Partnership for 21st Century Skills

Partnership for 21st Century Skills is an in depth site that provides a lot of insight into the skills students need in order to succeed in their world. The site, which seeks to build partnerships between education, business and government, provides a detailed list of the skills students need in order to survive as citizens.

Most of the skills listed come as little surprise. According to the site students must have a mastery of core subjects like Math and Science. The site also states that schools must move to a focus in many other 21st Century themed areas such as Economics and Health Literacy. Nearly all of the skills listed are skills that I currently use to survive in today's workplace and in today's society. It came as little surprise that today's students would need these skills also. I did find it a little surprising that P21's site would also expect mastery in areas like foreign language and or ideas for challenging environmental issues. While such skills are great to have, I don't suspect every student will take a great interest in them.

Overall I like the site. I especially enjoyed Video 21, which allows viewers to see videos conveying the sites mission. This site provides educators with a framework to focus on when trying to access student skills and their progress toward mastering necessary skills. I think this site is a huge step in the direction that leads to preparing our students for the world ahead of them.

If you've surfed the Internet recently, you probably have not gone very far without coming across a blog. Whether you're looking for information about sports, music or the latest gossip, look hard enough and you are certain to find a blog about your subject. Like many other programs, blogs can serve as useful tools in the education field. Blogs can even help someone like me, a fifth grade teacher in a small low income area in Tennessee.

What I like most about blogs is they give you the ability to not just receive information, but to also give responses. I like the idea of using blogs to help my fifth-graders with their writing. Students could post work they have written in response to a prompt. Students can make comments, suggestions and recommend necessary corrections for other student's work. My students often have trouble seeing their own mistakes, but recognize the mistakes in their peer's writing.

Higher order thinking questions have been a huge emphasis at my school. Teachers are asked to challenge students to use their higher order thinking skills in preparation for more demanding achievement tests. Blogs could be used to facilitate such learning. I would use blogs to continue a discussion about a particular topic in Social Studies or Science. After a lesson in class I would post some of these higher order questions and ask students to respond with their thoughts. I would also ask them to respond to a select number of their peers providing some insight.

The possibilities seem endless. Blogs can be a great tool for educators if used appropriately!