to check it out. 

My post "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" was included, but you don't have to go there to read it here.

Still, you need to hop on over there so you stay in the know while you're on the go. 

The next Education Buzz will be hosted over at science guy Steve Spangler's place on April 13. You can send your submissions 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.

Education Buzz Life's A Carnival--State of the Union Edition

Welcome to the 2011 State of the Union Edition of the Education Buzz--an eclectic smattering of educational type things buzzing around the EduSphere. Education Buzz President has just completed her State of the Carnival. Our speech pundits counted no less than 13 gazillion standing ovations, 17 gajillion random bursts of applause and 28 gabillion spontaneous Woo-Hoos.  Let's check in with our panel of experts and see what they have to say.

Our first expert–and one of the Buzz' personal favorites–is Tim from Assorted Stuff who very eloquently discusses how this obsession with data may very well lead us further away from what we need to really know.

The State of the Carnival speech outlined several ways to improve our schools.  Pat over at Successful Teaching believes schools would be better if we invited more parents into our schools instead of discouraging them. David Wees at 21st Century Educator thinks we should rethink traditional schedules and bells. Liam Goldrick over at The Education Optimist points out that with many of these education reforms we're "Sailing A Ship With Half A Crew." 

Joanne Jacobs tosses in some interesting information about Chinese schools with her post "It's the Confucianism, stupid"

While we're on the subject of the Chinese, Dan from My Dad's Blog Chinese moms are superior while Mary Elliott over at Orphaned: The Abandoned Teacher talks about the "Hell in Helicopter Parents."

Although we, as Americans, certainly enjoy our pursuit of happiness, the president clearly agreed with Old Andrew, our friend from across the pond, about the "unhappy turn to happiness."

Of course, it wouldn't be much of a State of the Carnival speech if the environment wasn't included in there. Anyone who has ever traveled to Denver and seen its brown cloud will want to check out science guru Steve Spangler and his post on the "Science Behind the Denver's Brown Cloud."

Let's not forget to mention our distinguished visitors sitting in the balcony. On the front row is Jane Goodwin whose talking about people with small vocabularies and, ahem, small brains, sitting next to her is A Teacher's View who asks who the heck cares who Samuel Gompers is, and seated on the right side of Jane is Darren from Right on the Left Coast who wonders about the necessity of providing a food bank for college students. On the second row sits Dead Class Pets who noticed the empowering nature of a lost blazer. And then there's that group over at SharpBrains who wants to discuss the merits of exercise for kiddos with ADHD. 

Over in the nursery watching everyone's kiddos is Michaele Sommerville. She's whipping out some construction paper and drawing a spider. Check out her lesson over at Kindergarten's 3R's: Respect, Resources & Rants.

If the State of the Carnival rambled and didn't make sense, my apologies. Just blame it on Howard.

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I think that wraps up this edition of the Education Buzz. If you are interested in hosting an edition, please let me know by emailing me at mybellringers@gmail.com. If you find any broken links or problems with this edition of the Ed Buzz, please let me know. 

As always…

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

And, if I did, my apologies.

 ************

Our next Carnival will be Wednesday, February 9. Please send your submissions using this handy dandy form. Deadline for submissions will be at 6 p.m. central time on Saturday, February 5.

The Education Buzz--Life's a Carnival 12 Days of Christmas Edition

Welcome to the Education Buzz--an eclectic smattering of things buzzing about in the EduSphere. This week finds us smack dab in the holiday season. So here is the 12 Days of Christmas Edition of the Education Carnival…

On the Twelfth Day of Christmas, my true love sent to me 12 drummers drumming and a list of 50 top blogs on how to study…

On the Eleventh Day of Christmas, my true love sent to me eleven pipers piping and Mr. Teacher's lesson on probability.

On the Tenth Day of Christmas, my true love sent to me ten lords a-leaping and Darren from Right on the Left Coast providing a reason why December 17 is such a wonderful day as well as an interesting exchange with a foreign exchange student.

On the Ninth Day of Christmas, my true love sent to me, nine ladies dancing and Successful Teaching where there is always hope. 

On the Eighth Day of Christmas, my true love sent to me, eight maids a-milking and J.M. Holland's take on how the meaning of books has changed.

On the Seventh Day of Christmas, my true love sent to me seven swans a swimming and Mamacita's "rant" on Christmas.

On the Sixth Day of Christmas, my true love sent to me six geese a-laying and Joanne Jacobs and a little ditty about a teacher charged with discussing ham.

On the Fifth Day of Christmas, my true love sent to me five golden ring and Old Andrew and why this job never ends.

On the Fourth Day of Christmas, my true love sent to me four calling birds and Steve Spangler's "Shrink a Cup in a Pressure Cooker" experiment. What's not to love about that?

On the Third Day of Christmas, my true love sent to me three French hens and Assorted Stuff's musings over the direction we are headed.

On the Second Day of Christmas, my true love sent to me two turtle doves and my post about stinky yellow school buses, big fat stupid heads, and, of course, my timer.

On the First Day of Christmas, my true love sent to me a partridge in a pear tree and…everyone's heartfelt wish for a very Merry Christmas and hope for the future in the New Year!

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Well, my friends, I think that wraps up this edition of the Education Buzz. If you are interested in hosting an edition, please let me know by emailing me at mybellringers@gmail.com. If you find any broken links or problems with this edition of the Ed Buzz, please let me know. 

As always…

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

And, if I did, my apologies.

 ************

With the holidays upon us, our next Carnival will be Wednesday, January 12. Please send your submissions using this handy dandy form. Deadline for submissions will be at 6 p.m. central time on Saturday, January 8.

The Carnival is Up!

OK, so it's Wednesday and you'll notice that I didn't post anything on Sunday or Monday. In my defense, it is Thanksgiving Week and instead of spending the time writing (as I would like to do), I am spending my time trying to make some sense of this mess they call "yearbook." I also have two pies in the oven, the turkey stock cooking and some coffee brewing. I hope to resume my regular blog postings next week.

In the meantime, though, I plan to head on over to Scheiss Weekly who graciously agreed to host the Education Buzz--Life's a Carnival. There's lots of good stuff to read, so why don't you join me and head on over there and get caught up on all the goings on in the EduSphere.

Our next edition of the carnival is scheduled for December 8. It will be hosted by the amazing Steve Spangler. Deadline for submissions is 7 p.m. December 7. Please use this this handy-dandy submission form.

If you are interested in hosting an edition of the Education Buzz, please let me know by emailing me at mybellringers.gmail.com.