21st Century Skills...

I found The Partnership for 21st Century Skills website to be extremely user friendly. My first impression was that there was a lot going on and I needed to figure out what I wanted to look at first. However, it was very easy to navigate through all of the different materials and resources that were available. I really liked the section called “Route 21” where they had an interactive part of the website. It was neat to be able to click on the “Three R’s and four C’s” and be linked directly to information regarding that certain resource. It was also interesting to look at the different states that utilize the partnership for the 21st century skills in their states. I think it is a great initiative, because students do need to be prepared to collaborate, problem solve, learn communication skills etc. to be able to succeed in the growing/demanding/global work force.

The information that surprised me the most were all of the different sponsors and members of P21. They have textbook companies (McGraw-Hill), the computer industry (Microsoft) and they have several of each. ALL of the companies and organizations work together to provide the common goals that P21 is looking for in schools. They all support students and them learning about businesses, communities, government organizations and education.

I am very surprised that the ideas that P21 are offering are not instilled in all school districts. They are trying to teach students life skills like collaboration, communication and partnerships. All of these are used daily in the classroom, but sometimes they are not presented in an effective way. It seems that the goals, guidelines and standards that are laid out on the website make it very easy to figure out what needs to be done in the classroom for this to be successful.

I can honestly say that the time I spent looking at the website, I found nothing to disagree with. How could I not support their mission, which is to prepare and ready students to learn how to collaborate, communicate and build relationships with others in workplaces? The support of government agencies and big businesses/corporations all pushing “to create an education system that best prepares today’s students for tomorrow’s workplace”, is only going to increase our students understanding of how it all works (http://www.p21.org/index.php).

This website and the ideas presented on it is something that all education, administrators and even parents should look into. It promotes positive learning and innovation, which is something students should strive to do anyways. We have a tool available to us with this website and it can help prepare our students for the “real world”! My students need to understand the importance of being prepared and ready to succeed in the workplace. They may only be in middle school, but it is never too early to start promoting a positive and constructive work ethic.

Welcome

Hey ya'll! I am Katie (Teresa is my legal name) Grote and I am a 7th grade Science teacher in South Carolina. I moved down south about three years ago from Ohio where my family lives. I have been teaching down here for three years and my school year is over in thirteen more days! We start early in August and get out late in May. It makes for a quick school year! I have been teaching at my current school for only a year. We had budget cuts in my old school district and I was not waiting around to lose my job so I went searching and found a home at my current school. I could not be more happy with my decision to switch districts. My new school has really brought me up to date with technology with all of the different resources we have. I have a SMART interactive white board in my room with a projector, laptop computer and also three desk computers for student use. I have never been so fortunate to work with all this technology. I am hoping to learn more and more about technology so I can make class interesting and fun for the kids! I teach middle schoolers, so they are of course all up to date on the techno world, so I need to keep up with them!

I wonder how will technology change the regular classroom over the next few years?

Technology is always changing and everything is becoming virtual, so how will the classroom, teachers and students be affected by this?

Are teachers replaceable by computers and viritual classrooms?!

What are your thoughts on this?