Partnership for 21st Century Skills

The Web site for the Partnership for 21st Century Skills is a very detailed site including information on the importance of 21st century skills, tools and resources, states involved in the partnership, and an overview of the partnership. I would encourage any educator who is interested in implementing 21st century skills into their curriculum to visit this site.

The variety of businesses involved in the partnership is very impressive. They are large, truly global companies whose information I would value in regards to what employers are looking for in workers of the 21st century. Some of these entities include: Cisco, Dell, Lego, Ford, Adobe, and the NEA, just to name a few. I found a very informative PowerPoint presentation titled “21st Century Skills in Education: What does it look like in the states?” More disappointing than surprising to me was the statement that businesses felt recently hired high school students were deficient in written communication skills, followed by leadership, work ethic, critical thinking and problem solving, and self direction. This statement makes it clear that the current education system needs to further develop these skills in its students.

I was also surprised to see that Iowa is one of the ten states identified in the initiative. Iowa is currently working on a core curriculum where 21st century skills will be integrated. Implementing the Iowa Core Curriculum will be taking up the majority of our professional development time in the near future. Local school districts have not begun work with the Iowa Core but it is exciting that 21st century skills are being included.

The entities in the partnership point to skills in critical thinking, I.T., health and wellness, collaboration, innovation, and personal finance as areas that will be growing in importance in the next five years. This has direct implications for students and educators. It is clear that there is a growing need for teachers to utilize technology to enhance the critical thinking and decision making skills of our students so that they can be successful in the workplace.

Using Blogs in My Classroom

I have been brainstorming ideas on how blogs could be utilized in my classroom. There are a couple of ideas that are very intriguing to me. One area where a blog could be used successfully would be in my Horticulture class. This class is composed primarily of sophomore through senior students. The course is heavy in lab work focusing on topics such as parts of plants and their functions, photosynthesis, propagation, and various greenhouse applications. Students utilize the scientific method to work through experiments related to the various topics. Each student develops a lab summary upon completion.

The lab summary has been submitted to me in the form of a report in the past. I would like to see this submitted in the form of a blog. The criteria for the lab summary would remain virtually the same. Students would be required to share the hypothesis they developed, materials utilized, lab procedure, and results. They would also be required to include a chart or graph that summarizes the results, an explanation of why they felt the hypothesis was proved or disproved, and any further questions or ideas that resulted from the lab. As a new step, I would have the students include digital pictures of their lab process. I would also require the students to read the lab summaries of their classmates and thoughtfully contribute comments to two other students.

Utilizing a blog in this way would have multiple purposes. First, it would serve as a place for the students to display their work. Knowing that others will have access to their blogs may motivate them to do their very best they can. The blog will become a kind of digital portfolio as all of their lab summaries would be accessible. Second, the blog would serve as place for the students to interact about the content. Student comprehension of the material would be increased by answering questions others may have and receiving explanations for questions they may have. The lessons would definitely be enhanced by the motivation the students would have to display their best work and carrying out discussions related to the lab. The rigor and relevance of the content would be increased by utilizing a blog in this way.

I have never had students use blogs in my classes before so I am certain there are some components of my idea that may need further consideration. I would appreciate any feedback you may have that would help me be more successful with this idea.

Clickers

One of my favorite new tools to utilize in the classroom is the Clicker. A teacher in my department received grant money to purchase a classroom set of clickers and I have been fortunate to utilize them this year. This technology allows me to establish a set of questions I want my students to answer. Each student has a clicker which is basically a fancy remote control. The students then answer the multiple choice, true/false, and yes or no questions that I have projected onto the screen. At the end of the questioning period, the results can be projected for the class. Graphs are established that show what percentage of the class got each question correct. It also displays an individual percentage and what questions were missed. I have only used this as a lesson or unit review but some teachers utilize it as an actual quiz.


My students seem to love using the clickers. There is something about holding the remote in your hand and sending your answer to the receiver that keeps them interested. I really like using the clickers because you can get a good sense of where all of the students are at with comprehending the lesson. Every student answers all of the questions. I also like to go back and consider why kids missed certain questions. Perhaps I did not cover the topic thoroughly or it was just a very challenging question.

If you are interested in more information here is a link to the site our clickers were purchased from http://www.smartroom.com/.