Education Matters US

I am honored to host the 132^nd Carnival of Education. Carnivals are festive events with roller coasters, slides, games, and food. There is always something for everyone. You get to pick and choose according to your tastes. That is how I view the Carnival of Education; a place where all education related views are shared.

It is my opinion that no post should be excluded just because you don’t agree with it. This divergence of ideas is what makes this country so great. We can disagree and yet debate civilly about them. It is this debate that will produce innovative solutions to aid in the education of this and future generations. It for this reason that I have posted all entries that are education related. I have not excluded anyone. If your post is missing, it is truly unintentional and I will correct that by putting your post at the entryway to the carnival.

UPDATE: Next week’s carnival will be hosted by The Red Pencil. You can email Vivek your posts at theredpencil [at] gmail [dot] com or you can use this handy submission form instead. You can visit last week’s midway down at Education in Texas. If you are interested in taking a daily whirl around the edusphere, sign up or just visit Edusphere.US.

I also would like ot include one special request. WikiFOIA.com is asking for help in getting Freedom of Information (FOI) procedures and costs from across the country. If you know that information for your school district please update that information.

It’s time to enter the carnival; explore, learn and debate to your heart’s content. If you enjoy suprises, click the House of Mirrors button below and be randomly transported to one of the Carnival links. Enjoy!

To kick off the debate and hopefully set the energy level to high, read this controversial post from Extreme Wisdom that asks the question, “Is Public Education in America Even “Legitimate?”“. It should get the debate cranked up swiftly no matter what your views are.

Next stop is the blog of Presidential Candidate John Cox to explore Ritalin use in schools. [Disclosure: I write the majority of his education policy posts]

I also humbly submit my post entitled “Can We Compete?” which explores the NEA July cover article of the same title.

McHenry County Blogger, Cal Skinner reports a Illinois State Senator has introduced legislation that would allow public money to be used to promote a referendum. Election interference laws are so weak now that there is no accountability anyway.

Andy at The Cool Justice Report found out a school prevented a democratic student election by not counting write in votes for a student who used derogatory language about the school in an online blog.

I have an affinity for homeschoolers, since I am one myself. You can visit their carnival at Dewey’s Treehouse this week, but for now let me share some of my favorites.

Do you like Opera? How about if it is free? Well then, head on over to Higher Up and Further In to find out how to get free Opera lessons.

I discovered Teen Literacy Tips via Bending the Twigs in a post about the dumbing down of summer reading lists.

HeadMistress at The Common Room provides part II of The Seven Liberal Arts and a Classical Education in which she discusses the place of Greek in modern education.

Consent of the Governed talks about the ridiculousness of paying kids to stay in school.

Alasandra provides her responses to the top myths of homeschooling.

Jocelyn of Lothlorien writes about some of her homeschool friends who have started their own businesses. Check them out and see what ingenuity can do for some young entrepreneurs.

Reasons why empowering parents will help more than laws and a little EduPolicy on the side:

EdWonk explains that the elephant in the EduReform center ring is really teacher quality and he shares the following quote:

Over at Kim’s Play Place, she explains why the basics are essential and how NCLB is not the culprit in the increased time on tested subjects.

I believe NCLB is ineffective should be renewed. It would not be needed if teachers considered all the tests they write and give to be were considered “high stakes tests” instead of “low stakes testing” as explained by Right Wing Nation.

Brett at The DeHavilland Blog explores the idea of the upside of less education funding. The idea is simple, put the public back in public funding and remove the government from the middle.

Joanne Jacobs brings us a report on summer reading lists and how they have changed over the years, i.e. many of the classics are no longer on the list.

Matt over at Going to the Mat shares what education topics he would like to see researched and why there is a disconnect between what is being researched and what should be researched.

der Logiker is giving his advice on how to choose a topic for your thesis. The tips and warnings could save you much frustration and stress. If you are looking for a topic, Advances in the History of Psychology shares where you can get a $25,000 fellowship along with his exploration into whether there are sex differences in the learning of science and math.

Ryan of I Thought a Think has a great post about the war on the gifted. He is absolutely correct. The gifted are being shortchanged because of the structure of our public schools. These students need to give a chance learn at their level and pace at a school that is tailored for them instead of being stuck alone in a school hallway. In a bonus post he asks is there a problem why males do not seem to be teaching in K-6. I believe the answer may be the lack of alternative methods to becoming a teacher and the arcane salary structure. This limits the professional who may want to change careers.

The Science Goddess at What’s it Like on the Inside explains why the Internet can and should be used in schools. I have to agree that some of the regulations in place in some school districts are overblown as well.

Math:

Math is my favorite subject and why I am a computer programmer today. Denise over at Let’s Play Math provides us with some great quotes about why some of us love math.

Mathematics is rated M for mature by Tony at Pencils Down is thought provoking. However, I disagree with his concept, but would accept it as an alternative if parents were given the choice of whether their child attended this school.

Helps for teachers:

Eric at Secondhand Thoughts explores why former troops would make good teachers.

Bill at The Tempered Radical ponders how other teachers determine student learning difficulties. Do you use voodoo or statistics?

MS_Teacher reflects on her first day of teaching and the lessons she learned from it.

Clix shares what works for her at Epic Adventures Are Often Uncomfortable.

Elementary History Teacher gives some advice on how to remember the children’s names. It is a bit of sanity advice to start the school year.

The Therapy Doc shares a field trip that should be mandatory. I have to agree. I have read much about the holocaust, but have been to one of the museums. I have also taught my children about it. I do plan to visit one of the museums when I get the opportunity. We all need to remember that evil does exist in this world. The Daily Planet posted a holocaust article entitled, “It All Started With A Girl: An Anne Frank Biography Essay“. Good job Homey.

Darren from Right on the Left Coast shares why he has changed his mind about arming teachers. This is a controversial topic, but one that deserves thought and debate.

The fourth law of behavioral management across the pond at scenes from the battleground. They close with the following question, “If you do not see others as responsible for their actions how can you ever take responsibility for your own?” Hopefully the mentality of personal responsibility makes its way back into our public school system. It surely is needed.

Tim Frederick shares his thoughts on the distinction between teaching with the test and teaching to the test.

Mister Teacher form Learn Me Good shares a new game, “Place Ball” to help with rote memorization. Let him know what you think or if you have heard of the game before.

Dan shares some of his first day procedures and encourages other to share theirs at the First Day Wiki.

Book Reviews:
Joel from So You Want To Teach? wants to change the world and he wants your help to do it by giving away “The 4-Hour workweek“.

In a further look at NCLB, Matthew Tabor reviews the book “Tested by Linda Perlstein“.

Steph W. at Thoughts on Meaningful Learning talks about The Book of Learning and Forgetting and how we learn from things around us.

Helps for parents and students:

Campus Grotto lays out the must have tech gadgets for students while Scott at College and Finance reminds them of 18 overlooked things everyone should bring to college. While technically this not education related, Finance Is Personal gives 10 statistical facts why you should never play the lottery. This is commons sense advice for all the students heading back to college and think they can strike it rich without hard work.

Ms. Cornelius at A Shrewdness of Apes provides a lesson for teachers and parents who need to know the language (slang) of drug use. Learn it and be prepared.

Miscellaneous:

Greg at Rhymes with Right explains why special and months and days are an injustice to the students.

Jose Vilson explains when he saw the eyes of the devil in the education system. There are people in any profession that are just there to collect a paycheck and those that are plain vindictive.

Atheist Revolution shares their thoughts on why BYU is failing to foster critical thinking. I disagree with their logic, standing up for your beliefs does not necessarily mean you are not fostering critical thinking.