Wednesday, May 30, 2007

The Carnival Of Education: Week 121

Welcome to the midway of the 121st Carnival of Education!

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


If you're interested in hosting an edition of The Carnival Of Education, please let us know via this email address: edwonk [at] educationwonks [dot] org.

Thanks to everyone who helped spread the word about last week's midway, which was hosted by I Thought A Think. Visit the C.O.E.'s archives here and see our latest entries there.

Next Week's Carnival midway will be hosted by us here at The Education Wonks. Contributors are invited to send submissions to: owlshome [at] earthlink [dot] net , or use this handy submission form. Entries should be received no later than 9:00 PM (Eastern) Tuesday, June 5, 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!

EduPolicy and EduPolicy Makers:

Charter Schools continue to be discussed and debated in education circles. Joanne Jacobs has
yet one more success story which helps explain why so many parents want their communities to be served by this new and often innovative type of public school.

Ms. Cornelius of A Shrewdness of Apes takes
a thoughtful look at whether or not schools have been assigned an impossible mission and has some ideas on what that Mission ought to be.

Melissa Wiley's The Lilting House is one of the leading lights among those EduBlogs that address issues and concerns related to homeschooling. In a recent entry, House takes
a highly-readable and in-depth look at U.S. Education Secretary Margaret Spelling's recent appearance on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. (And it seems as though the Secretary has also caught the eye of The Mom who is Teaching.)

Secretary Spellings' appearance on The Daily Show is also
on the mind of the AFT's NCLBlog, who is taking Spellings to task for her comments.

The seemingly-endless School Voucher Wars continue. Millard Fillmore's Bathtub has sent us
the latest dispatch from the Utah Front.

When it comes to controversial topics, should teachers express their own personal opinions in the classroom? Or should they be "neutral?" Math teacher Darren over at Right on the Left Coast
provokes both thought and comment-thread discussion by advocating that teachers should feel free to express themselves.

From the Classroom:

On the last day of school, Mister Teacher asked his students to write down what they really thought of him.
And they did! (One may need to scroll down!)

Around here, we always like reading real stories from real teachers who work in real classrooms. The teacher who blogs under the nom-de-blog Aquiram finished her school year with
an unexpected surprise.

Over at NYC Educator, see how a high school English lesson can easily become
an exercise in animal husbandry.

When it comes to maintaining effective classroom discipline, Teacher Dan
is reminding us of The Importance of the Soft Touch. (Surprising but true!)

Teacher Terrell of Alone on a Limb has received funding
for the type of class project that many of us can only dream of doing with our students.... Good for them!

IB a Math Teacher
asks for student input concerning the high number of suspensions this school year.

School Governance:

Humbly
submitted for your approval is our entry about the Louisiana school district whose superintendent considers Memorial Day to be "Just another day of instruction."

Friends of Dave is
bringing to our attention that rarity-of-rarities: a school superintendent who actually "gets it" and implements swift and meaningful change in the delivery of instruction.

A relatively-affluent D.C. area high school has been embroiled in a major student cheating scandal. Matt Johnston
has some suggestions for avoiding future repetitions of this Unacceptable (but all-too-common nowadays) Behavior.

Inside This Teaching Life:

Should there be a dress code for teachers? Dr. Homeslice
opens that can of worms with a story about a 40-year-old teacher who was disciplined for having an "unprofessional" nose-ring.

Anyone who has spent much time around any sort of school quickly comes to realize that they are hotbeds of gossip and other types of Loose Information. How should one handle complaints from teachers about other teachers? The Science Goddess over at What It's Like on the Inside has some
good common-sense advice about how to handle this most delicate of situations...

Homeschooling:

Life Without School shows us one technique for encouraging older homeschooled students to expand their writing abilities: have them
develop and manage their own online discussion group.

Higher Education:

The GrrlScientist over at Living the Scientific Life
has the sad news that some 1,300 college students will commit suicide this year and has sparked quite a lively discussion among the commenters.

Testing and Assessment:

Here are
some thoughts on the Value-Added approach to student assessment.

State and Local Issues:

Extreme Wisdom has
some strong opinons about Illinois' runaway EduExpenditures while another district is cutting its art, music, computer, and physical education courses.

Inside the Blogs:

In a brief entry with a very thought-provoking title, Nucleus Learning gives us their reason
why we learn math.

We here at The Education Wonks believe in the Free Exchange of Thoughts and Ideas. It is for that reason that we've included
this submission by long-shot Republican Presidential candidate John Cox concerning his thoughts on public education and parental control.

And finally: This, like most of our journeys around the EduSphere, has been both enjoyable and informative. Our continued thanks to all the contributors whose submissions make the midway's continuing success possible, the folks who donate their time to help spread the word, and the readers who continue to make it A Free Exchange of Thoughts and Ideas
.
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This midway is registered at TTLB's carnival roundup. See our latest EduPosts here, and the (somewhat) complete Carnival archives over there.

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