Education Buzz Carnival #1

Welcome back my friends!

Come one, come all, the short, the fat, the tall...C'mon y'all down the education carnival midway. We've got the very first edition of the Education Buzz Carnival right here with some excellent reading throughout the EduSphere.

No need to pop into the Funhouse if you want to get some blood boiling and screams curdling, all ya gotta do is mention the words "voucher" and "public schools" in the same sentence. Yep, that ought to do it. I'd just as soon shoot fish out of a barrel. But if you'd rather do more than fish around, check out Matthew Ladner's post on "Rhee Looks to Clean Up the DC Special Ed Barn with vouchers."

Darren from Right on the Left Coast pushes some hot buttons with his take on an Augusta State University student who filed a lawsuit against her school claiming it violated her First Amendment rights when administrators told her to change her views on homosexuality or leave.

And did you really think you could get out of the Funhouse without popping over to the Education Standard to read "Scary but true: Real Reform is Wholesale."

All this reform stuff must have been weighing heavy on everyone this summer because Nancy Flanagan also talks about the difference between reform and investment in her post "Follow the You-Know-What." (Even if you don't care about reform, you need to go there to read about her new house.)

Better watch your step on the midway or you'll find yourself Dancing with Crocodiles. Go see why the perfect classroom should be like a group of monkeys on a rock. (Come on, what's not to like about monkeys? OK, OK, OK, so maybe the flying ones are a bit scary, but the other ones…)
 
Sorry, but things are going to get a bit more complicated than wondering whether to buy cotton candy or salt water taffy (although that's a tough decision). Curmudgeon's pondering "Why Johnny Can't Write A Term Paper" and perhaps you should, too.


And while you're in the mood to ponder those educational type things, go chat with Stephen Lazar about the challenges in using Standard Based Grading in the history classroom over at Outside the Cave.

I wish y'all would stop asking me if I think you'll win one of those ginormous stuffed Tweety birds. Go talk to Pat over at Successful Teaching. She has some some pointers for handling those silly questions (and unlike me, it doesn't include anything remotely having to do with Big Fat Stupid Heads). She's nice like that.

Wait just a darn tootin' minute…Maybe we should try and figure out how to win one of those ginormous Tweety birds. With creativity on the decline, Sarah over at Ensmartening has some tips on what to do.

Better hurry up and grab that last corny dog. It's time to head on home. Hope you had a good time. 


Thanks to everyone for submitting. Some posts were not included as we try to determine whether to include posts from commerical sites. The survey is still up and running and the results are really close. So, if you haven't voted yet, please take the time to do so. You can read about it here and cast your vote on the link provided there.

If your post was included, please link back to the carnival. Otherwise, I'll get snarky and may not include you next time. If you are interested in submitting a post, please check our guidelines first and then use this handy dandy form to submit. The carnival will appear back here in two weeks. Once school begins we'll shoot for a weekly carnival. Posts are due by 5 p.m. CST on Saturdays.

Please let me know about any broken links or problems.  As always…

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

–Snow Patrol

And, if I did, my apologies.

Trying to Stay Out of the Heat & Hot Water

[Article first published as Week 14--Trying to Stay Out of the Heat and Hot Water on Technorati.]  

With temperatures soaring into the triple digits, and last month setting heat records across the country, wanting to walk more than a few feet can present quite a challenge.

Still, I've managed to keep my training schedule for the 3-day for the Cure, walking at least two miles a day and up to four or five miles when I can. I've also managed to squeeze in a hot yoga class although we probably could have just yoged outside in the 100 degree plus temps and gotten the same results.

Despite highs predicted at 104 degrees for Friday, I, along with my two walking buddies, plan to brave the heat and squeeze in a long 9-plus mile walk around White Rock Lake before school starts.

With my summer winding down and the start of school just a few weeks away, I've been trying to cram in all the things that I can't seem to find time for during the school year. That, of course, includes what I like to refer to as "preventative maintenance."  So since I'm walking the walk and raising money to fight breast  cancer, I thought I better schedule my yearly mammogram.

When I called for an appointment, I discovered I hadn't had a mammogram in several years--four years to be exact. Embarrassing, I know. I guess when I thought about getting one, life got in the way and I thought I had actually had one. Dumb, I know. I guess I'm part of that group of women--an estimated one-fifth between 50 and 74 years old--who fell behind on getting mammograms, according to a recent study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

My training buddies were mortified that I had let four years go by. Needless to say, I scheduled my appointment speedy quick and I'm in the clear.

At least (for now), I'm back on track and out of hot water with my walking buddies.  Now, if I can just get out of this heat.

The Education Buzz--Life's a Carnival Coming Soon!

Submissions for the first edition of the Education Buzz are closed. Barring any natural disasters (or as my mom used to say, "If the good Lord's willing and the creeks don't rise"), the Education Buzz carnival will be up and running on  Wednesday, August 4.

In the meantime, something for you to ponder and weigh in on… As I said before in the ground rules, no spam. Now, my question is this… Do we allow online education sites to post to the carnival. They are commercial, but they do have education posts. I need to know what you think.

If you would, please weigh in by completing a brief survey…

Click here to take survey

Walk Like an Egyptian

(Article first published as Week 13--Walk like an Egyptian on Technorati. This is Week 13 chronicling my training for the 3-day for the Cure.)

Training went fairly well this past week considering I spent a few days visiting my sister in the beautiful town of Castle Rock, Colorado.

