In reflecting on The Global Achievement Gap, I am very excited to bring some of these ideas into my classroom, and into my school as a whole. Placing value on 21st century skills is just as important as covering the content standards, and they are things that EVERY teacher can integrate into their curriculum. Our students need to be developing these skills. I will keep the ideas about Instructional Rounds fresh in my mind. We are just implementing this at our school this year, and I want to be able to encourage teachers to get value from the process.
In my own classroom, I will commit to making a place for 21st Century skills. They will be in my grade book for each student to see, and we will practice them intentionally. A great way to measure this progress will be by implementing projects. Students will use these skills in an authentic way, and will be judged by their peers in how well they can come together to get something done. However, I think there might be room for a more conscious effort to address morality and character in this book. There is a Youtube video posted by John Green where he spoke about the purpose of school, and how nations fund education because we collectively want our kids to grow up and make our lives better, and so that we have some common idea about how to act. I would add to that that we want to live around compassionate people, and that the people who are working the hardest to solve the biggest problems are doing so because they care about the people who are affected by those problems, and because they probably had a teacher somewhere along their journey who showed them that caring about each other and taking care of one another is part of what makes us human. My 7 Survival Skills
References Green, J. (2012) “An Open Letter to Students Returning to School” https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=x78PnPd-V-A Wagner, T. (2008). The Global Achievement Gap. New York. Basic Books. |
Ryan HortonWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
October 2016
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