In reviewing the Partnership for 21st Century Skills website, I found the site
to be overall fairly useful. The site
discusses skills necessary for students to be successful in their future
careers that schools need to improve upon.
Skills such as working cooperatively together, using critical thinking
skills, and utilizing multiple forms of communication are described as skills
that need to have more of a focus in school.
Perhaps it is because I went to college in the past seven years or that
it depends on the type of college I went to, but my feeling is that these areas
have always been concentrated on within my classroom. Cooperative learning is something my students
always do. Project-based learning has
always been an integral part of my curriculum because I feel students learn
best when they are active, engaged, and have a stake in their own learning. My questioning tactics always lean more
towards the higher end of Bloom’s Taxonomy.
As I have said, maybe it is due to my background, but my feeling is that
most educators strive for similar objectives in their classrooms. What are your thoughts on this?
One tremendous benefit in reviewing the site was the amount
of resources available. There was a
section under their resources that described what various states were doing to
meet the 21st century skills.
I discovered, for example, that my state has a variety of programs that
educators can sign up for that enable their classes to interact with other
classrooms around the world, take virtual field trips, or experience someone’s
digital storytelling about various topics.
For such a great resource in my state, I was surprised to not hear of it
before, and many of my colleagues in my school haven’t either. If you haven’t had a chance to check out the
Partnership for 21st Century Skills’ resource page, I highly
recommend you do to explore what is available for you in your state!
Hi Matt!
ReplyDeleteI agree with you about the wonderful resources that the website provided! I also feel like I use cooperative learning and questioning techniques that promote higher thinking. It seems that each year that I teach, I improve on both and learn different ways to use cooperative learning within my classroom.
I looked on the website to see what my state had to offer, and unfortunately, they do not offer anything. Hopefully, they will jump on board soon and will realize the importance of 21st century skills in the classroom. I will keep checking to see!
Great post!!
-Sam R.
Nicely posted Matt!
ReplyDeleteI also have graduated from college in the last seven years and have tried to keep myself current in technology and to concentrate on higher order questioning skills when in the classroom. Being one of the newest teachers in an older staff I have had the advantage of watching highly experienced teachers with nearly zero technology skills that put me to shame with their expertise in drawing responses out of students.
It is not technology or the access to technology that makes a teacher and while I hope to be as gifted as some of the teachers I have observed I will continue to be the tech guy they go to for help. This gets me into their classrooms and a new chance to learn that technology is just a tool. A master teacher makes use of the tools that they have but knows when to skip technology and bring it down to the personal level. A master teacher knows when a quiet word of encouragement is of greater benefit to the student than a handful of website URL's.
In reading an article on the Korean version of the SAT I was surprised that Korea does not allow any technology on their college exams not even calculators. Yet their students consistently outperform ours in testing. Is the reliance on technology in the United States placing us at a disadvantage?
Matt,
ReplyDeleteWhile completing my undergraduate degree the professors often incorporated the 21st Century Skills mentioned on the website. We had assignments that required cooperative learning and group projects. While teaching I always made an effort to incorporate these skills into my lessons. There are many teachers who didn't have a similar 21st century college experience that believe in the "sit and get" method of instruction. I believe integrating the 21st century skills into the classroom prepares students for better success in the future. One lesson that I found my American History students responded well to was the teacher for day. I would break the students into small groups. The groups were responsible for researching, preparing, and delivering a lesson. Having the students involved in the lesson creation and delivery gave them a sense of ownership and they worked hard to ensure they were successful. The lesson allowed the students to learn the material, 21st century skills, and prove mastery of the content by teaching the material to the class. I believe making students active in their education is a key to success.