My first reaction to the Partnership for the 21st Century Skills website left me feeling excited about the future in education. This website is a great resource for educators seeking the latest information regarding 21st century skills in the classroom. I am also encouraged by the variety of Strategic Council Members with partnerships ranging from successful businesses such as Dell, Microsoft, and Apple to educationally focused groups such as NEA, Junior Achievement, and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
I am proud to see that my home state, Ohio Ohio Ohio
Developing 21st century skills within students will require a shift in focus from directly holding the classroom teacher accountable for standardized paper-pencil test scores to holding students accountable for their own skills. No longer will a student’s G.P.A. or class rank indicate their ability to perform in the 21st century work place as the education field continues to move towards performance-based assessments. I see the classroom educator’s role developing into that of a hands-off facilitator that guides students through the learning process. Occasionally I adopt this role in my classroom during certain projects with my students; ironically, these projects incorporate the 4 Cs mentioned on the website!
Amanda,
ReplyDeleteI thought the site was wonderful and I was shocked that more states have not jumped on board. I was disappointed that my state of South Carolina was not on the list as a partner. The site stresses the importance of challenging students to become self-directed learners. In the 21st century, teachers will be more of a resource for students as they become responsible for their own learning process.
I was also glad to see the sites and resources P21 had to offer. Teachers need more resources to utilize in the classroom when it comes to integrating technology. Most sites only stress using Power Points or Word in the classroom when doing project-based assessments. P21 gives ideas of how to incorporate technology in a way that will prepare students for the future. Times are changing and we need organizations like P21 to help us teach our students the skills they need in order to function in the real world.
In looking at this website, I had the feeling that if I went to p21 to find classroom tools to use today to begin teaching those skills to my students, I would not be finding what I am looking for without a lot of digging into the external state sites. What I took away from the site was that the sponsors are viewing technology as it's own core content and not as a tool that educators should be using to further understanding in the current core areas. What do you think?
ReplyDeleteI too was happy to see the state of Ohio listed, however as many Ohioans I am skeptical of our ability to implement this new state assessment.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your vision of an educator becoming a facilitator guiding students through the learning process instead of a lecturer expecting students to copy down notes. However, I know that this is not how most of us learned in school. That means that we likely do not have very many models for teaching in this way. While we as classroom teachers need to challenge ourselves to implement more of a facilitating style, teacher education programs may be the most important venue to present P21. Do you remember having any undergrad teacher education courses that asked you to practice teaching in this way?
Amanda- I also teach in Ohio and I am also very excited about the changes that are going on in our state. I have spent a lot of time looking at our new standards and I do not seem as many, but I feel they are even broader then they are now. I was wondering what your impressions of these new state standard s are.
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