Thursday, March 19, 2009

The Spider Crab Video

I downloaded a video of spider crabs to my computer and linked to the video through notebook while discussing arthropods

The Moose Report: #1

What do we need to teach our students to be successful in the 21st Century? Take a look the Partnership for 21st Century Skills Framework. How could these be implemented in your classroom? What are the benefits of implementing these skills for your students?We need to teach our students to access not just information available online but it must be credible information. Sites such as Wikipedia are very useful and informative but must be cross checked for accuracy. Such checks are possible. Many online encyclopedias will provide sufficient information to back up the personal details that get added to sites such as Wikipedia. Students need to learn the difference between a credible reference site and a personal blog. Another thing to note is that just because a site is a personal “blog” that does not mean it is inaccurate or irrelevant. The site http://www.anapsid.org/mainherpetology.html is the personal “blog” and “reference” site of Melissa Kaplan. Melissa started the site when she was in high school. The site is now acknowledged as one of the best reference site for reptiles and has won several awards.

Blogging allows students to access other peoples view and information on the net and to share their own knowledge. It is too easy to say “look it up”. Information is out there and our students can access it with or without our help. We need to teach them to access it better, faster, to analyze it, vet it, cross check it, and share it with others through the many different media that they have available.