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When
I began my teaching license coursework as a career switcher there was a great
deal to learn in a small amount of time.
As I began to feel overwhelmed with all the acronyms and terms that were
very new to me I decided that I needed to focus on some key take aways that
would get me through my first year as a high school teacher. Three of the things I decided to focus on
were:
·
Prepare students for college and beyond
by focusing on 21st century skills.
The National Education Association (n.d) stresses the importance of the
4 C’s; critical thinking, collaboration, communication, and creativity. According to a 2010 study by the American
Management Association, 75.7% of executives reported that these skills will
become more important to organizations in the near future. As I was meeting my 11th and 12th
graders at a critical time in their lives where important decisions would be
made such as college and career goals, I needed to make sure they were being adequately
prepared to meet challenges they would face.
·
Make content relevant; students need to
feel that what they are learning in my classroom is useful. If they don’t see the value, they will not
value their time in our classroom.
·
Engage families as much as possible in
their students learning. In high school
this can become difficult, so using technology to engage families but also
being sensitive to the fact that many homes may lack computers or internet
access.
After I decided on focusing on these areas,
it became easier for me to prepare and plan.
As I saw how much technology was out there it became easier to engage my students. The biggest challenge was how to ensure that
parents became engaged in their students learning.
The focus on 21st century
learning challenges teachers to focus on interdisciplinary skills that allow
students to keep up with modern advancements in education. For example, with new technology students
learn differently than they did in the past.
However, the reality is that all students do not have equal access with
the technology necessary to reinforce 21st century skills.
According to the National Education
Association (n.d.), “the number of students leaving K-12 schools and districts
with effective critical thinking, communication, collaboration, and creativity
skills,.. is very uneven”. Some of the
disparity may be credited to lack of access to technology in the home. Some of my students do not have a computer or
internet connectivity at home, and in this area it is very difficult to get to
a public library. Since there are
computers in my classroom, I try to ensure that students take advantage of class
time to work with technology.
While the NEA stresses the
responsibility teachers have to make sure students are prepared with the 4’C’s,
I believe it is equally important to let parents know they have a
responsibility as well. Teachers and
administration can communicate to parents the importance of these skills and
provide examples of ways they can help their child develop these important
skills. It is important that teachers
have an awareness that there are homes without internet access, some parents do
not know how to use technology, or there may be a language barrier.
I found a helpful document online titled
21st Century Skills at Home, which provides examples of how the Fairfax County School District is encouraging
parents to help their child develop these valuable skills (fcps.edu,
2013).
Fairfax County provides parents
with ideas that develop the 4 C’s skills, which can be used with or without
technology. Some of these include
writing to pen pals, creating a game and writing the instructions, using google
earth to plan a family vacation, and virtual field trips. A viable option I
have used in my classroom if there is no computer access at home is to simply
encourage students to engage family members in conversations about subject
material and come back and discuss. This
is a great way to engage parents and help them feel that their input is valued
as well as keep them informed about what their students are learning. While I have a responsibility to my students
to help develop their 21st Century skills, I have also learned the importance of partnering with parents and families to ensure that their students are adequately prepared
for higher education and future careers.
References
Fairfax
County Public Schools. (2013). 2013
FCPS Education Summit: Shaping 21st CenturySkills
at Home.
Retrieved from http://www.fcps.edu/news/summit/2013/presentation/shaping/shaping-21st- presentation.pdf
National
Educators Association. (n.d.). Preparing
21st Century Students for a Global Society:
An
Educator’s Guide to the Four C’s.
Retrieved from http://www.nea.org/assets/docs/A-Guide-to-Four-Cs.pdf
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