Teaching in the Twenty-First Century

Welcome to the January 3, 2007 edition of the Carnival of Education.

2006, gone. What a year!

This 100^th edition of the carnival leads us into a bright New Year. There is no rhyme or reason to this week’s posts. In the new year we start with good intentions, hope for answers, and consider the good and the bad of the past year. Here’s hoping we all find some health, wealth (not just monetary!), and love in the New Year!

GOOD INTENTIONS?
 Winter Break - Christmas Holidays - School is out for two weeks - and I’m thinking about a “balanced calendar” posted at The Median Sib, reminds us all of the Winter Break plans we either accomplished or forgot to do! ”A light-hearted look at winter break - and a side trip to thoughts of a balanced calendar.” Check out her info on the balanced calendar idea. My daughter’s school (the old one ) used a calendar like this and it was a dream! I, as a teacher, could definitely see the benefits of this type of calendar.

Religion in education? Religion out of education? Wherever you stand on the issue, you have strong beliefs. Barry presents Discussion of religion in school posted at Staring At Empty Pages, about a teacher in Kearny, NJ, who may/may not have stepped over the unseen line of religion in the classroom. Barry ends the post by pointing out that no matter where one stands on the issue, the teacher in question has

“made it more difficult to have discussion of religious issues in class, even when such discussion makes sense and is important to what the kids are learning.”

Be sure to check out his follow-up post about the abuse being suffered by the student who turned the teacher in! You can find the post here: follow-up post.

Andy, over at Horsesense and Nonsense, has a post about the humorous side of SSR, or sustained silent reading. A reluctant reader + online shopping choice = War and Peace?

Would you know if a student is depressed?  Ms. SuperScience presents One in eight posted at Beautiful Biology: Ramblings of a Science Teacher.

A.M. Pinpin presents To Sing Another Song posted at Mind, Heart, and Mysteries, saying,

“Monday morning, you heard that a group case presentation is due the following week. Your team leader proposed that a “made-up” case be submitted. Deep inside, you know that cheating is bad and that it entails a serious offense. When it was time to ask whether there are objections, no one dared to speak. You were silenced by the fact that everyone seems to agree with the plan. Now you are in a dilemma and started asking yourself, “Will I reject the proposal and suggest a legal plan? Or should I continue to keep quiet and agree to it? Anyways, they all seem to like the idea of doing dishonest work.”

Phil B. presents Solutions for Saving the Planet and Humanity « Phil for Humanity posted at Phil for Humanity, saying, “Let’s face reality. Earth is going to be the first planet terraformed.”

Another homeschool post from the Life Without School blog, this time from Cindy, who raises some pretty insightful questions about the value of current grading practices, which apply to all educators alike. Imagine raising a son who learns for the sake of learning and feeling as though that son was unprepared for the rigors of college.

“He didn’t score as well with the traditional professor and the traditional grading expectations that simply reflected the hoops he was meant to jump through versus the learning that was accomplished.  Eric was at a crossroads for his learning path.”

Her follow-up post ponders the success or failure of her son’s choices on his learning journey.

Over at Raising Great Kids, Alejandra has offered up suggestions on creating New Year Resolutions with your kids. Carrying on a tradition started by her father, Alejandra outlines what to do and why we sometimes miss hitting our resolution goals.

Teachergirl presents Do-Over. This insightful post reminds us that we as educators are given many “new years” and should take advantage of them and fix what needs fixing!

Rudolph and the road not taken posted at TexasEd examines the cultural myths and realities the seasonal classic seems to perpetuate. Well worth the read, especially if you wonder why Rudolph must prove himself before being accepted.

Institutional memories keeping strikes alive in your school? The answer as to why may be here: Breaking News….Chicago Teacher Strike Possible? posted by Dr. Homeslice.

Darren presents Creating Balance in an Unjust World: Conference on Math Education and Social Justice posted at Right On the Left Coast, saying,

“Social Justice is a loaded phrase for a panoply of left-wing causes–and trying to infuse mathematics with this social science does no one any good.”

Are we going to far in the fight to make the world equitable?

And, from our own venerable carnival hosts The Education Wonks presents 1984 All Over Again? Iris scans for student information? When do good intentions go too far?

