Crab Cakes

Um, so last week I took my students to the college nature center to check out the Kalamazoo River up close and personal. It was actually really cool; we were on a boardwalk where the kids could get within inches of the river. They made a lot of excellent observations. However, there is a major, widespread scientifically non-normative (education world word for WRONG) assumption floating around our classroom.

Our children think every fucking thing they see is a hermit crab.

Not kidding. Rocks, shells, minnows, turtles...EVERYTHING is a hermit crab to these kids. Funny thing is, they are seven and eight years old and can't spell hermit crab.

Which leads me to the FSQ/FS writings. Here are some interesting interpretations of the term "hermit crab" I've read while grading journals:

Herman Krab < actual capitalization.
hermed grab
hirmit crabe

and my personal favorite:

harmet krayeb < say it aloud. Slowly. Two words: git 'er done. I literally laughed until I cried the first time I saw this and read it to myself.

I'm tempted not to correct their spelling and let them continue their scholastic careers thinking that this is, in fact, how "hermit crab" is spelled.

...and that every creature living in a river is one.