After reading and exploring the website, Partnership for 21st Century Skills, I was both amazed and overwhelmed. My initial thought was, "How are teachers expected to have the time and preparation to accomplish this?" Although it is very interesting to me, I hope to one day feel confident and prepared in utilizing these skills and contribute to "closing the gap" between what children learn in school and what they need to learn for success in the workplace. I was surprised to read that researchers believe that 21st century skills are a key to a strong economy for the U.S.. The reason this surprises me is because they are reducing jobs in the workforce and wanting 21st century skills to prepare students for the workforce all at the same time. Don't get me wrong, I am ready to help and prepare my students the very best I can. I just wonder what the workforce is going to look like in the years to come based on the new wave of technology that is coming about. As a contemporary educator, I incorporate anything I can that is proven to be of best interest for my students. This means that although I have concerns, I will support 21st century learning in my pedagogy. I plan to do this by staying aware of current research, collaborating with my colleagues, planning lessons that promote higher-order thinking skills and advanced communication, and attending professional development seminars.
If you have ideas for incorporating these skills into your classroom, please share!
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Technology is over whelming and will continue to be until throughout the rest of our lives. You may never feel confident with all of the technology that is out there or by the time you get confident with it new things will come out and it will be like starting all over. The one thing that I have learned over the years is that instead of trying to learn ever program or technology strategy that is out there try focusing on one or two and get really good at them and then once you are using them in your classroom then try moving onto other strategies. You might also be surprised with your students. I remember one time I was doing a lesson and something went wrong with my computer and one of my students fixed it for me. So use your students to help you learn you might be surprised at how much they already no. Good luck with overcoming your fears and taking on the challenge of technology in the classroom.
ReplyDeleteJennifer,
ReplyDeleteI, too, have been excited about the new technologies we've been learning and I'm eager to introduce them. After our group project last week, I created a wiki for my 5th grade students. It will serve as an art gallery for each student to post their artwork. At this point, I have everything set up but haven't approached the subject with my kids. I'm not sure when I'll get to it because I have just reserved a time for a field trip right before Thanksgiving and need to get the project started for that trip.
Here's my school wiki:
http://greenbrierartgallery.wikispaces.com/
Hope this helps you with your own tech integration!
I am very overwhelmed with all that is expected by us. Our profession and responsiblities are not what they used to be. The thought of preparing students (in my case 1st grade) for their future jobs is a tad intimidating.
ReplyDeleteTechnology is cutting edge at all times and as long as we take it slow and incorporate the things we feel most comfortable with when we start out...eventually it will be easy for us and then we can try something new. I think it is when we try to do it all that we defeat ourselves. I think it sounds like you are on the right track. Your students are very lucky!