The Day the Dictionary Died

September 24, 2013-Dover,OH- the evans edition was first on the scene at an apparent wordicide at Dover Middle School. The alleged incident happened in Mr. Jeremy Evans' classroom. According to reports from the scene, Mr. Evans claimed that the dictionaries that reside in his room, were effectively dead. Students were working on defining key terms for their novel that they are reading. Apparently instead of using the Meriam-Webster antiques, the students were instructed to use BYOT (Bring Your Own Technology) and google the definition. Students were surprised that the teacher instructed them to ignore the dictionary, but were more than willing to whip out their ipods, tablets and smartphones.

Mr. Evans was available for comment. When asked about allegedly killing the dictionary, he had this to say. "I wouldn't call it murder. I didn't kill the dictionaries, I just told them to use BYOT. The dictionaries in my room were printed in 1963, that's means they are 18 years older than me. Why would I make them use antiques, when they have the latest and greatest technology in their backpacks?" Mr. Evans neither admitted nor denied the charges. He did add this "The internet is a powerful tool and we need to find ways to integrate it into our rooms whenever and wherever we can. Using google to define terms just makes sense to me. Call me a murderer, but I think it is just too powerful to not use. When was the last time you used a dictionary? I can't remember the last time I did. I do use the internet to define words all the time. Wordicide or not, it just makes sense." the evans edition will have more on this developing story as more details emerge.

The Difference Between Search and Research

This post was inspired by Wendy Eiteljorg. She posted about teaching students about the difference between searching and researching a topic. This could not have been timed better. I read this post about a week before my students were going to start a research project about explorers. I had great intentions of teaching the best lesson on research EVER! It didn't go as well as planned, but just keep reading.

I started with my first group by using a T-chart to list some differences between search and research. I used examples like a dog fetching a ball and Trick or Treating and examining candy after Trick or Treat (both suggestions made by Wendy). It was great. We talked about how I LOVE Google, but not for research. We can't always trust everything we find on Google and Google doesn't give us the kind of information we need for research reports. It is great for finding quick answers (search). I love Google, I mean I am using the blogger platform after all, just not for kids doing research reports. And the Teacher of the Year award goes to ... Mr. Evans!

Then we get to the computer lab. I caught two students using Google to search for their explorers. Do I have to give my award back now?

I tried with the next class and I think it went better. I made the students tell me more about why they shouldn't use Google and why they should use INFOhio instead. I was surprised at how well they already understood the concept. We got to the computer lab. Nobody tried to use Google. SUCCESS!

I feel bad for my first group of students. I feel that I shortchanged them. I will continue to work with them on the differences, but I feel this is a good start.

I'll let you know when the award comes in the mail :)

New Beginnings

Well after using blogger for our 5th grade class newsletter, I have decided to start using it for my personal and professional blog. I'm not sure why I used wordpress to begin with, but here are some reasons why I am making the switch.

1. I tried to set up our blog on edublogs and found it very clunky. It is owned and run by wordpress, so it makes sense that they are so similar. I was just very confused by many of the features and found blogger more user friendly.

2. I haven't really used wordpress that much lately. I use my google reader everyday and I hope that this will sync better and will lead to me using it more.

3. I love everything that google does, so I hope this won't disappoint me.

So here it is my new beginning. Kinda lame, but I have to write something for my first post.