21st Century Skills

As part of my assignment for my graduate studies, I was given the assignment to explore and research a website for the Partnership for 21^st Century Skills. After spending some time looking through and reading the information provided, I was pleased with what I saw and read. I personally feel that the website is a good one that has a good goal in mind. It is extremely vital that students learn 21^st century skills that will enable them to eventually get a career and become valuable and contributing citizens in our world.

The world is ever changing and the job force is much more difficult to enter. To be hired in any job you are now required to have many degrees. Not only do they want you to have graduated high school but many careers require that you obtain an undergraduate and graduate degree to even be in the running for a good position in your field of choice. How are we to get our students prepared to be in such a competitive environment striving to earn a good career? This website really talks about the importance of making sure that our kids are ready to enter that competitive environment that they will one day step into. The overview on the website mentions how it is vital that students develop a deep understanding of concepts as opposed to “shallow knowledge.” It is so important that students understand things fully and can think critically and have the skills to problem solve. It is so important to make sure that our students are fully engaged in real world situations that will benefit them in their futures.

After spending time really exploring this website, I was able to get a much better understanding of the skills and the overall scope of what is required to ensure that my students are ready and prepared with the skills they will need to be successful adults. I have a much deeper understanding now that I took time to explore the website and I have every intention of sharing this website with my administrators at school.

After reading over parts of the website and exploring it, I came to the realization that I have a lot of work to do to ensure that I am doing my part to make sure that kids are prepared for a world that we are not yet aware of and for jobs that have not yet been invented. It is time that I jump into it head first and begin changing my lessons in a way that would make it more in depth, hands on, and real world so that my students are not behind. I need to do my part to ensure that they will be the best they can be and will one day change the world for the better. I must start with teaching them the skills they will need to apply to their everyday lives and be ready for what is ahead of them in their adult lives.

An Instructional Blog for my Students

In my school we have very little technology and our students have never even been to a computer lab. I am lucky to have the 4 computers that I have in my classroom of fourth graders but students do not have the experience of actually using the computer and learning in a computer lab setting. If I were able to use a computer lab and teach children the tools of this technology and allow them to create a blog I think that I would use it for a variety of purposes. The blog would be set up for students to communicate about daily class lessons and what they enjoy and what they are struggling with. Students could communicate with one another and assist each other in being successful by answering questions that each other may have. The blog would be a good tool because it would allow students who are introverted and struggle with asking questions aloud to put their thoughts and questions down in a different way. This would benefit me as a teacher because it would allow me to read and know where that student is struggling so that I can later give them the one on one or small group assistance they may need to understand the concept in which they do not understand. I think some students would be more willing to put their questions online in a blog instead of asking it aloud in front of their peers.

An instructional blog accessible for students would be a wonderful way to allow children the opporunity to express themselves in ways that they may find difficult to do verbally. I think that another way I could use the blog would be set up privately if possible to allow me to communicate with my students about their struggles in a way that would be easy for them where they feel more comfortable communicating as opposed to talking in person about something.

I think using a blog would enhance student learning because it provides an opportunity for kids to have exposure in using technology and learning skills they will need to be successful adults. My only concern is that my students do not have a computer lab and do not have access to this so I cannot feasibly create a blog space for my children to contribute to such a thing as this concept. It would however be a good way to share questions, student work, success, and struggles with one another.

A Step Out of my Comfort Zone

I've never been the type of person to share too much information about myself. I am an introvert to its fullest until you get to know me. I am a person who enjoys my time alone, relaxing and doing whatever I feel like doing. When I have a problem, I don't normally talk with people. Instead, I tend to hold things in and I don't let out all my "dirty laundry" to dry with everyone around me knowing what is going on. I tend to think that although some people's lives may be interesting to read about, there is also a line where things need to be kept with oneself and not shared with the world. In today's society we are bombarded with stories of celebrities and even our friends and we can follow their every step through not only the media but various social networking websites such as facebook and twitter. Although I do have a facebook account, I do not have a twitter nor have I ever been on to follow anyone else's steps and the every waking moment of their lives. However, I do get onto my facebook, update my status, and keep up with friends from high school and college through the site and I do enjoy it.

Today I embark on a new journey and I am stepping out of my comfort zone to create a blog which is a requirement for my graduate class in which I am working to obtain a master's in integrating technology into the classroom. You see, I am a teacher with a dream to be the most effective I can be to ensure that my students are successful and contributing citizens in not only their communities, but their town and eventually the state and maybe even the nation one day. As a result, with the world and technology advancing at a very rapid pace, I figured its about time to step out of my comfort zone, get back into school and earn a degree where I will be able to integrate technology into the curriculum and every day education of my students. That is the reason I've started this blog.

I am excited and I hope to learn alot through my fellow cohorts who will be hopefully participating in reading and commenting on my thoughts and ideas. :-)