Chapter+1

=What Skills Will Students Need for the 21st Century?=


 * Please post one discussion question and respond to other posts. **

Nice graphic, KBD. I, of course, focused on the word, "hungry". Oh, I looked again. It's "knowledge-hungry." I was going to offer chocolate when an online database may be the better solution. (J.Shay)

A few reactions to the reading so far:

From page x: The author mentions that to become contributing members of the economy all students need to understand how a business operates, the roles of workers, and the basic tasks of running a company. My response is that, while I want kids to be as prepared as possible, I get very nervous when I feel like all we are supposed to do is spew out workers. I want kids to be well rounded in many other areas besides business. Am I being defensive? (J.Shay) Not at all I think the challenge is for students to be prepared for the work force while being well rounded human beings who have a love and appreciation for education, knowledge, and life. (KStingle)

From page 4-8: McCain is talking about highly educated useless people. People who have technology skills and knowledge, but no problem solving skills. I don't disagree with that at all, but I don't think you can discount the advantage of having some basic content and experiences before you try to solve a problem. For example, if I was a museum director, the more history content I had under my belt, the better I would be at my job. The problem, of course, is that there is sooooooo much information out there now, how do you decide what's important to teach. If only all of those 5-year-olds knew what career path they wanted to take. (J.Shay) I think a big part of this is relevence. Teaching students subjects and content that is relatable to them. That they can use and they can in return solve problems. We should look at teaching students to critique themselves, and their peers and how to take the constructive criticisms (sp?) for a better knowledge output! (KStingle)

From page 13: This is a bit peevish, but the author makes the statement, "Because the instruction is so boring, classroom management skills are required to keep the students on task." This actually goes against my experience. When I taught in Milwauke, I rarely, rarely used worksheets. When we studied Japan, we learned some of the language, we had a tea party and ate seaweed, we practiced calligraphy, all kinds of stuff. Those lesson plans were far harder to carry out than the days where I actually gave them a worksheet. They would all sit quietly and fill in the blanks. It was wonderful. I knew it wasn't a good teaching practice, so I didn't do it often, but still...no one can tell me that all of your classroom management problems will be solved with an engaging lesson plan. Just sayin'. (J.Shay) In my lessons students are in full control of their learning. If they are not participating for the full 70 minutes, they are not performing, if they are not performing they are not singing, they are not engaged, and therefore they are not learning. My lessons have to be engaging for the full 70 minutes. Perhaps it's my content? (KStingle)

Ok. Here's my question. The Asa pilot project (Academy 21) seems to be a perfect response to the author's concerns about how we are preparing students, but will those students be prepared for high school? (J. Shay)

On page 5-7 the author talks about students only wanting to get good grades. They perform well on tests to get a good grade, however they forget the content once the grade is received. Back to my relevence theory, we need to teach students things they can use now, and in the future. We need to teach kids not just what the answe is but how to access the knowledge to find the answer. We need to teach students what is important beyond just getting it done and getting it done NOW! What is beyond our classrooms? (KStingle)

On page 10 the author explains how it is important for students to be equiped with problem solving skills. I am a huge fan of self and group critiquing. What worked, what didn't, why didn't it work, what can be done to improve upon it next time, and then try it again! (KStingle)

On page 11- 12 the author explains how lecturing. Is there a place for lecturing in a lesson? How much lee way and responsibilty should we give to our students so they are involved in the material that is being taught? (KStingle)

In conclusion, students should be taught cross curricular content! Subjects that cover the relevence of 21st Century skills. Knowing subject areas not because they have to but because they need to be well rounded educated individuals that work well with people and have problem solving skills. (KStingle)