This post should actually fall under the category of WHAT WERE YOU THINKING!?!? Derrell, a guest commentator over at edspresso, offers us a look at the cheating scandal that has been rocking Camden, NJ—since the early 1980’s? Even with the threat of NCLB, there is no way I would ever cheat for my students. I refuse to even look at any of the tests until they are finished and shipped away—which in reality means I can’t look at them—they’re gone!

Ms. C, over at A Shrewdness of Apes, offers to illuminate the ideas behind eminent domain and natural rights. Are you ready for a history lesson? If so, head on over and check out  In which the History Geek decries that perversion of natural rights known as Life, Liberty, and… eminent domain?

i thought a think, our host for next week’s carnival (see bottom of post for info), has provided us with an eye opening look at ADHD and the drugs used to “cure” it.
 

LOOKING FOR ANSWERS?
For a look at what a gifted high school student thinks about advanced coursework, check out this post AP and IB, Good or Bad? posted at Wells On Education. Wells on Education is written by a gifted high school student and includes many good treats for the gifted educator and the general ed teacher who has gifted kids in the regular classroom.

How smart are you? Or, should it be, how are you smart? A fellow blogger asks which question is the right question and has the research been studying the wrong question. Citing a speaker who uses Howard Gardner’s multiple intelligences Adeolu examines the issue here Deoluakinyemi » Daily Motivation and Development for People and Organizations - ASE » Blog Archive » How are you Smart? 

BDean tackles the question of: what is digital storytelling? If you have never considered digital storytelling as a tool to be used within your classroom, read BDean’s post  E-Tale: Digital Storytelling. Then check out the rest of his blog for information on tools to use, ideas, and thoughts posted at E-Tale.

As one who has never really liked math, even though it comes naturally to me, I can appreciate a good math trick. Anything that will help me teach my 2^nd grader math is appreciated! Mister Teacher over at Learn Me Good and his niece have come up with some pretty interesting memory tricks for multiplication in his post Multiplications Greatest Hits. Who knew Stevie Nicks could help me with math?! 

An Interview with Martin Luther On Classical Education posted at TriviumPursuit. Brett discusses the Insular Nature of Education, or the willingness or unwillingness of some to take advice about education from those not involved in education. A subject that many have thoughts on and a collegial conversation should take place.  

“Clearly, being an educator or administrator by no means disqualifies one from participating in that discussion. But does it give you more authority or expertise?”

Principled Discovery has an interesting post about Testing and mind reading. Intrigued? Go read!

Is America more obsessed with English royalty, than the English? The answer may surprise you. Maureen presents Elizabeth II, Queen of England – End of an Era? posted at Empty Nest, saying, “History can be fun when it’s personalized!”

Justin Lowery presents Does College Make You Smart? posted at blog4brains.com, saying,

“Only 31 percent of college-educated Americans can fully comprehend something as simple as a newspaper story. Shocking, huh? This was reported in a recent finding of the National Assessment of Adult Literacy.”

NYC Educator presents Yo! posted at NYC Educator, saying, “Kids speak their own language, but they’re awfully possessive about it, and can’t bear to see grownups use it.”

The Science Goddess wonders what graduate exit exams may be doing to elective courses and why the teachers of those elective courses aren’t integrating math and science into their curriculum. Check out her post: Evolve or Die over at What It’s Like on the Inside.

I submit to you Question of the Week #2: NCLB Testing of Language Learners: Developmentally Appropriate or Keeping to High Standards? I began this series of posts, posted every Friday to encourage and engage in collegial conversation in the edublogosphere. Jump in and respond!

THE END OR A BEGINNING?
And to end our wanderings through the education blogosphere for this edition, check out what Alexander Russo finds to be the best and worst of 2006 on This Week in Education.

I challenge you to reflect on your previous posts and enlighten your readers as to what you felt were your best, most important, or loved posts from 2006, as I did here: TT: Top Thirteen Posts of 2006.

It has been a pleasure to host this carnival and I wish you all a Happy New Year!

Submit your blog article to the next edition of carnival of education using our carnival submission form.

Next week’s host will be i thought a think. Get busy posting and submitting that post  for previewing by 9 pm Pacific Standard Time next Tuesday, January 9th!