Essential Question: How have you , and will you continue to “Learn the 21st Century” and allow your students this experience in your classroom?The first thought that came to my mind this week related to the end of my post last week. "Teachers are the last adults in the industrialized world to use computers" (Martinez & Stager, 2013). With this in mind teachers who want to incorporate new ideas or devices become the "pioneers." They are the first to try these things and often are criticized for it. These educators are not of the norm and this can be hard and lonely for those educators to endure. Another big setback is that many educators did not grow up with the technology that is available today. This means they must learn a whole new set of skills. "It is impossible to teach 21st century learners if you have not learned this century" (Martinez & Stager, 2013). So my next thought became what exactly defines a 21st century teacher? Luckily there are many list but I really like one written by Palmer (2015) on Edutopia. She came up with 15 characteristics of a 21st century teacher.
I used Twitter chat in a class last fall. I found that the class that used Twitter increased their test scores more than the class from the previous year. However, this was a small set of data and would need more testing to confirm but it is encouraging. PBL is something that I try when I can. It is such a challenge because I usually have 6 different classes I teach everyday. I don't have time to develop and prepare lessons like this for each class. This year scheduling is different and I won't be preparing for as many classes. My goal is to work with one class (Earth Science) and shift my teaching methods to student centered. PBL is at the top for one of the ways I could do this. Encouraging research has shown that teachers who use PBL report that students in their classes are experiencing more content that requires the student to use critical thinking, collaboration, creativity, and communication. (Boss, 2012) How can they do all of this? Boss (2012) indicates some common learning experiences in a PBL classroom:
Coding is something that I am only beginning to dabble in. It is not something I feel like I could incorporate in my classroom without understanding at a basic level. Because, to be honest, I don't really understand how it works and would have no idea where it would fit in my science curriculum. Rushkoff (2012) suggests codeacademy to learn some basics. I have looked at their stuff and now I will have to look at it more. I do have to pick another elective class to teach and maybe I could try out coding. I see that codeacademy has the ability to set up a classroom. Rushkoff (2012) argues that coding is so important because "code literate kids stop accepting the applications and websites they use at face value, and begin to engage critically and purposefully with them instead." He says that "when we acquired language, we didn't just learn how to listen, but also how to speak. When we acquired text, we didn't just learn how to read, but also how to write. Now that we have computers, we are learning to use them but not how to program them." If we know the basics of code we can start to interact more and use the internet to fit our needs. We don't have to accept what is given to us. Overall I think 21st century learning is about changing how we view education. We have to try new things. We also have to be willing to let students teach us a thing or two as well. If students and teachers enter into a partnership where both parties share responsibility I think students will be more likely to feel empowered to learn at a deeper level. Sources
Boss, S. (2012, May 2). How Project-Based Learning Builds 21st-Century Skills. Retrieved July 28, 2016, from http://www.edutopia.org/blog/21st-century-skills-pbl-suzie-boss Martinez, S. L., & Stager, G. (2013). Invent to learn: Making, tinkering, and engineering in the classroom [Kindle]. Palmer, T. (2015, June 20). 15 Characteristics of a 21st-Century Teacher. Retrieved July 28, 2016, from http://www.edutopia.org/discussion/15-characteristics-21st-century-teacher Rushkoff, D. (2012, November 13). Code Literacy: A 21st-Century Requirement. Retrieved July 28, 2016, from http://www.edutopia.org/blog/code-literacy-21st-century-requirement-douglas-rushkoff
6 Comments
Teresa Harrie
7/29/2016 04:16:57 pm
Thanks for sharing the list of 15 characteristics of a 21st century teacher. I think #10, Connect with Like Minded Individuals, is important. You mentioned the fact that teachers who are first to try new things are sometimes criticized for it - so true. That is why #10 is so important. We need to have that camaraderie and peer support.
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Sara Lucas
7/31/2016 07:50:40 pm
I agree. I love doing makerspace with others around. Even if not physically present. Sometimes we don't even say much but just knowing that we are each working and struggling together is a comfort. You always know there will be someone else you can try to trouble shoot with if you need it.
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7/30/2016 09:26:07 pm
I, too, want to incorporate coding in class this year, or at least spend a few weeks trying to teach kids basic programming. There sure is lots of resources out there. Code.org is great, and if you Google coding, there are plenty of sites willing to share what coding can do. I really like the "block" coding idea. They say it's only for elementary kids, but hey, if a high school kid doesn't know how to code, might as well learn that first, instead of Python, or Java, or C++. You might want to try out CodeMonkey. It is the next step after block coding. Then try out text dedicated coding later. I learned Python this last year, and it's pretty nice. Don't know all the functions, but like any programming language, you use, you learn, and master! Good luck.
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Sara Lucas
7/31/2016 07:52:09 pm
Thanks for the resources. I have been looking around alot. codeacademy is one of my favorites. I will definitely look into your resources as well. I don't really know much about coding myself but this class is definitely giving me the push to look into it more.
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Kate
7/31/2016 07:42:28 pm
I, too, found that Palmer's Edutopia article was a great resource for putting out there what we, as educators, need to do to stay current and relevant for our students. Sometimes a succinct list of characteristics can help a person focus on what needs to get done without feeling overwhelmed by the enormity of it all.
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Sara Lucas
7/31/2016 07:54:41 pm
Getting donations is a great idea. If there are apps for android you may also try kindle fires. They are pretty cheap and you may be able to get donations for those as well. That is amazing that someone was able to put together a whole computer lab with "junk" computers! The hard part with that is the labor. I wish I had extra hours in the day.
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