My sister, who is a nurse, was a tad bit worried about me continuing my training for the 3-day for the Cure, especially after last week's stupidity that left me and my walking buddies near heat exhaustion. But after assuring my sister that (1) it was much cooler here than in Texas (2) I would bring water and a cell phone (3) I had my emergency money and (4) I was familiar with some tips on how to avoid high altitude sickness, I marched on my merry way.

I am happy to report that so far my training here has been uneventful. I had planned to design one of my training walks into town with a little side trip to Dream Pastries until a friend pointed out that the benefits of any training walk would quickly be negated by all that sugary goodness. I swear some people are just killjoys.

One highlight of my trip was going to the King Tut exhibit at the Denver Art Museum. The exhibit was not only stunning, but I learned a few things, too, while listening to Harrison Ford's soothing voice on the $5 audio tape relaying interesting tidbits of information about the exhibit.

One such miscellaneous tidbit said how the Egyptians had a pretty good knowledge of the body and its organs--all except the brain. Yep, apparently they didn't think much of Mr. Grey Matter and tossed Mr. Brain aside instead of storing it in one of those nifty canopic coffinettes--miniature coffins that housed internal organs.

Instead, the Egyptians viewed the heart as the most important organ. It was the heart that was weighed against the Feather of Truth to determine if a person's entrance was granted into the afterlife or sent to the Devourer of the Dead.

I guess I have to agree with the Egyptians about the importance of the heart. When people ask me why I'm willing to participate in this 60-mile walk to fight breast cancer, I can spout off statistics and tell you that more than 1.3 million women are diagnosed with breast cancer globally each year, more than 465,000 die from the disease each year and that a woman dies from breast cancer every 68 seconds.

But for me, it still remains a matter of the heart.

Life's a Carnival–the Education Buzz

Well my friends, I hope your summer has been fab-u-lous so far. Summers come and go and apparently most of our education carnivals have been like a summer breeze--here one moment and gone the next. I miss the days when the education carnival was consistently up and running.

So-o-o-o-o my dears, let’s see if we can get this one up and running. It's called the Education Buzz. Here are a few ground 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.

The carnival will appear on Wednesdays. Hopefully, the carnival will appear weekly. Our very first Education Buzz carnival will appear here Wednesday, August 4. Deadlines for submissions will be Saturdays by 5 p.m. Central Standard Time.


You can use this handy dandy form for your submissions.

I hope to hear from everyone soon!

Week 12: Kicking it into stupid gear

(Article first published as Week 12: Kicking It Into Stupid Gear on Technorati.)

Sometimes I ignore warning signs, whether it's a simple telltale sigh from my spouse or something more "official" like those nasty little National Weather Service heat advisory bulletins.

Sometimes I'm a poster child for memory loss, like when I forget that the previous week of my training for the 3-day for the Cure was short on training and long on air conditioned conference rooms.

And then, sometimes, just sometimes, I'm just not the brightest crayon in the box.

Yep, Week 12 of my training found me kicking it in high gear on the stupid level.

It started on Monday when I, along with my two training buddies, decided it would be a brilliant idea to do an 8-mile walk... at 1:30 p.m. during a heat advisory. Despite slathering on sunscreen, packing lots of water, wearing light colored clothing and taking a few breaks here and there, by mile five things weren't looking so good. 

I, of course, knew the problem: heat exhaustion. I even ticked off all the symptoms to my walking buddies because, after all, I had previously written about those dangers in my Week 5 post.

Still, we remained undeterred, but things started getting ugly at the six and half mile marker when we collapsed on a bench located, fittingly, near a cemetery.

We almost called our husbands to come and rescue us, but the thought of them taking photographs and posting our failure on YouTube was enough to spur us on.

That and the sound of an ice cream truck (as if we needed a reason to celebrate National Ice Cream Month.)

Good thing I carry around an emergency five dollar bill.

Workshop, Slackers & Shoes

(Article first published as Week 10 & 11: Shoes Provide Little Hope for Slackers on Technorati.)

Blame it on the week-long high school journalism workshop filled with 600-plus kiddos that I had to attend.

Or blame it on a lack of sleep resulting from chaperoning said workshop

Or, let's just blame it on the rain. (OK, so you probably have to be pre-Generation Y to get that rain allusion.)

Perhaps all those factors combined to make it not only difficult to walk, but also impossible to find the time to dutifully report about my inactivity for my 3-day for the Cure training. I only managed to squeeze in four miles or so while attending the workshop. The previous week I kept to my walking schedule racking up two to three miles every day, but I'm such a slacker I neglected to report about it.

I didn't even get a chance to read the second part of the USA Today fitness challenge story.   

I did, however, read with interest another article  about those toning shoes that supposedly will give the wearer a more shapely behind, toned legs and tighter abs--all without having to set foot in a gym.

Oh, if I only had a pair of those shoes, I wouldn't have to obsess so much about my lack of training this past week.

If life were only that simple. If it were, I'd be the first to slap down a hundred bucks or so (plus shipping and handling), and everything would shape up. 

But my hopes for an easy out were snuffed by the seventh paragraph. The article quoted a professor from Johns Hopkins University's School of Medicine in Baltimore who very succinctly said those claims were "utter nonsense."

Moreover, according to the article, doctors warned toning shoes can cause other problems with balance and can strain Achilles tendons.

Perhaps  I'm better off with a pair of those ruby red slippers and my regular walking shoes.