Partnership for 21st Century Skills

Children are the future of the nation. 21st century skills continue to be debated among educators, businesses, communities, and government leaders. How 21st century savvy do students need to be before leaving school and entering the work force? The Partnership for 21st Century Skills website addresses this topic by providing a framework for the teaching of these skills to prepare students to enter society.

Overall, the website has a positive, useful mission. Different contributors collaborated to create and implement this plan to close the, “gap between the knowledge and skills most students learn in school and the knowledge and skills they need in typical 21st century communities and workplaces” (”The partnership for,” 2004).

I was surprised when I explored the framework of the website further at the life skills piece included. I believe life skills are already incorporated in many schools. People skills, social and personal responsibility, and accountability are some of the skills taught on a daily basis when a learning opportunity arises. When my students forget their homework, they are expected to take responsibility for that and be prepared to complete the homework during recess time. I would hope that all schools encourage these types of skills in their rules and expectations of children.

I do not outright diagree with anything I saw on the website. However, I do not think life skills needs to be considered in the framework as though teachers do not include this in their daily lessons as I explained above.

The Partnership for 21st Century means teachers are going to be held accountable for teaching these skills along side the standards. Not all states are involved in the organization as of yet. With No Child Left Behind involved, however, it may only be a matter of time until each state and each school is committed to teaching these 21st century skills. Professional development will be impacted for teachers as well. Workshops will focus on strategies to encourage and teach these skills (”Route 21,” 2007). Students will have higher expectations set for them before they leave high school. The way lessons are delivered along with the way students are assessed will change when incorporating 21st century skills.

The Partnership for 21st Century Skills will impact technology in a positive way, increasing the use of new technological tools. Supporting the organization is a step in the right direction when planning for the future. “Every child in America needs 21st century knowledge and skills to succeed as effective citizens, workers and leaders in the 21st century” (”The partnership for,” 2004).

Resources:

(2007). Route 21. Retrieved from
http://www.21stcenturyskills.org/route21/index.php

(2004). The partnership for 21st century skills. Retrieved from http://www.21stcenturyskills.org/

Blog Use in the Classroom

Blogs may be used in the classroom for a variety of different reasons. Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms, by Will Richardson is a useful resource if you are considering using weblogs in a classroom setting. Some of the uses that stood out to me was posting prompts for writing, gathering Internet links to appropriate sites for students to visit, posting photos and comments on class activities, and having students react to thought-provoking questions. (Richardson, 2009, p. 38-39)

I teach fourth grade Math, Language Arts, and Science. I have two 40 minute Computer Lab blocks a week. One way I would like to use a blog in my classroom would be to have students read a relatively short passage and respond to an open-ended question about that passage. After watching a video clip where a sixth grade teacher, Kathy Martin, discussed teaching her students to appropriately answer a question, I realized using a blog where the students can see each others work would be an effective way to encourage the students to write grammatically correct paragraphs when answering an open-ended question. The state tests my students have to take each year emphasize teaching students to answer open-ended questions with details from the passage and supporting information. This activity would promote the students to answer these open-ended questions correctly in a more interactive, engaging way.

Another way I would like to incorporate a blog into my classroom is to create a Science scavenger hunt. The students would search for the answer to various science questions on the topic we were studying. A blog would make this activity more efficient because I would be able to post the links for the students to access to answer each question right on the blog. Therefore, the students would spend less time typing in the web addresses and more time focusing on the content found at each link.

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2008). Understanding the Impact of Technology on Education, Work, and Society [Motion picture]. Teacher as professional. Baltimore.

Richardson, W. (2009). Blogs, wiks, podcasts, and other powerful web tools for classrooms (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

R.L. Stein Webcast

R.L. Stein did a live webcast last week where he answered students' questions and created a brand new story for the children. Many of my fourth grade students read "Goosebumps" books and therefore I decided to watch this webcast as a class. The students were so enthralled with R.L. Stein actually being on the screen and took it like he was talking directly to them. They loved it! I wish more authors did webcasts such as this one. I think it's a great way to get the students excited about reading.

Great Websites for kids?

I have a few websites that I always fall back on to have my students use during computer time at school. I am looking for some new interactive websites for them to try. I teach Math, Language Arts, and Science so any sties pertaining to these subjects will be useful.