In order for our children to become successful in today's technological and global society, their possession of 21st century skills is critical. For those who aren't familiar with the term "21st Century Skills", or are curious as to what constitutes as 21st Century Skills and how to teach them to our students, I encourage you to check out the "Partnership for 21st Century Skills" at http://www.21stcenturyskills.org/.
My first impression of this website was familiarity. Previously, I read the company's Mile Guide and found much of the information in this report located on the website. The ease of navigation on the website made locating the information I wanted to find quite simple. As I started to explore more, I began to realize how much valuable information about 21st century skills could be found on this site.
What really surprised and impressed me was the snap shots that accompanied many of the teaching techniques suggested to properly implement 21st century skills. I have always been a very visual learner and these clips helped to reinforce my understanding of the Mile Guide. Another surprise for me was only 10 states in the U.S. are participating with this type of education. If we want the US to excel in global business, why isn't all of the U.S. on board with this? I feel every state should embrace these practices and am pretty disappointed that my state (Maryland) is not on the list.
Just because Maryland has yet to participate in this way of teaching, that doesn't mean that I can't take some initiative in infusing this content with the core subjects assessed by my state. Seeing that I will be teaching second grade next year for the first time, I found the snapshot on ICT/Global Awareness particularly intriguing and would like to incorporate that in my teaching next year. If my students will, one day, work in a global economy, then I want to expose them to concepts like ICT/Global Awareness at a very early age. Having a clearer understanding of how to properly facilitate 21st century skills will help me effectively prepare my students for their future successes.
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Brooke,
ReplyDeleteI thought that this web site was a useful tool to find information about technology. I also noticed that our state of Maryland was not on the list to embrace these practices. What I did find interesting was in the reading of the article The New Literacies by Miners and Pascopella p.34. The section about Baltimore, MD talks about the success of Connections Academy. It is a virtual public school based in Baltimore. Have you heard of this before?
I thought the website had a lot of interesting information. The plans/proposals all sound like they could work. I was taken in even more when I saw the partners and members.
ReplyDeleteI loved the snapshots too! They really helped me to get my head around how to incorporate some of these things in my class.
ReplyDeleteI teach 8th graders and I sometimes struggle with how to develop projects that will be meaningful without being too complex for them to accomplish. I think that the global awareness goal is a great one to focus on at the elementary level. Its so critical to expand their horizons, while students are still forming their world views.
I was also surprised to find that there are not more schools on board with the initiative, but it does not mean that a teacher cannot implement P21’s ideas. Thanks to reading your posting and Ckelly’s, I finally discovered the “SnapShots” link (Oops, I obviously goofed on the web site’s scavenger hunt!) I found the “Cross-Cultural Skills” for middle school students beyond helpful and exciting. One part of the video clip featured a project-based team-building activity beyond any I had ever seen. A team of eighth graders was responding to a mock hurricane--talk about a real-life situation. I am so excited to share this information (there are so many more ideas on the video) with my colleagues!
ReplyDeleteKristin,
ReplyDeleteHearing about that school was news to me also. It sounds very interesting and I would like to do further research on it when I find the time. Let me know if you get any more information about it.
My school wasn't on the list either. Unfortunately, Tennessee seems to be behind on many aspects of education. I like your attitude about taking initiative and using the skills you learned on the website. Just because my school/state isn't on the list doesn't mean I can't take that step myself! Thanks for the idea!
ReplyDeleteIt amazes me how we all seem to have some of the very similar ideas, suggestions, opinions, and thoughts. This whole article was very interesting and opened my mind to a lot of potential things that I could do with my children. Although, trying to brainstorm about ideas will have to wait to be more zeroed in on until I know what grade I am teaching. The snap shots were very good because I too am a visual learner and sometimes I have to see the activity done first before I try and tackle it.
ReplyDeleteKeeping ahead of these students will be my biggest struggle I feel. But it can be done with a lot of practice and collaboration amongst other teachers.
I, too, was surprised by the short list of states that have adopted initiatives for technology education. My state, Georgia, wasn't on the list. Have you thought about contacting your state department of education or the Partnership to find out how to get your state included? I would love for Georgia to be apart of something like this.
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