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The way Wil demonstrated that there is a large variety of ways to decide to categorize data was a real eye-opener. Again we can look at how we can make things "less wrong." It also brings to mind the "concept maps" that have become very popular over the last decade. More and more I see how the construction of these webs of facts and topics and methods helps our students to find their own ways of constructing and retaining knowledge. The exercise we performed is well worth doing in our classrooms. I think the kids will gain a broader understanding of the problems and concepts that we will be dealing with throughout the rest of the year if they are exposed to this exercise early on.

I think I will also try making more use of concept maps -- even tho the activity takes a bit of time. I will compare the results achieved to those I got by more traditional methods last year.