In the Pursuit of Happiness

[This article was first published as In the Pursuit of Happiness on Technorati.]

After today, I've decided to give up on happy.

Apparently, if I give up on happy, I stand a better chance of obtaining happy. According to studies and experts, capturing happy stands about as much of a chance of one obtaining Nirvana. Unless of course, your idea of Nirvana is the band, not the bliss.

My sense of happy crumbled after reading this little piece by syndicated Boston Globe columnist Gareth Cook who writes how recent studies show that the more we try and obtain happiness the more disappointed we grow and the more elusive our little smiley kingdom becomes.

Cook writes: "…there is gathering evidence that happiness is not what it may appear. A string of new studies suggests that the modern chase after happiness–and even happiness itself–can hurt us…The more you value happiness, it turns out, the more unhappy you will become. The problem a team of psychologist reports, is that when you focus too much on happiness, you are disappointed when happy events–your birthday party, say–don't deliver a bigger boost."

I guess that makes us all a nation of Clark Griswolds forever setting standards that no one can match.

I don't really see how all this is new. Since the dawn of time, teachers hear students complain, "That's not fair." To which our mantra has always been, "Well, life isn't fair."

Over the years, I've changed that, though. Instead, I tell my students, "Life is not a Disney movie. Things don't always end happily ever after. Conflict can't always be resolved in a 60 minute time slot…blah blah blah…"

I get a lot of blank stares.

So now when my students grumble about this thing or that thing, well, now I can tell them that it's good to be negative.

Unless saying that makes it a positive, which then would be, well, bad.

You know, like a negative.

The World Series Edition of the Education Buzz--Life's a Carnival

Welcome to the World Series Edition of the Education Buzz--Life's a Carnival, an eclectic smattering of things buzzing about the EduSphere.

First up to bat, Nancy Flanagan from Teacher in a Strange Land, and trust me, she smacks this one out of the ballpark. Hails bails, I think she smacked it clear into the next state. "Discouraged from Dreaming" is probably the best post I've read in a long, long time. You've got to check it out.

Pat over at Successful Teaching hits a line drive with her 10 suggestions for confronting difficult parents. While you may have heard some of them before, we're all probably due for a reminder.

Making her first appearance at the Carnival, Lollitot  is on deck offering her ranking of the top 10 public schools in Manhattan.

Next up at bat, Darren from Right on the Left Coast. Sometimes he's best when he can just walk us through it.

There's our science guy, Steve Spangler, warming up in the bull pen. He's got some "awesome Halloween Dry Ice experiments" for us. Now, if he'd only supply the candy.

Jane Goodwin over at Scheiss Weekly thinks this generation is striking out and she's a bit worried about the future. And after reading her post, I'm worried, too.

Umpire education guru Joanne Jacobs notes some elite schools are scaling back on homework because more doesn't necessarily mean better.

And coming in as relief pitcher is yours truly with "Confessions, Smart Phones & Bullies."

It's time for that 7th inning stretch and time to check out the "15 most butchered phrased in the English Language."

Well that's it for this edition of the carnival. Oh, just one more thing left to say:

Go Rangers!

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Join us here again on Wednesday, Nov. 9 for our next edition of the Education Buzz. Please submit your posts no later than Saturday, Nov. 5 by 5 p.m. CDT. Use this handy dandy form for your submissions.

If you would like to host a carnival, 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.

Week 10 Frying In My Own Fat Weight Loss Challenge Update and Upcoming Education Buzz--Life's a Carnival

For those of you who are keeping up with my "I'm-Frying-In-My-Own-Fat" Weight Loss Challenge, my latest post  appeared on technorati as Week 10–Small weight loss bolstered by other breakthroughs.

To read it, you can click on the article name or the scale above, or you can go over to my fitness blog and read it there.

Also, in case you were wondering why I haven't yet posted something new this week here, well, I've been busy getting the Education Buzz–Life's a Carnival ready. The Carnival will appear here tomorrow (Wednesday, Oct. 26) so make sure you check back here for that.

Confessions, Smart Phones & Bullies

Confession time.

Once again I find myself on the outside looking in.

At 54 years old, you would think that sort of thing wouldn't bother me anymore. After all, I managed to chart a pretty good course through 75 percent of my life span undeterred and undaunted by my quirkiness and without an overriding need to fit in.

Except this time, I think I would rather like to. You know, fit in.

You see, I am the only one in my family and circle of friends without a smart phone.

My youngest daughter just got to trade in her gnarly, antiquated, unsmart phone for Steve Job's last hurrah, the iPhone 4S.

I must admit there's some serious pangs of longing going on here. At first, I just thought those pangs were from that stupid "I'm Frying In My Own Fat" Weight Loss Challenge, and I needed to visit my emergency chocolate drawer. But after further introspection, I realized it was that darn tootin' phone.

Even my technologically challenged hubby has an android. He's always telling me how blazing fast the thing is, and how he has this app and that app.

Apps? My phone is too dumb for apps.

Oh, and I'd love to see what those QR codes can do, but again, my phone is too dumb for that.

Sadly, it will be June before my phone carrier, Sprint, allows me the requisite $150 rebate so I can afford a smart phone.  That delay might have something to do with that unfortunate time my dumb phone leapt from my hand and scuttled willynilly onto the concrete garage floor and then randomly started to turn itself off and on.

Still, you would think Sprint would take some pity on me and let me blend in and join the smart ones.

