21st Century Learning and Teaching

Tinkering... makerspaces... engineering... design thinking... learning spaces... robotics... coding...These are all things that are big in my county right now... along with a HUGE push to use techn...

 I think, as educators, we need to stop talking change. We need to stop talking revolution, or reform, or transformation, or evolution or any of those other words that basically say what we’re doing isn’t working.

 We need to set common goals and then use what we know about teaching and learning to reach those goals.

It’s not about test scores.

It’s not about reading and writing and ‘rithmetic–or coding, or tinkering, or making or technology. It’s about LEARNING… and COMPREHENDING… and ANALYZING… and EVALUATING… and CREATING… and THINKING… and using the habits of mind that support critical thinking, reacting thoughtfully, doing and sharing.

 It’s about  being a thoughtful, productive, responsible member of the society we call the human race.

How To Prepare Students For 21st Century Survival

===> As educators, we constantly strive to prepare our students for the ‘real world’ that exists around them. <===

We teach them how to read, write, and calculate. Then, of course, there are the less tangible skills we teach; such as how to work in a team, think critically, and be curious about the things they encounter each day.

As teachers, we struggle with the mundane repetition of the reading process that we involve our students in given many of the current curricula that are available.

Read more, a MUST:

http://gettingsmart.com/cms/blog/2012/11/reading-curriculum-critical-thinking-creativity-for-understanding/?utm_source=dlvr.it&amp;utm_medium=twitter

What are the elements of a lesson plan to teach students how to think creatively and critically? And how do we measure what they've learned?

America is currently facing a crisis of leadership in business and in government. Yet at the same time – participation in leadership seminars and programs has never been higher. The leadership industry, with many of  its roots in America, is now a $50 billion industry. If America is so good at [...]

Kellerman explains that the current state of leadership is no better understood or produced than it was 40 years ago and that followers are becoming more and more disenchanted by those who are leading them.

Though the leadership industry thrives, leadership in practice is declining in performance.

Learn more.

• http://www.scoop.it/t/21st-century-learning-and-teaching/?tag=LeaderShip
  

The world is awash with people and groups wishing to reform education.  Some want to go “back to basics” while others want to go “forward to the future”.       

Amongst the more progressive groups there is a surprising degree of similarity in what they propose. Thus, the RSA “Opening Minds” project in the UK or the US based P21 or the Apple Classroom of Tomorrow Today all have a high degree of overlap - indeed a Venn diagram of their views would be almost a single circle.  

I do believe that creativity is an essential literacy for education.  The only real solution to our education crisis and removing the need for this post is that policy makers begin to make time in education for educators to allow children to use their imagination and creativity.  Although assessment is great to inform instruction, let’s stop making them all paper and pencil multiple guess tests. 

===> Lets take anecdotal notes, give projects, do short checks for understanding, peer review, etc. etc <===