Thing #12

If I counted it out I probably google upwards of 20 times a day but that's probably a conservative estimate.  When I'm too lazy to look in the official statute book  I will search for "Kentucky Revised Statutes." When I need a new recipe I'll immediately google one.  It is my go-to resource.  I think it's utterly amazing that we have the world at our fingertips for the searching.  If I need to know some random fact about some random thing it's just waiting to be searched.  I fairly certain once I'm in the classroom and someone has a question my response will be "Let's google it!"

I set up several Google alerts.  Some are for the EDUC 5500 class like "bilingual education" and "school to prison pipeline."  Those will be particularly useful in the next few weeks while I work on my topic presentation and research paper.  But I did set up a news alert for "cows".  I have a theory that cows are the placid, easy-going bovines harmlessly grazing in the field.  What they really are sinister beings plotting our demise one or two people at a time.  I read (and post to Facebook much to my friends' chagrin) all the articles I come across about 'cows gone wild'.  I'm sure my friends will be thrilled to find out I won't be missing any future news stories.

I also explored Google Books.  I wanted to see if I could use phrases to pull up books or poems.  My grandmother and then mother used to say an old nursery rhyme to us when we were little so I typed in "there's a wise old owl in the tree".  The first link is for the Northwest Journal of Education, Volume 15, page 13 published in 1903.  Here is that link:  http://books.google.com/books?id=fukBAAAAYAAJ&pg=RA2-PA13&dq=%22there's+a+wise+old+owl+in+the+tree%22&hl=en&sa=X&ei=NQElUvqfAsissQS8-4CoDg&ved=0CC0Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=%22there's%20a%20wise%20old%20owl%20in%20the%20tree%22&f=false. When I typed in "the wise old owl in the tree, in the tree" a link to an storytelling resource was the first site.  Here's that link:   http://hive-arts.org/resources-links/some-favs-fingerplays-nursery-rhymes/autumn-near-the-hive/.  The version  from the hive is slightly different than my grandmother's and mom's but here is it copied from the site with my remembered changes.  It's said very quietly until the "WHO" which is said much louder.  No matter how many times we heard it, we always jumped at the correct time.


A wise old owl in the tree, in the tree.
And he sits quite still all the day
His wise old eyes look at you and me
In the most surprising way
And when all the world goes to sleep at night.
And there isn’t even a ray of light.
Mr. Owl hoots up sets his wings for a flight
WHOOO says the owl in the tree.

I think these sort of tools could very useful in the classroom.  Google alerts could be set up for current events projects and research projects.  Google Books has a great wealth of material which could be used for the same.