Partnership for 21st Century Skills

What do we need to teach our students to be successful in the 21st Century? Take a look the Partnership for 21st Century Skills Framework. How could these be implemented in your classroom? What are the benefits of implementing these skills for your students?

We need to make sure students are prepared for life after school. They need to be up to date on what is going on in the world around them. In order for our students to be prepared we need to be prepared too. As teachers we need to stay on the cutting edge of the world around us. This will help us to both communicate with our students as well as to teach them. We need a lot more technology in the hands of our students. I think one of the biggest obstacles I have is being knowledgeable about technology. I have tried checking out the laptops for the class to do projects, but if half the machines don’t work or aren’t accessible the same way, then all of a sudden I have 15 second graders whining about what to do or how to fix it. It is all a learning experience. I have found that implementing in smaller groups and working out to the rest has been helpful. Empowering students to be the teachers makes them feel great and less stressful for me. In the long run the benefits are overwhelming. Each little technology piece builds on another. The students are already waiting to use it we just need to be willing to use the technology. They will be all the better for it.

Video by Wendy Drexler

Knowing you are one of many teachers a student like this will have in their educational career:How connected are you? Are you a 21st Century learner, teacher or both? What role do you play in supporting the 21st Century student?

How connected am I? Well, after watching the video I realize I have a long way to go to be truly connected. Technology has changed a lot during my lifetime. I’m sure it will continue to change. It changes so much that I sometimes feel like I’m always just trying to catch up. I feel that because we are teaching 21 century learners that we really, as teachers, should be on the forefront of technology. Then why are schools often the last place to get upgraded technology? I really think that technology classes should be a requirement for our license renewal. Times have changed and so should the way we teach. I think that we are making good progress and I am happy that I teach in a school district that values technology and how students are using it.

Am I a 21st Century learner, teacher or both? I would say that I am more of a 21st Century learner, but working toward being more of a 21st Century teacher. Of course you have to learn before you can teach. I am doing more today than I ever have, hopefully I will keep learning and adding more technology as I go.

What role do you play in supporting the 21st Century student? My role is to expose students to everything that is out there to the best of my abilities. I also think my role is not only to show students how to use technology, but to do it safely.

I can’t wait to see where this technology ride will take us next.

Most Successful SMART Board Lesson

I have a core group of students who are still having a hard time with money. The SMART Board is such a great motivator for them to learn. They love using it - even more than counting with real money. I found a lesson online that had a cash register at the top and the students are to create that money amount in three different ways. I'm guessing they were to draw the coins, but the students love the infinite coins, so I added those to the lesson (plus it is faster than them drawing the coins). Sure enough, we worked through several problems, counting together and helping each other come up with the right answers. This group really couldn't wait for the next problem. They were so encouraging of each other. I think true success is when the students learn or improve their motivation to learn. These kids are on their way, by feeling more successful.

I think next time I would add even some more basic pages with coin identity and simple coin counting and then move into the rest of the lesson as is.

I've mostly used my SMART Board for Morning Meeting, Language Arts, and Math. I hope to add more lessons to other areas. I can see that the benefits are endless.

Thousands of Lessons, 23 students, 1 SMART Board, Loving to Learn... Priceless.

3/2 Best SmartBoard Lesson

The best SmartBoard lesson would have to be one of the first lessons I taught using the board. In years past teaching trade first subtraction and estimating would make me want to pull my hair out. There were so many times when I would get the beloved statement, "I don't get this". This year when teaching trade first and estimating the students were so engaged. There was nothing amazing about the lesson, except they were able to write on the board, but they were waiting on the edge of their seats for a turn to go up and use the SmartBoard. Everyone wanted to be able to show what they know, so they were paying attention. I had such a sense of accomplishment and so did they.