What makes a good science fair, a good school, a good science lesson? Hands-on exploration and discovery are a great start and never forget to instill a sense of wonder and curiosity in our students.

Without enthusiasm and even a little risk sometimes, learning can quickly become a dead end street. Where there’s boredom, there’s danger.

No worries about any of that here, though. The teachers who have contributed to this week’s Carnival of Education are all of those good things… and MORE.

Let’s visit some of them, shall we?

Over at Onward and Upward, there is an excellent discussion about the “culture of busyness,” and a concern about whether or not we are striking a healthy balance.

April/May didn’t get much respect as a teacher and she greatly fears she’s not going to get much as a writer, either. However, there are compensations. . . .

I really like the title of this blog: An Infinite Number of Cats on Keyboards ! Isn’t that GREAT? Mark Graybill believes in teaching students to program a graphical application early on.

The “guy” over at Current Education Issues brings up a VERY important issue in his post titled “Taking Away From Most To Benefit One.” I know we’ve all come up against this one.

There’s always something interesting over at Joanne Jacobs’ blog. Check out this post called “English Plus.” Wow.

Matt Johnston, of Going to the Mat, has this to say about how our schools “got this way.” Fascinating.

Let’s Play Math gives us a little Euclid, several awesome graphs, and some great puzzles.

Hobo Teacher is almost ready to return her room keys. . . attached to a rock! Let’s find out why. (You all know you’ve felt the same way!!!!!)

Over at More 4 Kids, there’s a great post about how to introduce kids to the arts, and KEEP them interested! Fantastic!

Someone is sick and tired of social promotion and empty promises. Find out what’s going on in Georgia at History Is Elementary, a blog for anyone who loves history and history education. It’s one of the really good ones, folks.

Matthew Ladner is wondering how to get more effective teachers into our classrooms.

Kelly’s mother used to tease her about always having her nose in a book. Her blogpost, “Joy of Reading,” tells us that the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.

Darren is concerned about the role of government in parenting, and he doesn’t like what he’s seeing in Britain.

Have you ever wondered if you should be saving for college, or reform school? Rocks in my Dryer ponders the question. . . .

Right Wing Nation discusses student evaluations, and wonders if there are any other ways they can be used.

How do you handle absences and make-up work? Over at So You Want To Teach, Joel is wondering what you do about these two huge problems teachers face.

Stories From School tells us about Jackie, who loved Green Eggs and Ham so much that she. . . . .well, you have to go there and read it for yourself.

Sigmund, Carl, and Alfred tell us about a 13-year-old girl who was strip-searched because authorities feared she might be carrying. . . . ibuprofen. Then they talk about the student whose braces saved his life. Awesome, both.

One of the joys of the job is having your own classroom. Check out the viewpoint of Lessons Taught, Lessons Learnt. The pictures are interesting, too.

Life Without School isn’t really talking about a portable meth lab, but you’d better scurry on over there to find out what’s really going on!

Momentor advises people to get out there and grab an internship as quickly as possible!

I wouldn’t ask NYC Educator to get out of that chair, if I were you. And really! Screaming for over 20 minutes? An ADULT?

Religion, Politics, and More wonders, ““Are we more concerned about our student’s ability to become successful in the application of knowledge, throughout their lives, or are we just concerned about grades and college?“

Stingy Students gives us his two cents about student loans and the banks that aren’t giving them any more.

People in Oklahoma are ready to endorse education that isn’t public, according to Wired for Noise.

When the Science Goddess speaks, smart people listen! She is wondering whether our students aren’t being subjected to the Mushroom Treatment, even more than people realize. What? You don’t know what the Mushroom Treatment is? Good heavens. Get over to her blog NOW and find out. You might even discover that you’re being subjected to it, too.

The Chancellor’s New Clothes tells us that the public school system isn’t working today, because our children are different.

Cheating is a world-wide problem. Students who are outsourcing their cheating are fast becoming a world-wide problem, too.

The Disappearance of Gray at Work ponders the question, “Where did all these old people come from?” You’d all better listen to them, too.

Mr. McNamar, at The Daily Grind, reminds us that no matter how qualified we might be, we can’t effectively teach our content unless we connect with the students.

I would bet money that none of you will be able to listen to ex-teacher Jordan Sonnenblick’s story without reaching for the kleenex.

Nancy Flanagan, Teacher in a Strange Land, is talking about sex on her blog. Sort of.

The Reading Zone is talking about book lists. Get over there, quickly!

