My reaction to the Web site:
- I found the website to be filled with valuable information. I went so far as to send the web address to my entire staff. What impressed me most was that in the resource section there was a huge variety of resources that would be beneficial to many content areas. Often websites are only good for a particular content area, but the Partnership for 21st Century Skills had resources that could be used for many different areas of study. One of the links I found that I believe I can use and implement in my classroom was S.O.S. For Information Literacy . A lesson plan I would like to review is called No One Mourns the Wiki. I liked this lesson plan because it could be applied to any group project that students have been doing in a traditional manner such as with PowerPoint.
What information on the site surprised you?
- I was surprised that my state was not on the list. We are one of the lowest states for per pupil spending, so maybe I should not be surprised. Yet when I look at the list of council members I see Microsoft which is headquartered in Washington State.
Did you disagree with anything on the site? Explain.
- I disagree with P21 for strongly supporting No Child Left Behind. In its current state I cannot agree with the premise of No Child Left Behind. I disagree with the core subjects recognized by the Act. I do not teach any of these subjects yet I support the skills and academic content areas of all of them when I use real-world examples in my classroom on a daily basis.
What are the implications for your students and for you as a contemporary educator?
- The implications for my students will be whether or not they will be exposed to these skills and tools in the majority of their classes. If they are only exposed in my classroom I am not sure they will learn enough to be ready for the work environment. The implications for me are that I need to utilize my time to find ways I can integrate critical thinking and communication skills into my class using some of the technologies the students are using already. I need to make time to get together with other teachers across content areas and show them how easy it is to implement these tools. Introducing new delivery methods does not necessarily mean more work.
That is great that you sent it to your staff at work. Did you get any response to it? I was just wondering how the people you work with responded to it.
ReplyDeleteJust a thought,
ReplyDeleteIf you can't do cross-curricular work with your own staff in Washington, what if we, and the others here in our cohort could do cross-curricular assignments with our students sharing resources via the wiki/blog type skills we are learning and get the experience to our students that way?
I am not quite sure how this would look/work and all but, we could start planning it out. I know the end of the school year is in two weeks so not much could get done. But, if we all are in the same group all summer we could plan it out over break and hit the ground running when we come back.
I am going to steel your idea though and forward the site out to the teachers at my locale too.
Have a great day. Let me know what you think.
I think you pose a really big problem with the 21st century skills. It is going to be difficult to make a huge impact on students' lives if not ALL teachers are on board. We try to do the best we can with our students, but the reality is we only have them for one year. If they don't move on to a great teacher, the skills we've taught are lost. You mentioned on my blog if I thought the business world should fund technology for schools. I think it's a great idea- It could be a long term investment. If more tech savvy students are graduating, the qualifications of the candidates are increased, eventually making the economy and business world more successful. I know it’s a long shot, but I'm curious to see if something like this would ever happen.
ReplyDeleteI was in the same boat with the NCLB support. How can an organization that appears to be so forward-thinking support a program that places its emphasis on high-stakes testing and core-centered curriculum, rather than using technology to bridge the gap between the school systems and the business world? I would have thought that P21 would be moving away from NCLB and other similar initiatives. It almost seems counter-productive.
ReplyDeleteKathy -
ReplyDeleteI got a response from my Vocational Ed. director. The only problem with that is many teachers in Voc. Ed. are already implementing these skills in their classes because it is part of what we do. There are many more ways I can implement it in my classroom though. I haven't heard anything else yet, but I am still hoping :) I'll keep you posted!
Jonathon -
ReplyDeleteI think your idea is great! The only issue is that we all teach varied subjects and grade levels. I am wondering if we could possibly come up with ideas that could be used across the board? I wish I was more creative and could come up with better ideas! I always have some thoughts and ideas it is the implementation part I struggle with. What do you think? I unfortunately work in a building that has great teachers with great ideas but if they aren't in line with the vision of the administration team we are met with 'no'. It often seems they say no because they do not understand the technologies or ideas. They are fearful. it is a shame!