The Partnership for 21st Century Skills

As I started to sift through the information presented on this website, I took a look at their mission so that I could have a good idea at what they are intending to do. Their mission states, "Serve as a catalyst to position 21st century skills at the center of US K-12 education by building collaborative partnerships among education, business, community and government leaders." To me, this says that their goal is to prepare our students so that they are ready when they become our future's leaders. One day they will be running the businesses and government and they will need to be equipped with the skills so that they are able to succeed.

I really enjoyed what I saw on The Partnership for the 21st Century Skills website. I saw a lot of valid connections as to why it is important to teach children the skills they will need to succeed in the 21st century. At one point, I saw stated on the website "There is a profound 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." When I read this, I thought about how there can be such a large gap when the world of education is always changing, looking for improvement. I feel that eduction takes time to focus on what children need based on how the world is changing. I think that the gap between knowledge and skills is primarily because of funding in our education system that causes us to adapt more slowly than others.

I also really liked looking at the framework that they have put in place for 21st Century learning. It looks like their goal is to not primarily go for the skills needed in the 21st century, but to focus on those skills along with the core subjects. The core subjects include those that we already teach; science, math, reading, etc. The 21st century themes include global awareness, financial literacy, and health and civic literacy. Looking back on when I was in school (which was not that long ago), I do not remember ever being taught about financial literacy and what it means. This year my team and I decided to use a new curriculum to teach about economics. Along with this curriculum, we taught about financial literacy (bank accounts, check writing, check registers, and money flow). I cannot express how valuable this has been to my students. I have gotten so many compliments from parents saying that they had not seen anything like it before and are seeing changes in their children's financial responsibility; even for fourth graders it made a difference.

One thing that surprised me was under the "State Initiatives" section; Washington was not listed. I thought that because Washington is one of the centers for technology, with Microsoft and other major technology companies located here, that we would for sure be listed. The states that were listed have some sort of commitment from their leaders to make sure that these skills are taught and the students can succeed. Along with Washington not being listed, I was even more surprised that only ten states were among the ones committed to following through on teaching 21st century skills. That just seems amazing to me.

As far as the implications for my students and myself go, there are going to be more expectations for both myself and my students when it comes to learning the skills of the 21st century. I think that people are now starting to realize how important it is to prepare the children for their futures and they are going to put higher expectations on everyone involved in education. By higher expectations, I mean that employers are going to expect that the people who are applying for their open positions are going to be technologically literate and have critical thinking skills to help develop new and creative products or ideas. As an educator, I am going to not only be expected to teach the core subjects, but to also include methods of teaching critical thinking, life and career skills and technology skills. This puts a lot of pressure on myself as an educator, but I do not think that it is impossible to fit it all in. There are going to be many, many changes in the next several years in the way things are taught in schools and I feel that it is going to start being directed to the 21st Century Skills.

How can I use a Blog in my own class?

I think that a blog would be a great tool to use with my students on many different levels. The first thought that came to me when thinking about the possibilities, is to post a weekly question about something that we are doing in class. The best process for this would be to post a question on Monday and require the students to make a comment by Wednesday (very much like our Master's program). Once that has been completed, as a class we can revisit all of the their thoughts on Thursday and have an organized discussion from there. By doing a blog this way, I feel that the students who do not share on a regular basis will feel more comfortable discussing their thoughts. Also, it will give them a different opportunity to validate points they were trying to make earlier. I think it will enhance any lesson that is previously taught because they will be revisiting a concept. Any time a student has multiple exposure to a topic they are more likely to retain the information. I really like the idea of having a blog to enhance lessons taught earlier in the day, or the previous week. However, a blog would also be an excellent tool for a pre-assessment. It would give them an opportunity to show me what they already know and what they might want to learn. I am excited to incorporate a blog into my classroom next fall.

As a 4th grade teacher, my students are use to having computer and internet access. Having a classroom blog will give the students a chance to explore online communication. Not having much experience with online communication, this would be a great opportunity to introduce them into that world. I am sure that most of the students would be very excited about this new opportunity.

Tech woes

Well as the school year is winding down, I am realizing how much I miss my Smartboard. I have been using a new teaching technique that includes writing on more and more butcher paper and not using as much technology, but I feel that it is lacking. Since being at my new school, I do not have a Smartboard. For some reason the district does not pay for all of the schools to get one. So upon the discovery of not having one and figuring out how I can get one, I signed up for a technology training this summer. However, since I have been accepted into the program (a week long study in Leavenworth, WA), I got a RIF notice. Now because I have a RIF notice, technically I do not have a job for next year as of right now, so that means I will not be able to go to the technology training. This is sad news for me because I am excited about learning different things I can do with technology. This is not only closely related to my career, but it is related to my Master's as well. I would not only be learning how to work with a Smartboard, but there were other tech lessons as well. Does anyone have any ideas how I can focus on imporving my technology teaching techniques, even though I may not have a classroom in the fall?

RIF Thoughts

Well, last week on May 1st, I received my RIF letter. This was extremely sad for me because I finally had a feeling that my job would be safe. I understand that districts across the country are cutting costs, but why does it have to be within education? Don't lawmakers understand how important keeping teachers in the classroom is? No! They see need in bailing out the auto industry or other areas of economy that need to fail because of bad business decisions. The students nor the teachers did anything to deserve this shortfall in funding. I feel for those kids who are going to slip further and further behind because of large classes and the teacher they have not being able to meet the needs of every student. It is an unfair practice and has become very personal to me because I am one who loves what I do and now I'm uncertain about my future. It is unfair to lose good teachers and let the kids suffer. What were they thinking? Do they not realize that one day these kids who are feeling the repercussions of their bad decisions are going to be the leaders of our country? I feel that we are giving them a false sense of what our priorities are; the auto industry over education? Let's be real! At first when I received my RIF notification, I was sad because it opened up a door to the unknown. Now I am angry because our countries priorities are obviously mixed up and it is the children who are going to be suffering. It is not fair to the them because they did not do anything to deserve less of an education. We need to make sure that our legislature understands the damage they are doing and we need to see that it gets fixed! Why should these innocent children have to suffer?

To see my interview about getting a RIF notice click here: http://www.kirotv.com/video/19477352/