The Partnership for 21st Century Skills website is a group of advocates for making sure students have access to the necessary skills to succeed in our society. As part of their mission they note, “Every child in America needs 21st century knowledge and skills to succeed as effective citizens, workers and leaders in the 21st century” (2004). This is a wonderful site that gives you the information needed to effectively integrate the skills into the classroom. After viewing the site, I feel that I am more prepared to teach my students necessary information in order for them to be successful as they become active members of society. As an elementary teacher, I believe that it is vital for students to begin looking at and understanding the framework The Partnership for 21st Century Skills presents. This framework includes: Core Subjects and 21st Century Themes, Learning and Innovative Skills, Information, Media, and Technology Skills, and Life and Career Skills. Though this may seem overwhelming for elementary students to deal with, it is something that should be introduced at a young age.
Something that surprised me on the site was their link to the Ohio standards and assessments. This information that the site gives you is improvements that teachers will soon see in their core standards. The 21st century skills that are vital for students to master are going to be worked into the new standards in the core subject areas. Another surprise was the number of resources available to aide in teaching the different parts of the 21st Century Framework. An easy to use resource that also incorporates information regarding Ohio is Route 21. The Partnership for 21st Century Skills says, “The goal of Route 21 is to provide an online interactive tool that demonstrates how 21st century skills can be supported through standards, professional development, assessments and curriculum and instruction” (2004). In order for students to be successful in today’s society, teachers need to be aware and educated on these essential skills.
After reviewing the site, I feel that there will be positive implications for my students and for myself as an educator. Now that I am aware of the key 21st century skills and how to incorporate them into the classroom, I can begin to better prepare my students for today’s technology dependent society. Though we are currently practicing some of the skills, I can introduce new activities that will better connect the content to today’s societal demands. Two areas that I would like to work on with my students are communication skills and social responsibility. It is important for them to realize the impact of having correct and effective skills in order for them to achieve their goals.
Resources:
The Partnership for 21st Century Skills. 2004. http://www.21stcenturyskills.org/
Route 21. The Partnership for 21st Century Skills. 2007. http://www.21stcenturyskills.org/route21/index.php
Lauren -
ReplyDeleteMy state, California, is not currently part of the state partnership list. I will have to revisit the state links because I hear (um, read) that these links come with more resources that actually describe the guidelines to the standards they are proposing. As I read my blog comments, and read others' posts, some of our classmates feel that the standards need to be defined in a clearer manner (i.e. what exaclty defines "global awareness" mean?). Did you find this to be true?
Nonetheless, I belive that this website is a good starting point for educators and the rest of the world to start discussing and promoting the skills that will make a difference in our students' lives. Some educators may feel that they already integrate skills such as critical thinking, creativity, and collaboration, but I think that by tapping into the wealth of resources on this website, we can become stronger educators and catalysts for change.
I definitely think that the standards need to be clearer. I had heard that is one of the reasons why they are adjusting them. Some of the standards can be pretty broad and unless specifically noted, it may be overwhelming trying to cover everything under the topic. If we had set goals to achieve for each standard it would help the students focus on only a few points, rather than the big picture. Each year these goals should progress within the standard.
ReplyDeleteLauren,
ReplyDeleteOur students today need to be introduced to the 21st Century learning environment, as you said in the above blog. I had a real eye opening experience just today with one of my students. She is working on a Biome project for Science and it was time to stop for the day. I told the students to save their projects and shut down the computers. My student raised her hand and told me she did not know how to save her document. This was when I realized how vital it is to teach the smallest of tasks for my students. This child does in fact have a computer at home, but it is not an Apple, so she did not know how to complete the task I asked of her. If we do not let these tools be used by our students, they may never know how to use them. The Website gives great information for teachers to incorporate into a classroom. After reviewing the site I feel much like you stated above that I need to work with my students on communication and social responsibility.
Lauren,
ReplyDeleteI agree that 21st Century learning environment needs to be very different than it is today. Partnership for the 21st Century seems to be on the right track. At least they are trying to incorporate the best parts of NCLB into technology without over-emphasizing testing. They seem to be focused on developing the complete student and not overly concerned with how well they do on a test. This is a step in the right direction. Rome was not built in a day, and it will take awile for this program and it's philosophies to be accepted.
It is nice to hear from someone else from Ohio. This state is so completely screwed up, any program offers hope for improvement. It is hard to get excited though, as history shows us that our state will ignore anything that requires additional funding; unless it benefits our corrupt politicians, of course. Hopefully, this initiative will force them to transform our educational system into something to be proud of.
It is interesting to hear from people whose state is part of this partnership. I was very interested by Mike's response. We in Michigan have similar thoughts about our educational system, which often seems to be moving backward instead of forward, mostly because we aren't given the funding necessary to prepare our students technologically. Hopefully we can jump on board with this partnership as well and get some help with moving forward.
ReplyDeleteMy only concert with this partnership was that since forming in 2002, it seems to have moved quite fast. I am hoping we do not get so excited about programs such as this that we move away from the practices that have worked in the past. Rather, we need to merge the ideas.
I like your idea of teaching the young ones the proposed framework even though it may seem overwhelming for that age.As educators we recognise the important role a good foundation plays in building the skills and knowledge base of indivduals.
ReplyDeleteUsing some of the links on that web site, I also read the "new" Ohio standards and found some of the proposals very interesting.I wonder why this information has not been given the kind of publicity it deserves among educators in the state.The bill states that by June 30, 2010 the state board of education must adopt these new academic content standards.One would have thought that by now all the conversations that go with new standards would have reached its peak.That does not seem to be happening.Could I have been missing out on what is going on?
My state isn't on the list for assessments. I will agree that children should learn technology at an early age. They're more receptive to learn at this age. The commerical of the little four year old girl who sends her grandfather a picture over the internet is a prime example. Amber Harrell-Tobey
ReplyDeleteLauren,
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that social and communication skills are very important. My students are in third grade and when we have projects to present they cannot communicate with their own peers. However, when it is time for recess you better believe they are communicating very well with others. As far as the social skills our school has a program in place where an individual from the community comes each week and discusses with the students social skills that our guidance counselor finds important for our school to learn. Communication and social skills are very important in society. I know I have issues with communicating with a big group of people but give me a group of kids and I can do anything. But I feel that is because I was never really forced to or taught how to be a good communicator.
William -
ReplyDeleteNo, I don't think you have been out of the loop. It seems that these standards are being reconfigured, however, expected to be in place at the beginning of the next school year. I am not sure how much "tweaking" the standards are undergoing, but it seems that we, as teachers, would need much more time to analyze and plan for a school year of new standards.