Exploring 21st Century Skills

The Partnership for 21st Century Skills website is a collaboration of different organizations joined together to promote the teaching of the 21st Century skills, that will help children to be successful in the work place. As an educator, I was surprised to see all the different organizations that are joined together to promote the interest of teaching students the skills for future success. The organizations that take part in this idea range from educators, to technology businesses, to major business corporations. The programs goal is to teach children communication skills, thinking and problem solving, accountability, etc... Together the program plans to work together to better prepare students for their futures in the work environment.

I think this website is a great idea. I love how very different organizations are working together to help the our children for the work place. It is important that business inform schools of what skills children need when the enter the work force. When they communicate with the schools and other programs, schools will better understand what they are doing right and what they need to fix. Communication is a crucial element for student success.

One thing that surprised me about the website was how many states have already joined the idea of changing standards to meet the needs of the 21st Century Skills. I was unaware of the terminology 21st Century Skills, although I believe they are skills most states have already been incorporating into the educational classroom.

I feel that 21st Century Skills are great ideas, but one thing that I don't agree with is that learning environment means within the schools. I do not believe that way. I feel that real life is a huge learning environment, but unfortunately schools lack the resources to provides the learning experiences outside of the classroom due to time and funding. It isn't that schools are not open or agreeing with the 21st Century Skills, but it is that they do not have the time or money to provide those experiences. I personally would love to take my students out of the classroom to real life experiences, but I have trouble managing that with my schedule and funding. Those experiences could be possible, but schools can not do it on our own. We need the help of business, which is why I am happy to see business part of this 21st Century Skills program.

Blogging in the Classroom

I am currently a fifth grade math teacher and I have personally never considered blogging in the classroom. I always felt that blogging about math would not be easier. However, after brainstorming ideas about how I could use blogging to enhance learning, I realized that it would be easier than I thought. I thought about things that I do in the classroom right now that I could do with blogging as well. One thing that I came up with that I feel would work the best for math is using blogging as a type of think tank. Think tanks are when the teacher poses a topic and the student are to write about everything they know about the topic and what they would like to learn. I would use blogs to introduce the topic and have the students use it as their think tank. Students could pose questions about the topic and other student could answer their questions. It is a great way for students to learn from each other and it also gives students the opportunity to use technology in the classroom. I also feel that blogs would allow the students that are afraid of sharing their knowledge in class to share without feeling self-conscious about speaking in front of their peers. I would use the blog as a way to boost students' confidence in themselves as well as enhance learning.

Not only are blogs a good way for students to discuss topics and teach each other, but it also serves as a great pre-assessment and post assessment for the teacher. When the topic is introduced and students are to write what they know about the topic, the teacher will be able to see what concepts about the topic need to be taught and what concepts about the topic students already understand.

Blogging is a great way to incorporate technology into the classroom, communicate with others about certain topics, and for students to learn from each other. I have never used blogging in the classroom, but I hope that I can sometime soon.

Technology

I have never realized how much technology I use in the classroom. On a daily basis, I use the smart board, the overhead projector, the copier, and my computer. Not only do I use these things every day, but they are a huge part of my educational teaching. My computer is used to communicate with colleagues, parents, and the other teachers on my team. I also use the computer for attendance purposes and grades. We have a program called Progress book where parents and students can check their grades daily. It is a great way for parents to stay informed of their child's academic progress. The smart board is another great piece of technology. However, right now I am having trouble managing it effectively in my small classroom. When I can manage the smart board I use it to pull up resources for the students, display classwork and homework, go over instruction, and so forth. It is a time effective way to address the needs of my visual learners. Another form of technology that people often forget about is the copier. The copier is crucial for my students. We often do not have the resources to provide every student with a book, but we do have the copier, so we can make class sets. This allows the students to have their own resources. The last form of technology that I use, is the projector. The projector allows me to display the homework with the answers already provided. It is very easy and time effective. I know that technology has not always been around, but for me it would be hard to teach without it.