Partnership for 21st Century Skills

I’ve been wondering why education hasn’t been changed from the outside in by the business community. It is the business community that is on the receiving end of the product of public education. If the public school system isn’t producing the highly skilled employees needed, the business community needs to be in the forefront demanding change. It turns out that I need not worry about this. The Partnership for 21^st Century Skills organization is exactly the advocate for better education that I envisioned. They have brought together leading corporations with state educators to discuss the needs of our students. I found the Key Findings: Are They Really Ready to Work? a very compelling analysis of the precise reason education needs to be reinvented. They are starting by providing information and resources for educators. So far 15 states have joined the partnership. I’m happy to see states typically seen as lacking in foresight and resources such as South Dakota and West Virginia are partners. I’m deeply disappointed that my state of Maryland is not. We are next door to the capital and educate many federal employees. We should be at the front of the line in developing new curriculums and standards to meet the changing work place. Hopefully a quiet revolution is taking place in these 15 states. I am hopeful that a public revolt will eventually happen and all schools will become fully effective learning center.

Blogging in the Classroom

Blogging can be a natural extension of my 6th grade class. My curriculum includes teaching responsible use of technology. So far I’ve focused on how to use technology, but this can be the first step at teaching how to use Web 2.0 in a socially responsible way. Students can use this as a way to interact about the content that we don't have time to discuss in class. I can give a weekly question that requires deeper thinking such as looking at the impact of social networks or cyber bullying then students will have until the weekend to respond in a thoughtful way. Has anyone attempted to do higher leveling questioning through any of the Web 2.0 apps?

How do you encourage intellectual curiosity?

For the first time, I'm at a loss to engage my sixth graders' interest in research. In past years, students were interested in the topic (directly from their social studies curriculum) and in using new research methods. They were doing high level synthesis and answering the thesis question with analysis that was equal to the high schoolers I used to teach. Every year for the past five the level of interest and quality of analysis has dropped. Is anyone else seeing this? How are you engaging the young tech savvy learner to want to think deeper?

New Blog

Welcome to my first blog. I hope to post questions and start a discussion about issues that are universal to teachers of 21st century learners. The students of today are very different from students of years past - in both good and not so good ways. These young people have grown up with technology as an integral part of their everyday lives.  It has given them an extraordinary comfort level with technology that will allow flexibility as the world changes. On the other hand, it has also created a dependence on technology, an expectation of instant gratification and impatience with anything that is difficult or not entertaining.