Hails bails, I feel like the last kid to be picked in gym class for dodge ball.

I think this borders on bullying. I'd report it, but my phone's too slow.

The Occupy Anything Edition of the Education Buzz--Life's a Carnival

Welcome to the Occupy Anything  Edition of the Education Buzz--Life's a Carnival, an eclectic smattering of things buzzing about the EduSphere. 

Whether you are a 99 percenter, a 1 percenter or a 53 percenter,  I'm a 100 percent sure you will find something worth reading in this edition of the the carnival.

My personal favorite this time comes from 

Sarah Garb who has no problem with her unemployment rate in her classroom. She's got a job for everyone over at Dead Class Pets.

Darren from Right on the Left Coast looks at the racial achievement gap and says you won't fix it "until you're honest about what causes it."

Jane Goodwin is on a roll with her "Ten Things I Still Haven't Done Yet." See if her list over at Scheiss Weekly matches yours.

And while we're checking off lists, check out the to-do list over at Epic Adventures Are Often Uncomfortable.

And if you are in need of a little truth detector, check out our favorite science guy, Steve Spangler, and his "lie detector" experiment. Now we're having some kind of fun.

See why some people are flipping out over flipping. Check out what education guru Joanne Jacobs has to say on this new trend.

We're all had them. Two sections of the same class but with noticeably different children and results. Check out Mr. Teacher's classes over at Learn Me Good.

Tim over at Assorted Stuff points out that speedometers don't improve performance.

And, of course, if you didn't read my latest post, "Surviving Newspaper Deadline, Keeping Promises and Bootlegging," you can do so by going here.

Well that's it for this edition of the carnival, but that should be plenty to occupy your time.

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Join us here again on Wednesday, Oct. 26 for our next edition of the Education Buzz. Please submit your posts no later than Saturday, Oct. 22 by 5 p.m. CDT. Use this handy dandy form for your submissions.

 

If you would like to host a carnival, 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.

Week 8 Frying In My Own Fat Weight Loss Challenge Update

For those of you who are keeping up with my "I'm-Frying-In-My-Own-Fat" Weight Loss Challenge, my latest post  appeared on technorati as Week 8 Frying In My Own Fat Weight Loss Challenge: Trying to Weigh In As Normal.

To read it, you can click on the article name or the scale above or you can go over to my fitness blog and read it there.

Surviving Newspaper Deadline, Keeping Promises and Bootlegging

In the world of amazing things, let's toss last week in there.

The fact that somehow the journalism gods smiled and the school newspaper went to press (minus all the things that will get you fired) and without the arrest of a certain crazy adviser (that would be me) who was nanoseconds from setting her hair on fire, smacking the children upside their little pointy heads and driving off into the sunset in true Thelma and Louise fashion.

Yep, it was that kind of deadline. Now, I get to concentrate on all things yearbook. Oh, joy. And finalize my six weeks grades. Oh, more joy. And update Blackboard. Oh, geewillikers, more joy.

So instead of re-hashing, re-living and re-igniting those set-your-hair-on-fire-moments of last week, I thought I would honor some commitments I made before school started. I promised Karen Blumenthal, a former Dallas Morning News coworker, former Wall Street Journal editor and Dallas journalist,  that I would read her two new books and provide a little review (which I would have done earlier but that pesky newspaper deadline got in the way).

She sent me two books, Bootleg: Murder, Moonshine and the Lawless Years of Prohibition and Mr. Sam. Both nonfiction books target adolescent type readers, which is why I love these books. They are even perfect for someone old like me because they are filled with interesting information in an easy to read format.

Of course, I read the Bootleg one first, and now her book is particularly timely since PBS just started airing a documentary on prohibition. With only 127 pages and filled with all sorts of interesting photographs, this book provides a quick, interesting and informative read for all age groups. I actually learned all sorts of things that became fodder for dinner conversation. Stuff about Morris Sheppard, Al Capone and Henry Ford among others. I never knew that one of the founders of NASCAR racing had his beginnings in bootleg running.

Yep, all kinds of interesting stuff.


To be perfectly honest, I wasn't as thrilled to pick up the Mr. Sam book which chronicled how Sam Walton built Walmart and became one of the richest men in America. The book surprised me though when I became interested in it after reading just a few paragraphs. It's a fascinating read. Like all of Blumenthal's books, it's well-written and filled with all sorts of interesting stuff. Particularly helpful were the infographics that broke down how families spent their money as the book progresses through Sam Walton's life.

Probably the best compliment I can give any book is when that book gets you to look at something from a different perspective, and this book did exactly that. I can't walk into a Walmart now without looking at the store and its founder in a different light.

I highly recommend both books and encourage school libraries to get these two titles on their shelves speedy quick. And, if you don't already have Blumenthal's Six Days in October: The Stock Market Crash of 1929, well shame, shame, shame. That, too, is a great book–informative and easy to understand even for those of us who struggle with understanding financial matters.

You know, people like me.

Frying In My Own Fat Weight Loss Challenge Update

For those of you who are keeping up with my "I'm-Frying-In-My-Own-Fat" Weight Loss Challenge, my latest post  appeared on technorati as  Week 6: I May Be Frying In My Own Fat But I'm Thawing Out Some Frozen Dinners on Technorati.]

To read it, you can click on the article name or the scale above or you can go over to my fitness blog and read it there.