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Friday, September 5, 2008

Databases and Spreadsheets

There were two things I really enjoyed in this chapter. 

The first thing was they discussed using and teaching students to use automated databases. I agree that this is so important.  A lot of school libraries are databases and teaching children to use these as effectively as possible will better their research skills.  Teaching children to research also means teaching them, "skills for selecting, evaluating, and citing resources," (146). I think this is so important. There is so much on the internet today that is not credible or has been plagiarized from another site. Teaching these skills and enforcing them will help students for the rest of their lives. The book provided a website "Searching The Net" that sounded great for teaching  students about web searching. 

The second thing was using the Spreadsheets. We have already learned so much in class that I never knew was possible with Excel. But my favorite part in the book was the idea for the middle school survey.  Whether it is 5Th grade going to middle school or 8Th grade going to high school there are always worries and rumors. For example a large concern is always: Do the older kids stuff you into lockers?   By doing this activity the teacher is able to teach math skills, excel skills, english skills and calm concerns all at the same time. For these reasons I thought doing this graph was a great idea for those students who will be changing schools very shortly.