In evaluating the Partnership in 21st Century Skills website, I was impressed at the profound information that the site offered. The information was well organized and articles were available with links and videos on various subjects. One link that caught my attention was a story that featured discipline strategies being used in the Jefferson County School District. This district modeled examples of how their discipline strategies improved students' choices in their behavior and raised academic success. One strategy entitled, "the Tab strategy", encourages students to take responsibility of their actions immediately. This strategy requires the student to take a break in or out of the classroom so that the instructor can address a negative behavior that the student displayed during instruction. The goal of the Tab strategy is to stop the progression of negative behavior on the onset. Other strategies were introduced in this video, as well, and I was thoroughly impressed overall.
I was surprised that my home state of Michigan was not listed under the State Initiatives. Partnership for 21st Century Skills Leadership states design new standards, assessments, and professional development programs to better prepare our students with the skills that they will need to become successful in the future. These leadership states must demonstrate the ability to develop ongoing revisions on their state standards and assessments to meet the goals of the 21st century skills that students will need. The state of Michigan has been known to have high expectations for teachers and rigorous requirements for teacher certification. I would expect that they would welcome the opportunity to be a leader in such a program as 21st Century Skills.
The implications of this website for students and educators are high in the fact that both will be held accountable for success in the schools of today. As we continue to compete in a global economy, our government is demanding that tomorrow's workers be highly qualified and prepare to led our nation forward. The education system has to equip our students with the ability to be creative critical thinkers who are able to collaborate to be successful. Enable for this to be implemented, educators will be required to constantly train in new ideas and progressing technology through professional development. Students will be held more accountable for their academic achievement, as higher expectations will govern new benchmark standards.
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Charina,
ReplyDeleteI too was surprised that my state was not added to the list. Having the opportunity to view this site was an eye opener for me. I was able to see all of the things that my district should be implementing and realize how far behind some other states we are. What, if any, initiatives is your district taking toward becoming a 21st Century Skills school? Personally, my district had developed a task force to alert teachers and parents of the skills that we should be teaching as a school to prepare our students.
This site is user friendly and provides great information and suggestions on how to implement 21st century skills in the classroom. I also thought the evaluation tool was quite helpful as well.
I agree that the skills listed on the Partnership for 21st Century Skills web site are needed by our students and that schools today need to incorporate these skills into their curriculum. This means providing schools with the tools necessary, and the opportunity for teachers to learn strategies that encourage these skills. The web site is a definite resource for educators.
ReplyDeleteYou stated that we will need to hold both teachers and students accountable for their education. I agree with this, but hope it doesn't mean more standardized testing. It is time for students to understand that their lack of effort and responsibility will hold them back from the opportunities of the 21st century.
I think it is time for every state to embrace a plan to prepare our students for the 'new world'.
Charina,
ReplyDeleteMy state is not listed under the State Initiatives either. I wondered why as well. From what I could tell, only 14 states or so have formed a partnership with this company, which makes me question them even more. I feel that as things change, so should our standards for our students. I am not sure how often state standards are updated, though it seems like with or without the Partnership for 21st Century Skills, we need to make sure we are equipping our students with the skills necessary to compete in our present times. I also think that a lot of the ideas that they presented are things that we have always expected of our students, such as working collaboratively and being creative. It’s the addition of technology that is new and really needs to be updated in order for our students to be successful in life.
I am unaware of any initiatives that my district is taking to adapt to 21st Century skills. The sad thing is, they are so focused on budget problems right now that they can't really focus on much else. The cuts that they are making and planning to make will limit any extra programs that will give students and parents awareness of 21st Century ideas.
ReplyDeleteHi Charina-
ReplyDeleteDo you think the videos on the site could be used as staff development opportunities for teachers? Will you be sharing this information with your colleagues? How do you think you can get your state involved in this initiative?