Partnership for 21st Century Skills

As an educator, I know how important it is to prepare the students that I have worked with for the future.  In order to prepare them, it is vital to teach them the 21st century skills that they will need in order to enter higher education and to succeed in the workplace.   This week I have been looking at the site called Partnership for 21st Century Skills.  This website is full of a lot of information, and it will take more than just a few minutes to look through the whole site.  

     My initial response to the page was pretty positive.  On the front page, they have have links to other sections of the page, along with with icons for Twitter, Facebook, Youtube and Linkedin.  They also have a small box with some of their twitter feed in it.  I also like how they have a section towards the bottom on the main page that has featured blog posts.  I also enjoyed reading about their mission.  Part of the mission states that, every child in the United States needs 21st century skills and knowledge to succeed as an effective worker, citizen and leader (P21, N.D.).  

     One thing that surprised me was all of the resources that they had available to educators.  My favorite resource was the one on a 21st century learning environment.   A 21st century learning environment enables the students to learn in a real world 21st century contexts, such as doing a project based assignment (P21, N.D.b).  The information listed here will definitely help me develop a whole new learning environment for the students. 

     Another thing that I found to be helpful and surprising is the information on the 21st century skills maps and ICT literacy maps.  There is as ton of information that is extremely useful to an educator, and this information can be used in the classroom to help teach the students the skills that they need to move towards a good job.  

     In conclusion, I found this website to be intriguing and filled with a lot of information.  I didn't find anything that I disagreed with, instead I found a lot information that I agreed with and liked.  I think this web site can be helpful to all educators and I recommend it for all educators to read.  

References:

P21.  (N.D).  Twenty First Century Children.  Partnership for 21st Century Skills.  Retrieved from: http://www.p21.org/about-us/our-mission 

P21.  (N.D.b).  A 21st Century Skills ImplementationGuide.  Partnership for 21st Century Skills.  Retrieved from: http://www.p21.org/storage/documents/p21-stateimp_learning_environments.pdf 

Utilizing Blogs in the Classroom

       Blogging has become very popular and there are tons of different kinds of blogs out there.  Educators have started to use blogs in their classroom for learning.  These blogs have the ability to expand the walls of the classroom and can support the different kinds of learning styles (Richardson, 2010).  Teachers have the ability to use these blogs to help expand a students knowledge.  The teacher can put visuals, enhance text, add videos of lectures, and assignments to the blog, which will help with their students learning styles.  

     Blogs have the ability to work well for the students as they can be worked on at any time, in any place that has a computer with the Internet, which can be helpful to those students, who need extra time completing their assignment (Teaching Today, 2006).  I have thought many times that a blog would be great to use in the classroom, and think that it could help a lot of the students that I have worked with.  I have come up with many ideas on how I would use the blog in the classroom, and what grade levels the blog would work wonders with.  

     One of my ideas of using a blog in the classroom is where I would post assignments, announcements, lectures, and a class newsletter.  This kind of blog can be used for all grades, and all subjects.  The parents can be involved by looking at the blog, leaving comments and questions.  The students would be able to log onto the blog and leave their own questions and comments about what is going on in the classroom.  The students would also be able to get that day's work and lecture,when they have missed school, that way they would be able to keep on top and not get behind.  

     Another idea of using a blog in a classroom, is where the blog is set up to be used as portfolio. Also with this kind of a blog, a teacher can use it as a portfolio assessment, to assess the students work.   This kind of blog can also be used across the grades and subjects. The students could set up a blog of their own, and showcase their best work. The other students and teachers can comment on the work, making suggestions for improvement or comments on what they like about the work.  I think that by using this kind of blog, a teacher is helping their students to learn how to use a blog, and communicate with others online.  

     One last idea that I have for the use of a blog in the classroom, is where the students would use it to collaborate.  This blog would be used in social science, with an emphasis on the the civil war in the fifth grade.  The students would be divided into five groups of four, and each group would need to create a blog.  The blog would be a newsletter that the students create about the civil war.  The students would work together on designing the blog, and as a group decide what information is needed in their newsletter.  The newsletter would report on the different battles, how the war is affecting everyone in the states, and if there were any casualties.  

     The blog would be used during the whole unit on the civil war, and will need to be updated at least once a day with news.  The students would get their information to put on the blog from the lessons, and approved websites.  If the student takes information from a website, then they will be required to state where they got that information from and supply a link to the other page. Each student will be required to participate in the blog, by posting articles and responding to the other groups blog by leaving comments about the articles.  

     This blog can really enhance the students learning, by getting them involved with their learning.  The students will take a hands on approach to the lessons, and will have to work with each other to make their blog a success.  This blog will be a different way for the students to learn about the civil war, and I think that it has the possibility to help them understand what life was like back then for the people.  

     In conclusion, I can really see how blogs can enhance a students learning and a teachers way of presenting the lessons to their class.  I'm excited to start using blogs more and see where it will take the students and me in our journey.  

References:

Richardson, W.  (2010).  Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms.  Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin

Teaching Today.  (2006).  Using Blogs to Integrate Technology in the Classroom.  Retrieved from: http://www.glencoe.com/sec/teachingtoday/educationupclose.phtml/47

Welcome

Welcome to my corner of the world.  I am currently a student at Walden University, receiving a graduate certificate in Integrating Technology in the Classroom.  I have received my Master's degree from Walden University in Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment.  I'm looking forward to continuing my journey, and hope to have a PHD degree one day.