21st Century Learning

The Partnership for 21^st Learning site is very informative. It shows that 21^st century skills mean more than simply using technology. 21st century learning encompass communication and social skills that students will need when they enter the workforce. As an educator I found the tools and resources tab especially helpful  (http://www.p21.org/tools-and-resources/educators#SkillsMaps). By clicking on a content area, educators can find suggested learning activites and outcomes which infuse 21^st century skills. I plan on utilizing this tab as I plan this school year.

In order for 21^st century learning to take place, teachers must continue education themselves. According to the p21.org site “States should support administrators and teachers with ongoing professional development” (http://www.p21.org/state-initiatives/overview-of-state-work).  Unfortunately, some states are not supporting the initiative.

There are leadership 19 states who have applied to lead the way in 21^st century skill readiness. North Carolina is among these states. Recently, North Carolina’s governor, Pat McCrory signed the education budget for the 2013-14 school year. In this budget, teachers who seek higher education will no longer receive a 10% salary bump. This is evidence that although North Carolina applied to be a leadership state, government leaders are not not supporting the initiative. 

We all know what happens when initiatives are not supported or funded. They fail.  How can we expect teachers to implement 21^st century skills without receiving advanced degrees? Why would teachers pay 16,000 to 20, 000 on an advanced degree if there is no salary bump? North Carolina is discouraging professional development—the very thing teachers need to excel in 21^st century teaching. 

Read: Teachers Outraged Over Budget Cuts

Do you think educators push students to compete rather than cooperate?

Do you think educators push students to compete rather than cooperate?  In the article 6 Myths of Creativity, Bill Bleen (2004) argues that competition actually hindered creativity and productivity. This argument reminded me of what Dr. Thornburg was saying about the need for collaboration to solve complicated problems (Laureate Education, 2010). As an educator this means that I should not try to compare one student to the next. I should get them to bring their creative selves, present ideas, and the hopefully the “sum of the parts will be more than the whole” (Laureate Education, 2010). 

6 Myths of Creativity by Bill Bleen

Bleen, Bill. (2004, December). 6 Myths of Creativity. Fast Company magazine.. Retrieved from http://www.fastcompany.com/51559/6-myths-creativity.

Laureate Education, Inc. (2010). Program eleven. Skills for the 21^st Century [Webcast].Understanding the impact of technology on education, work, and society. Baltimore, MD: David Thornburg

Were we really BLOGGING?

Last year, one of my teammates introduced me to http://kidblog.org/home/ which was very easy to implement and free for all. We used it to respond to literature, guest speakers, and field trip experiences. This year I would like to get more involved with blogging by having the student responding more to each other, as well as reading other blogs. Additionally, I think it would be great to have the students become part of the process in setting up the blog so that they feel more ownership over it.

In his book Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms, Will Richardson makes several suggestions about setting up a blog in the school setting. He really has me asking myself "WERE MY STUDENTS REALLY BLOGGING?" Perhaps not. Instead they were simply creating a journal, NOT a blog. Here's a list of ways blogs are used that, according to Richardson (2010), are "not blogging."

1. Posting assignments
2. Journaling
3. Listing links with general annotation


References
Richardson, W. (2010). Blogs, wikis, podcasts, and other powerful web tools for classrooms (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.

Example of Dojo Avatars

Using ClassDojo

This was my first year trying class Dojo for classroom management. In case you are unfamiliar with Class Dojo, it is  a point system for the classroom which assigns student avatars points based on customizable behaviors. The points can be negative or positive. For example, I gave kids points for completing work. Every time they earned a point the computer makes a pleasant sound. The kids loved it! At the end of the week the students who earned 10 or more points got prize box. I gave a special prize for the kids in the weekly top 5 for positive points earned.

Did I mention that class Dojo is FREE? It is, so check it out. http://www.classdojo.com

For those of you who have used Class Dojo, what are some ways you used it? How did you get the kids excited about it?