School Bored?

No matter what your profession, I think everyone has been to a meeting like this--one where we secretly wished we could play a game like this for real:

HOW TO STAY AWAKE IN TEACHER IN-SERVICES: OFFERED AS A PUBLIC SERVICE...

Do you keep falling asleep in teacher meetings and in-services?

Here's a way to change all of that.

1. Before (or during) your next meeting, in-service or staff development, prepare yourself by drawing a square. I find that 5" x 5" is a good size.

Divide the card into columns-five across and five down. That will give you 25 one-inch blocks.

2. Write one of the following words/phrases in each block:
* no child left behind
* test scores
* core competencies
* communication
* standards
* multiple exposures
* benchmarks
* proactive
* win-win
* think outside the box
* action plan
* result-driven
* assessments
* knowledge base
* at the end of the day
* touch base
* mindset
* differentiated
* retention
* skills
* background knowledge
* effective learning
* exemplars
* implementation
* reflection

3. Check off the appropriate block when you hear one of those words/phrases.

4. When you get five blocks horizontally, vertically, or diagonally stand up and shout "BULLS---!"

TESTIMONIALS from satisfied "Bulls--- Bingo" players:
-- "I had been in the meeting for only five minutes when I won."
- Adam W., Atlanta

-- "My attention span at in-services has improved dramatically. " - David T., Orlando

-- "What a gas! Staff development will never be the same for me after my first win." - Dan J., New York City

-- "The atmosphere was tense in the last in-service as 14 of us waited for the fifth box." - Ben G, Denver

-- "The speaker was stunned as eight of us screamed 'BULLS---! for the third time in two hours. The Bulls--- Bingo Championship will be played at the next inservice." -Rod H., Nashville

(Hat tip: M.C. And sanitized for your protection.)

Since my particular teaching job doesn't require me to go to either in-services or staff meetings at the moment, it's been a while since i've had to experience this sort of thing. (The big problem I can see with making music teachers go to "regular" in-services is that so much of what they do doesn't apply to us and vice versa.) At any rate, I got a laugh out of the above; feel free to share your own in-service or business meeting stories in the comments if you wish.

It's a dog's life, part 1: A Maryland woman started choking on a piece of fruit that became lodged in her throat, but her dog saved her life by standing on her chest and attempting a canine version of the Heimlich maneuver. The woman "still has pawprint-shaped bruises on [her] chest" but is otherwise fine.

It's a dog's life, part 2: A pair of formerly-abandoned Labrador retriever siblings who were adopted out to separate families became reunited while at doggie day-care recently. Key quote: "Mack and her husband Curt said they're hoping to set up play dates outside the daycare for the two long-lost Labs."