Let's Unite...Partnership for 21st Century Skills!

The Partnership for 21st Century Skills has a variety of information to help all people from businesses to policy makers to educators come together to implement 21st century skills. I love the idea that all people should come together to actively get something important done. I was surprised to see a website with more than just educators figuring out how to teach these technological skills to the broader U.S. If we all come together, I believe a lot more can be done about the technological gap in education today. As Dr. David Thornburg discusses, we need to teach the 21st century skills “The whole is more than the sum of it’s parts” (Laurate Inc, 2007). I was also surprised to see that there were only 14 states who have joined this partnership, and Colorado (where I teach) is not one of the states. Perhaps this website should be passed along to our principals who can then pass it on to the higher administration of the school districts. Those who see this website have the responsibility to deliver this information to others. In my opinion, all states, policy makers, administration, teachers need to view this site and jump on board. If everyone works together for the common good, we may begin preparing our young students for the technological changes and 21st century skills that they will need to compete in this global economy. Schools should review the New MILE guide on the Partnership for 21st century skills’ site. The 21st Century Student Outcomes and Support Systems diagram, allowed me to visualize how the holistic view of education in the 21st century should look. As a teacher, I can use this website as a reference to keep current on what other states are doing to lessen the gap. I can also use Route 21 on the Partnership for 21st Century Skills site to find resources I can use in my own classroom. I hope other educators will take this opportunity to discover the possibilities! Click on my blog post title to get connected now!

Resources:
Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2008). Program 10. Skills for the 21st Century. [Motion Picture]. Understanding the Impact of Technology on Education, Work and Society. Baltimore: Author.

One step forward… I’m a RISK TAKER!

This is my very first blog! In my 6th grade class, I teach the character trait risk taker. If I am not a risk taker myself, how can I teach kids to take on this role? Now that I see the benefit of a blog, such an amazing communication tool, my head is swimming with new ideas for my students to begin using this tool to learn literacy as well as 21st century skills!

My 6th grade language arts classroom is a perfect place for students to begin learning the tools needed to become contributors in this ever changing world. My students respond daily to a writing prompt that I post on the board. They already have the skills to appropriately respond with paper and pencil to prompts given. A first step to teach my students how to blog would be to begin posting my prompts as a blog posts. The students would then get to learn how to comment by typing their usually written responses. Being on the internet, getting to do the same task in a different way, will enhance my writing routine by providing the confidence students will need to begin and the motivation of learning something new. Students will become better editors of their own sentence fluency, mechanics, and organization, as blogs are posted for all to see. Every day students will have an audience, so I believe they will write with more voice and passion! Content objectives are being met (writing for a purpose) while students get to practice reading other comments for meaning. They will be excited to receive comments from others, which will deepen their perspectives. Communicating through written posts is an important skill students in this technological environment should possess. All student work will be located in one location…under each blog’s prompt posting! I cannot wait to begin!