Pat, at Successful Teaching, reminds us all that “Students need to make mistakes, correct them, and apply their knowledge to a new situation. This will make students more successful in the classroom and in real life situations.” To which I say, AMEN!

Friends of Dave gives us a “Lesson For A Math Teacher. “

Does your school have a high administrative turnover? Maybe it’s time for the teachers to start leading from below! Check out what Scripted Spontaneity has to say about “Leading Without Leaders.”

What in the world is a Golden Line? Find out at Heather’s Tween Teacher!

Henry Cate, at Why Homeschool, compares trying to fix education without knowing exactly what’s broke, is like trying to fit glasses on someone with a broken arm. Nice analogy!

At Why Do You Ask, Ric Murray is starting a new job. His unit format will be as follows:

1. WAZ Up?
2. Who Cares?
3. So What?

Sounds good to me.

Lorem Ipsum has some excellent advice for parents and teachers of genuinely gifted students.

Heyyyyyyy! The Fonz has become a good role model!

Apparently, in some places a person needs absolutely no references or credentials in order to teach our children.

More and more of our learning is taking place online. Check out this post at Designer eLearning.

Who Needs Preschool? Find out at Elbows, Knees, Dreams.

Is your child learning to play a musical instrument? This post by Thomas J. West will be invaluable!

I hope you are all sitting down. Well, of course you are; you’re looking at your computer monitors! There is a superintendent in Indiana who keeps a blog, a public blog! The citizens of the Wawasee Community School Corporation can check the superintendent’s blog to find out about school closing, sports, and pretty much any issue in the community. It’s such a breath of fresh air to discover an administrator who actually ENCOURAGES his students and their parents to use technology as it should be used everywhere. Kudos to Dr. Thomas Edington, superintendent of Wawasee Community School Corporation.

At Under Assult: Teaching in NYC, the talk is about harassment and brutality towards the teacher. Not from the students: from the administration.

Are you a math lover? Check out It’s Alive! Multivariable Calculus or Bust!

Those parents who don’t consider the last week of school to be important, so they pull their kids out and take them to Cancun. . . . we’ve all had to deal with THAT kind of parent. At Three Standard Deviations to the Left, we are asked to choose between lowering standards or keeping them high, while enabling the entitled ones even more.

At Creating Lifelong Learners, Matthew Needleman wonders if the overly regulated leisure of today’s children is actually harmful to their emotional maturity.

Jacob wonders about the necessity of a college degree for every profession in “Who Needs A College Degree Anyway.”

Are you a librarian? check out “100 Ways to Improve Usability in Your Library.”

Heh. I said “check out” to librarians.

Do you think that colleges should be told the truth when students cheat on the ACT or SAT? I do. Right now, colleges are simply being told the score isn’t viable, and that’s the same thing kids with a legitimate reason for having no scores are given. WRONG!

We are especially interested in Hunblog’s “The Problem With Our Science Fairs,” for obvious reasons. Speaking of reasons, we agree with Hunblog that too many rules and too many forbidden topics are taking a lot of the fun out of science fairs.

Mamacita, over at Scheiss Weekly, is depressed and obsessing over a student who can’t be helped because, contrary to popular belief, college just isn’t for everybody. There are some students who just need to be somewhere else.

Meanwhile, here at Steve Spangler.com we had the chance to meet 150 teachers from all over the world last week at our Science in the Rockies teacher training. When you combine combustible energy, summer vacation and 150 pounds of potatoes… anything can happen! Be sure to stay tuned to our blog for more Science in the Rockies stories and updates.

The power of blogging educators is incredible. They are unstoppable. Alone, a teacher can be good, even great. Together, teachers can be a force to be reckoned with.

The Carnival of Education brings teachers and parents together, in the exchange of ideas and advice for the betterment of our schools and the advancement of our children. Together, we are invincible.

We were not given any information about Carnival #181, and could find no links or location ANYWHERE on the internet; however, we did finally find the latest Carnival up at the Education Wonks, and it’s a good one!  We just wish we’d known about it beforehand.

Thank you for stopping by. Now that you know where we are, come back any time!

Every once in a while I stumble across a new resource or website and say, “Why didn’t I know about this before now?” If you’re a teacher and you don’t know about The Carnival of Education, check it out! As I understand it, the Carnival of Education is hosted on a new education site each week, and it has an amazing readership. Brew a second pot of coffee because once you start reading, you’ll get roped in for a few hours (each time you check it out).