21st Century Skills: Preparing For Success

Students today are up against more challenges than ever before as they enter the workforce. Gone are the days of memorizing facts, answering multiple choice test questions, and moving on to the next subject matter. The 21^st century is an age of new literacies, in which teachers must increase their teaching repertoires to include ICTs (Information Communication Technologies), and technicalities of not only finding information, but also evaluating, scrutinizing, and thinking critically of said information.

The Partnership for 21st Century Skills (2004) is a global organization focused on helping teachers and communities integrate technology and its accompanying skills sets into classrooms (Partnership for 21st Century Skills). The core subjects have remained constant through the years, but the necessary application of these subjects has evolved. We, as educators must evolve as well. We can do this through proper placement of these core subjects in the 21^st century contexts including global awareness, financial, economic and business and civic literacy (****). Critical thinking, creativity, and emphasis on the ability to continue learning and solve problems are the skills sets that must accompany the basics, in order to fully prepare today’s students for the working world of the 21^st century.

There was nothing on the 21^st Century Skills website that took me by surprise. The Partnership states the obvious. Dr. David Thornburg (2008) lectures to classes of educators regarding Alvin Toffler’s three waves and our coming into the new era of communication (Laureate, 2008). Professional educators, educational researchers, news anchors and politicians alike have been debating for years the need to integrate technological literacies into our classrooms. The worlds of technology and business are changing everyday. There is a major disconnect in the fact that our students are learning the same skills that even my grandparents learned in the classroom. “The Partnership encourages schools, districts and states to advocate for the infusion of 21st century skills into education and provides tools and resources to help facilitate and drive change” (Partnership for 21^st Century Skills, 2004).

The greatest benefit my students have in me as a contemporary educator lies in the fact that I am aware of changes and growth that need to occur in order to keep up with the constantly changing world around us. My English classroom will soon boast lessons on wikis, blogs, and podcasts, integrating practice with necessary skills of the 21^st century and the basic content knowledge of yesterday. A high school English teacher, my focus is on creativity, critical thinking, collaboration, problem solving, and decision making in the 21^st century contexts needed to help our students become productive members of society.

I cannot make this change over night, nor can I do it on my own. I plan to spend a lot of time researching and practicing with these new technologies while collaborating with my own colleagues, which I am fortunate enough to have worldwide, thanks to these new technologies. I will model safe, effective uses of ICTs right in my classroom. And I will emphasize that there is nothing to fear in learning and evolving with new technologies.

References

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2008). Thornburg, D. (Speaker). Skills for the 21^st Century. In Understanding the impact of technology on education, work, and society. [Educational Video]. Baltimore: Author.

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2008). Thornburg, D. (Speaker). The Third Wave. In Understanding the impact of technology on education, work, and society. [Educational Video]. Baltimore: Author.

Partnership for 21st Century Skills, (2004). The partnership for 21st century skills. Retrieved March 23, 2009, from The partnership for 21st century skills Web site: http://www.21stcenturyskills.org/index.php

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Technology Meets Alternative Education

I teach special education high school English in an alternative setting. My students were unable to succeed in the traditional classroom. They struggle with a variety of learning disabilities including, but not limited to ADD, ADHD, PDD, and Autism Spectrum disorders. Others battle social, emotional, and behavior disorders including bi-polar, depression, anxiety, and addiction. We provide individualized education with a safe, comfortable, relational approach to teaching and learning.

We have resources, but in many cases, do not know how and where to integrate.
Our most valuable asset is the relationships we form with our students.
How do we keep relationships strong, while incorporating technology?

I would like to get my students blogging on educational sites that will help them with research, writing, and reading skills. How do I introduce something to these students that I am not 100% comfortable with myself?

Where do I begin?

I am a firm believer in modeling for my students. I often model that I, too, have a lot to learn about the world around me.
What might the risks be of learning this process together?

Vending Machines in Schools

Within our small alternative private school, we have two vending machines: drinks & snacks. Discussions arise periodically regarding the nutritional value of the items available for student purchase. At the end of last school year, we collaborated with the vendor and agreed that the drink machine would include: bottled water, Gatorade, Snapple, various juices, Sprite, and Diet Pepsi. The snack machine was to include gum, Life Savers, a few healthier lunch options (the travel tuna & chicken salad packs & beef jerky), baked chip varieties including Sun Chips, snack and breakfast bars, Smartfood popcorn, and Chex mix. By October, sales in the machines plummeted and the vendor worked privately with a counselor, who had received negative feedback from parents, regarding "nothing good" available in the machines. NOW, the machines are packed with Mountain Dew, Pepsi & Diet Pepsi, and juice drinks; chips, processed danish, candy bars, and Ramen Noodles.

Aren't we encouraging kids to lead unhealthy lifestyles by providing nothing but junk food? How do we get the administration to see that these high-sugar, high-calorie choices are not only unneccessary but they have a negative effect on classroom behavior as well? Why is the bottom dollar of a vending machine more important than the health and well-being of our students?