Thursday, June 28, 2012

Education Buzz: Life's a Carnival Hotter-Than-A-Habanero-Edition


Welcome to the Education Buzz: Life's a Carnival Hotter-Than-A Habanero-Edition, an eclectic smattering of educational type stuff buzzing about the EduSphere.

This little carnival is a hodge-podge of stuff with no real theme other than it's summer, it's hot, and I'm afraid if I think too much, my brain just might overheat. Besides, I've been too busy preparing for two summer workshops that will be here before you can say, "Wowie, zowie! It's a real scorcher today!"

So in no apparent order and with no apparent theme, I give you…

"The Insanity of Allowing Phones In Class" posted by our friend Old Andrew over at Scenes from the Battleground. It's definitely a must read.

•According to recent research, education guru Joanne Jacobs says children's imaginations are still soaring even though kids have less play time.

•Before you hit the drive thru, you better know the rules. Check out Jane Goodwin's "Things Nice People Already Know: Drive Through Etiquette" over at Scheiss Weekly.

•For those of you interested in technology, Chris gives us "7 Cool Things To Do With Your USB Drive."

Pat over at Successful Teaching gives us "Unveiling the Mystery of Project Based Learning" in a  webinar she gave at a seminar in South Carolina.

•If you're looking for some summer reading, Philip over at Writing to Comprehend, rather than to Express posts a with a book review of the Pulitzer Prize winning book, A Visit from the Goon Squad.

Laura Weldon offers "ingenious and collaborative ways to flourish, with or without a degree."

•And for those of you science types, here's a list of 30 Twitter Hashtags for Science teachers.

•And finally, for those of you who practice yoga, you might be interested in reading Solstice Savasana written by Christina Bryza, a former student of mine.

Well, that's about it for the Education Buzz: Life's a Carnival Hotter-Than-A Habanero-Edition. Don't forget to join us again back here for the next edition of the Education Buzz: Life's A Carnival on July 5. The submission deadline is July 1. Use this handy, dandy form for your submissions.



If you find a broken link or have trouble with the submission form, please let me know at mybellringers@gmail.com.

If you would like to host an edition of the Education Buzz, let me know that as well.

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



And, if I did, my apologies.

 

Monday, June 25, 2012

Education Buzz--Life's a Carnival coming soon!

OK, so I forgot that I said we would have another carnival on June 21. Things got away from me. So instead, the carnival will be here Thursday, June 28. 

If you already submitted, fear not I have your submission. If you still would like to submit, the window of opportunity closes tomorrow, Tuesday, June 26. If you would like to submit, use this handy, dandy form.

Thursday, June 14, 2012

The "Wish Life Were A Beach" Edition of the Education Buzz: Life's A Carnival



Welcome to the "Wish Life Were A Beach" Edition of the Education Buzz: Life's A Carnival, an eclectic smattering of educational type stuff buzzing about the EduSphere.

But before we get this party started, indulge me a bit and let me provide a brief update about me, me, me. I must confess I've been sort of a slug lately. That whole yearbook, newspaper, teaching thing just sucked the life right out of me this school year. So much so that I just noticed that my last post was on May 24. So-o-o-o, for those of you who care, here's the short version of my year. It went something like this…

FIRST SEMESTER
 

SECOND SEMESTER


As you can see, all of that necessitated a trip to South Padre Island which brought me back to this…
Which we can all sigh now and say, thank heavens for that!

So put on your swim suit, don your sunglasses, slather on that sunscreen, fix yourself a drink, grab a bag of chips and some salsa and listen to those ocean waves while you peruse these end of the year posts and musings and rantings…

Old Andrew over at Scenes From the Battlefield ends the year with a Teacher's Oath --something we should all think about over the summer and re-read at the start of the next school year.

Philip over at Writing to Comprehend Rather Than to Express wrestles with whether teachers should provide a reality check or be a dream crusher.

Raise your hand if you ever had high school graduation duty or ever had to sit through a high school graduation ceremony. Yep, just like I thought, most of you have. So make sure you read Darren on Right on the Left Coast. You'll be nodding your head and saying a few, "Amens!" while reading his post.

You don't need one of those beach metal detectors to know what Pat over a Successful Teaching is talking about when she asks, "Do you have a virtual landfill or a collection of hidden treasures?" 

If the sunshine isn't enough to warm your heart, read "Sam Alito Thinks I'm Funny" from Sarah Garb over at Dead Class Pets.

And those you who are fans of Mr. Teacher over at Learn Me Good know about the recent addition to his family. See what his kiddos at school think about the baby's name.

If you didn't see who got tagged "it" in the annual yearbook spring delivery extravaganza, then check out my post "Words, Over Exposure & Not It!"

Joel over at Successful Teaching provides us  "10 Things I Have learned in 10 Years of Teaching"

Get a little loopy and see what NYC Educator has to say about keeping his group of kids for two years in a row in "Double, Double, Toil and Trouble (Sometimes)."

Before you go and pull some summer reading books, better read Jane Goodwin's That was Then and This, Sadly, is Now over at Scheiss Weekly.

Tim over at Assorted Stuff provides some interesting links of his own to read. So if you're yammering for more to read, check out some of his suggestions.

Education guru Joanne Jacobs discusses whether pre-k saves us money.

Well, that's about it for the "Wish Life Were A Beach" Edition of the Education Buzz: Life's A Carnival, but before you go back inside, go over to science guru Steve Spangler's site and read, "How to Say Thank You To That Special Teacher" and pat yourself on the back for a job well done and surviving the year.

Don't forget to join us again back here for the next edition of the Education Buzz: Life's A Carnival on Thursday, June 21. The submission deadline is Sunday, June 17. Use this handy, dandy form for your submissions.

If you find a broken link or have trouble with the submission form, please let me know at mybellringers@gmail.com. We can't blame Howard the Shelter Cat for that. He slept through the entire ordeal…


If you would like to host an edition of the Education Buzz, let me know that as well.

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

And, if I did, my apologies.

Sunday, June 3, 2012

Now taking Carnival Submissions for the Education Buzz!

Let's get this carnival going again!

Sorry for the delay. Too much happening on my midway (if you know what I mean). But things have calmed down just a tad and the carnival submission form seems to be working (again) so send me your end of the school year posts by Sunday, June 10 and I promise to post a carnival on Thursday, June 14. 

Send your submissions to the Education Buzz--Life's a Carnival using this handy, dandy form.

If you encounter problems, please let me know at mybellringers@gmail.com.

Before you submit, please keep in mind our 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.