21st Century Skills

 Like it or not, technology is a major component of our every day lives. People that are not knowledgeable in using various forms of technology are falling more behind each day. Almost every job involves at least one form of technology if not various forms. As teachers, it is our job to form our students into savvy technology users that are ready to be successful members of the workforce.

The website Partnership for 21st Century Skills was very informative to me. I would suggest it to any teacher that is looking to learn more about what 21st-century skills are and how they can be incorporated into a classroom. The website does a wonderful job of allowing us to look beyond the technology and see what other skills are needed, as well. In the past when I would think of 21st-century skills I would only think technology. The website discusses that technology is just a tool to teaching students the skills. Students need to leave our room with life skills, learning and thinking skills, and information and media skills. All of these skills can and need to be blended into our daily core subject lessons.

The information that surprised me the most was that not all states are members. My home state, Indiana, is all about changing education right now. I would have thought we would be a member, but were nowhere to be found. The idea that Indiana is not on the list scares me; I fear we are falling behind the states that already are working to improve their 21st century skills. Young people who leave high school today with skills to succeed in post secondary education and training are able to get high wage jobs and face a bright future. Those students who do not leave high school with the skills to farther their education will be faced with taking lower paying jobs in most cases and struggle to support families (Levy and Murnane, 2006). I do not want students from Indiana to fall into the second category of students struggling to find jobs that will allow them to support themselves and their families.

The Partnership for 21st Century Skills states, in a digital world, no organization can achieve results without incorporating technology into every aspect of its everyday practices. It is time for schools to maximize the impact of technology as well...". For the most part, I agree with this statement, I just do not want students to completely have to rely on technology to find answers. Throughout the years in my building, I have watched math transition from paper pencil to almost all digital. I love the technology and am excited to teach it to the kids, but I do feel they still need to understand the process and how to work out the problems on paper.

As contemporary educators our job no longer is to just teach our core subject. Our job is to prepare students to go on and farther their education and become successful members of society. This website is a source that can be beneficial in helping us set up our classrooms to be successful. If you have not checked it out you can at http://www.p21.org.

References:

The partnership for 21st century skills. (2011).

http://www.p21.org/

Levy, F., & Murnane, R. (2006). Why the changing American economy calls for twenty-first century learning: Answers to educators' questions. New Directions for Youth Development, 2006(110), 53–62.

Utilizing Blogs in the Classroom

6^th Grade Math

Story Problem Practice

Story problems tend to be a struggle for my 6th grade students. In class, I asked them to develop 3 story problems involving different operations. After they created the problems, I simply had them pick their favorite and post it onto the class blog. The students homework was to go home and read their classmates problems and try to solve them. After they had solved the problems, they were to respond to 3 classmates with their answer and back it up with reasoning and the process they took. The results were absolutely amazing! I had kids that responded to every single question even though they only had to do 3. Each question would have a long list of conversations under it. During the conversations students would collaborate and discuss mistakes they had spotted in each others work and then come to a final answer. The blog activity worked better than I ever could have imagined. I actually got responses from students that never want to talk in class. This is a process I will use again.

Before letting the students go:

Prior to starting this project I went over the process with students with a practice blog on the front screen. We discussed that I would be monitoring all conversations and they were to be things that would be allowed in the classroom. With the practice blog, we went through a step by step where they would go and how to get there and then did a practice dialogue. I also typed up a direction sheet to take home, so that if they or their parents needed guidance they would have it. I also did an internet survey prior to assigning the blog activity to make sure students would have the resources needed. I made a plan B for students who did not have access to internet by making my classroom open an extra hour after school.

Blogging can make a boring lesson engaging and get all students involved. If anybody has ideas on lessons or how I can improve the blogging process in my classroom, please let me know.

Welcome to my blog. I am a 6th grade Math teacher and am blessed to have lots of technology in my classroom. I am currently taking classes at Walden University to obtain my masters in Integrating Technology in the Classroom. Throughout the semester, I will continue to add information, methods, and ideas on successful ways to integrate technology in the classroom.