Partnership for 21st Century Skills

Your reaction to the website: 

Partnership for 21^st Century Skills provides a vast amount of  information and resources to better prepare teachers and students to compete in tomorrow’s global economy.  The Strategic Council Members are composed of partnerships for all areas from community, education, business, and government.  This organization wants to better prepare students in meeting the demands of the future workforce.

Information on the site that surprised you or helped you develop a new understanding of the issues surrounding 21^st century skills.

I was surprised with the amount of useful information that some of the strategic membership council sites bring to the classroom. Intel is one that offers many authentic projects that engage students on a variety of issues and topics facing today’s generation.  I was also surprised with how involved this group is with involving community and focusing on life skills.  With 21^st century skills so important to the success of this nation, I was discouraged by the limited involvement by member states.  Only fifteen out of fifty states are involved.

Information or opinions on the site that you disagree with along with an explanation of why you disagree.

After navigating through the site I would have to disagree with the effectiveness of the state initiatives site.  Each state has given their standards and assessments on how to obtain skills needed for the 21^st century.  This is fine, but none of these states provide any helpful resources to obtain the goals which they implement.  For a site promoting 21^st century skills they have left out some essential resources to assist in meeting the different requirements that states expect teachers to cover.  Also, the State of Ohio has information that is outdated.  This site should be updated, at a minimum, on a weekly basis.

Implications for your students and for you as a contemporary educator.

The trends of society tend to influence the way students are taught.  The 21^st century will require students to be resourceful and adaptive to a variety of challenges.   This is why communication, critical thinking, leadership and collaboration are essential in preparing them for the global economy.

I could use my blog for my middle and high school students to access assignments, notes and or video from that day’s lesson.  It could also work as a daily journal and provide students the ability to seek help from other students and myself.  I would also like to provide is a real world problem of the week that students would collaborate on and post their group’s results on the blog each Friday.  This question would be related to that week’s learning objective and would show my students how these math concepts are applied in life.  This would be a good beginning until I learn the full capability of what blogs can do.

 I would love to implement these strategies with my students, but my school currently blocks blogs and other useful resources for teachers and students.  I would have to rely on my students accessing this information from home, and some do not have computers.

Welcome to my blog!  I am trying ways to incorporate technology in my classroom.  I teach special education in grades 7-12.  I want to show my students innovative ways to use technology to strengthen their math ability and develop real world skills.  My student ability levels vary significantly within my classroom so I could use primary grade sites too.  I also co-teach in an inclusion classroom for government and economics.  Please let me know about instructional strategies or websites that would motivate and encourage my students to achieve.  Thank you for any assistance that you may provide.  Have a great day!