The 136th Education Carnival

Welcome to the midway of the 136th Carnival of Education!

Here's the very latest roundup of entries from around the EduSphere. Unless clearly labeled otherwise, all entries this week were submitted by the writers themselves.

Folks interested in hosting an edition of the C.O.E. should make their intentions known by notifying Edwonk via this email address: owlshome [at] earthlink [dot] net.

Thanks to everyone who helped spread the word about last week's midway, which was hosted over at The Education Wonks. Visit the C.O.E.'s archives here and see the latest entries there.

Next Week's Carnival will be hosted by The Education Wonks. Contributors are invited to send their submissions to: owlshome [at] earthlink [dot] net, or use this handy submission form. Entries should be received no later than 11:00 PM EDST 8:00 PM Pacific Tuesday, September 18, 2007. Please include the title of your post, and its URL, if possible.

Barring any unforeseen circumstances, the midway should open next Wednesday morning.Let the free exchange of thoughts and ideas begin!

Remembering September 11th

Mamacita asked, “Where were you when the planes hit?”

Beginning the New Year

Poor Mr. Teacher, or is it Miss?

New to teaching? NYC Educator has a few Startup Tips for beginning teachers…..they also are great reminders for not-so-newbie-teachers, too!

Joanne Jacobs remembers a time when schools weren't buying the students their supplies and their clothing. Their clothing?

Dangerously Irrelevant knows it’s the first day of school (again), and provides a classroom technology checklist. Has anything really changed over the summer? Should we expect it to?

There’s some new technology to go along with that checklist, too. Global Citizenship in a Virtual World asks, “What do the new Apple products mean to me?”

Campbell Soup labels and boxtops….Saving Advice Blog provides
some thoughts on the costs and benefits of corporate promotions for schools.

The Business of Teaching

So You Want to Teach has made a recent discovery that no matter how good I am at teaching, I will be much better if I avoid every single negative/sarcastic comment. It's time for an attitude adjustment.

Mrs. Bluebird understands. Sometimes you just need to stop everything and give in to the novelty of it all.

Did you know the number of classroom rules you have could be an indicator of how many years you’ve been in the classroom? The Science Goddess says, “"Throw off those crutches and walk!"

I’m sure you have heard about Method Acting. So, what’s Method Teaching? Dy/Dan has the answer.

What happens when a school system accepts a split adoption for textbooks…one grade level is given a book published by one company while the other two have textbooks from another publisher. Chanman says You can take this textbook and...

Sick of the Rim-Sitters is a follow up to The Tempered Radical’s last carnival post which generated high interest and several comments. It continues the conversation about who is responsible for student learning in our classrooms.

Yes, Ms. Cornelius, I agree. A good substitute is worth their weight in plutonium. Subs need props and support to do their jobs.

Curriculum Minded

Personally, I am so tickled pink that Terrell from Alone on a Limb is from my own beloved Georgia. I really need to trek to Rome and see him action…. Check out his slideshow that details a nature study project students in Rome, Georgia will be working on this year.

Let's Play Math shares math challenge problems from ancient Egypt.

A Passerby’s Trail knows our kids need music and other co-curricular activities to be integrated in the school curriculum.

A large number of Americans state religion is important to them. A smaller number actually know little concerning their particular religion. Who is to blame? Edreviews provides a review of Religious Literacy, a book by Stephen Prothero where some of the possible reasons are given.

Those Pesky Situations

Three Standard Deviations to the Left provides a situation many of you are all too familiar with regarding students in higher grades. What would you do when Parents Go Behind their Kid's Back?

Right on the Left Coast asks, “Healthy food at school?” Go on over and get into the entire healthy food debate.

What’s just as worse than lice in the classroom? Ringworm! Running a close second is the beating that commonsense takes regarding contagions.

Do you have one of those pesky school loans? Seems like they will never go away. Finance Is Personal provides information concerning Congressional reforms for the student loan industry.

The folks in Ms. Teacher’s district are scratching their heads. How does someone end up making it through the screening process with no apparent credentials?

Legal Situations

Should schools be able to control what is written and said by students outside the school building? This post provides some thoughts about a public school verses freedom of speech case currently being fought in Connecticut. Caution: May not be appreciated by some school administrators.

“Therefore, schools must be the one place in our students' lives where they do feel absolutely safe and protected,” so says EdWonk in a post that discusses our troubled high schools: gang-banging the Indy way.

And just what should we do with “those” problem students? Many state but they have to go somewhere!

Testing, Reform, and Other NCLB Effects

NTLB? Epic Adventures Are Often Uncomfortable is wondering not so much about excellent teachers, but what are we doing to keep good teachers and helping them to become excellent.

“There continues to be a significance shortage of teachers and looking at the NCES statistics gives you a real feel for just how bad it will get”, says Dave with the American Board for Certification of Teacher Excellence.

Mamacita states, “Any teacher can tell you why so many of us are leaving the profession.

Going to the Mat explores the SAT Achievement gap.

Are you already bogged down with data, data, and more data? Help has arrived from Leader Talk. Check out School Data Tutorials

Education Notes Online has the scoop. Teachers in NYC have been besieged by tests while Mayor Bloomberg has been using phony rising test scores to make a national rep as an education reformer. Were state reading and math tests deliberately made easier in an election year?

Friends of Dave also has some thoughts on testing and why good schools fail.

Denver Classroom Teacher’s Association’s new program called Promoting Classroom Success deserves a grade of “C”, and Alan over at Schools for Tomorrow admits he’s guilty of grade inflation.

My Urban Report discusses the NEA and their new program promoting education in minority communities calle I love My Child

The College Campus

The Kafkaesque K provides us a glimpse regarding what happens to last year’s Seniors as they become the newbies on college campuses across the country.

Beloit College has released it’s annual “Mindset List” for the class of 2011. This list is supposed to consist of pithy statement that underscore the generational differences between the average college instructor and the average incoming student. Greg over at Evolution…Not Just a Theory Anymore provides the list and his reactions to it...

And speaking of teacher responsibility…Are high school grads ready to write in college? Great College Advice says, “Nope!”

Rape and the College Man….Marcella explains that with school back in session, we need a reminder about why rape prevention shouldn’t be limited to educating potention victims.

So what do you do when you discover the week before that you have been assigned a class of 25, you have no textbook, and you are about to leave for your family’s first vacation ever? Suzanne has an idea.

I guess every level of student enjoys a game now and then. Siobhan Curious provides some examples of games in the college classroom.

It’s All About Learning

Punish students, label students, push pills down their throats? No, Me-ander says a better cure would be more sleep.

How can you learn if you can't read? is an article posted by Stephanie at the Life Without School site. Her findings are vastly different from what you might expect.

From Principled Discovery…”A quality preschool is not the common denominator among successful readers. Nurturing parents are. And it isn't like the government has not noticed this.”

Sherlock Holmes solved problems alright…but he wasn’t 100% right! Read Luke Houghton's post to find out why.

Pick the Brain provides five keys to success in foreign language learning.

Can we train our brains? Sharp Brains explains the views of eleven neuroscientrists.

And finally: This, like nearly all of our journeys around the EduSphere, has been both enjoyable and informative. We continue to thank all the contributors whose submissions make the midway's continuing success possible, the folks who give of their time to help spread the word, and the readers who continue to make it A Free Exchange of Thoughts and Ideas.