What's with the title "Teach 47"?

 So, how difficult is it to choose a name for a blog? It's harder than you would imagine!

Image by Peter Alfred Hess on Flickr

It is a really tough process thinking of a blog title. It's like an online elevator pitch. I am sure any blogger could talk about the time spent anguishing over the right title for their blog. It sounds like a simple thing to do, but man, does it take time to be right. If you have never done it before, let me share with you some of the though process that had gone though my mind:

• It should be something that has a personal feeling to it.
• It needs to be something that sounds professional (but not like I'm some kind of corporation).
• Do I use my own name in it? ("The Waldie Blog"?)
• Should I tie it into a particular theme (technology)? What happens if I want to write about something different? Wouldn't that be misleading?
• All of the good ones are taken!
• It needs to have some meaning in connection with the blog itself.
• Can't be too long.
• Can't be too casual.
• Can't be too formal.
• Did I mention that all the good ones are taken?

So, after lots of pacing about my house and going through a variety of previous incarnations, I settled on "Teach 47". The "teach" part of it is a simple connection as most of what I will be writing about will be on my experiences in teaching. But, what is the meaning of 47? Why not 35 or 28 or any other number? The answer goes to, of all places, Star Trek.

Need a reference! (If you know the origin, let me know)

Star Trek has had many inside jokes in its time, but one of the longest running ones is based around the number 47. While Star Trek writer Joe Menosky attended Pamona College there was a club there called the "47 Society" which claimed that the number 47 occurred with greater frequency in nature than any other number. It was, in this society's mind, the quintessential random number. Menosky therefore started referencing the number 47 while writing for Star Trek The Next Generation. Don't believe me? Take a look here:



The number caught on and has been making appearances in every Star Trek television series and movie since then. There is even a website called "The 47 Conspiracy" dedicated to cataloging these instances.

So, what does this have to do with my blog? Two things:

1. I like Star Trek. I wanted to get a good reference in there that only the really geeky trekkers out there (like myself) might get at first glance.

2. The magic of this in-joke was that it was invisible. Most people didn't even know it was there, nor was it the focus of the show. It was simply something that existed to enhance the show from the background. This is something at the core of my feelings regarding technology integration in the classroom.

Technology Integration Rule Number 47

Good technology integration in classroom is something in the background that enhances the learning, but it is not meant to be the show in itself. In my classroom, I try to use technology on a daily basis.  I love technology and what it can bring to the classroom. But, it should not be the focus of the lesson. Like the number 47, it may be all around us, but it is not the focus of what is happening.

So, there you have it. I Teach 47.