Welcome to the 120th Carnival of Education!

When Eduwonk told me that I'd be able to host the 120th carnival (my first since the dalmation-themed 101st some months back) it made the math lover in me giggle with glee, because 120 is a really cool number. Consider, from Wikipedia:

120 is the factorial of 5. It is the sum of a twin prime pair (59 + 61) as well as the sum of four consecutive prime numbers (23 + 29 + 31 + 37) and of four consecutive powers of 3 (3 + 9 + 27 + 81). It is highly composite, superabundant, and colossally abundant number, with its 16 divisors being more than any number lower than it has, and it is also the smallest number to have exactly that many divisors. It is also a sparsely totient number. 120 is the smallest number to appear six times in Pascal's triangle. 120 is also the smallest multiple of 6 with no adjacent prime number.

The trick is that, as host, it's awfully hard to make a good theme out of the fact that your number is sparsely totient. Dalmations, easy; tying the world of education convincingly to Pascal's triangle, not so much.

Knowing this I thought back a few weeks to one of the better themes I've seen, Dr. Homeslice's Carnival of One Liners. That gave me the germ of an idea, so I thought I'd try the Carnival of One Syllables:

Sad kid bribe

....but that got old in a hurry.

Sometimes, truly, the old ways are best. Here's this week's Carnival of Education, loosely organized around some compelling themes. Happy reading!

This Teaching Life

Jeffrey Berman at Inside Higher Ed takes some time to remember his wife following her battle with cancer. It's impossible to keep the personal and the professional separate, and this is a piece that elegantly illustrates the point. Great writing.

At Life Without School Linda took a day off to spend some time with her daughter, and it was time well spent. Read what she says about the regrets of life.

The Science Goddess is a fellow Washingtonian who is my go-to source for the straight skinny on what's up with science education. She's got loads of other opinions, too; recently they've been about her union. Educator on the Edge is also feeling leery of his union as he sees them getting ready to pursue one stupid, stupid grievance.

Jim at 5/17 has a great take (with a big assist from Teacher of Poetry) on the teacher who lost her job for saying that she honks for peace.

The always thoughtful California Teacher Guy thinks about a coworker who is leaving his school, and wonders if it's for the right reasons.

jd2718 lives in The City and uses that fact to its full advantage by taking his kids on a spring trip. That's something they'll always remember.

Ms. Teacher has one of those classes. You know who they are. Odds are, they know who they are too. Stick a fork in her, 'cuz she's done with the fifth period.

At Three Standard Deviations to the Left Mr. IB has considered life, the universe, and everything and come to a firm decision: he will never be a school nurse.

I'm a big fan of Mrs. Bluebird over at Bluebird's Classroom. She's one of the best at the slice-of-life blog post; you'll see why I appreciate her so much if you partake of Of Dances, Broken Chairs, Victory for the Non-Losers, and a Walk In the Sunshine. Yesterday she celebrated the last day of school; those of us still in session can envy her both for her free time and her mad writing skills.

Meanwhile, in Millard Fillmore's Bathtub, they're talking about smoking Flintstones. I still remember my jaw hitting the floor the first time I saw that video.

Casting Out Nines has a wonderfully thoughtful post about the role of humility in being a good teacher. It's written from a University perspective, but the lessons within could apply to anyone at any level of the profession.

At Learn Me Good they have a modest proposal for a merit pay program that I could really get behind.

Lists

At Oasis of Sanity there's a fairly important post from a substitute teacher offering 10 things that classroom teachers need to leave behind when they're gone for the day. This would be a good one to pass around at the beginning-of-year staff meeting.

I'll tune up the wayback machine for a post of my own from last year: What You Need to Know as a New Union Member.

That post was in turn inspired by this one from the indefatigable Ms. Cornelius at A Shrewdness of Apes.

Policy

Over at Right Wing Nation they've taken a close look at the new math, and Right Wing Prof has some pretty good thoughts. What he says about logic problems really strikes a cord; I remember from my University math classes that the class on basic logic was the one that ran the most people out of the major.

John Cox is running for president, and he's got some ideas on how to make the system work better.

John Edwards created a College for Everyone plan; Aimless Miss has thoroughly taken it apart.

At Education Matters they've got evidence to suggest that school choice saves taxpayers money.

In the last month Ken DeRosa over at D-Ed Reckoning has had a profound pair of posts that touch on the work of Jonathan Kozol. If inequality and social justice are interests of yours, I highly recommend Another Nail and Income Inequality in America.

EdWeek's Blogboard has come up with a teacher merit pay system I can get behind, even if their site reminds me of the late, lamented Teacher Magazine. We hardly knew ye!

Matthew K. Tabor shows us a district that traded homework for votes, and offers that their scruples and integrity may have been part of the bargain as well.

Eduwonk does a compare-and-contrast exercise that will make your stomach turn: what's the difference between these two sexual predators? In a similar vein, Reality Based Educator shows us that predators can work in any field...even politics.

Dr. Homeslice and Joanne Jacobs have both been on the story of the New Mexico student who got his failing grade changed. He's got either the right parents or the wrong parents, depending on your POV.

Miscellani

Write to Right has some thoughts on how to start your own home business.

NYC Educator has a fine letter of recommendation for the kid who doesn't show up to class.

Hedgetoad has said to hell with what other people think and put up a clothesline.

At The Quick and the Ed they're covering the discussion about why Cho did it; the current favored theory (of some) is that exposure to literature warped his brain.

Campus Grotto has some thoughts about how to make our college campuses more secure.

Online Degrees Today has reviewed City University of Seattle; they're also looking at how to apply to the proper grad school. They should talk to Ken Nubo, who wonders if a college degree is worth it.

At Sharpbrains.com they've got two fun activities to keep your brain fit and limber. I need to spend more time here; the kids are passing me by in a hurry.


And that's it for the 120th Carnival! Next week the Midway returns home to The Education Wonks; Submissions to Carnival #121 should be sent no later than 9:00 PM (Eastern) on Tuesday, May 15th to owlshome [at] earthlink [dot] net. You can also use the ever-handy submission form here.

The Carnival of Education archives are maintained at EdWonk's site, here. You couldn't ask for more relevant summer reading, and you can't beat the price.

Thank you for visiting!


(Updated to include an overlooked post)