21st Century Skills

I visited the website www.21stcenturyskills.org, and expected to browse for a while, as assigned, and then develop an opinion to come back to my blog with and post a reaction. Little did I realize how big my eyes would get while viewing this site! I'm still not certain if that is because I never before realized that this initiative existed, or was so excited that it did. Maybe it is a little of both. The wheels in my mind are already spinning, trying to think of ways to incorporate the framework into my teaching, and to best prepare my students for the future, not just academically, but with life skills, communications and media skills, and learning skills.

If I had to choose one thing on the site that surprised me most, it is the sheer number of huge education and technology companies involved in the initiative. These are not small names, either, these are companies like Apple, Verizon, Sun Microsystems, and the list goes on and on. The possibilities with combining the greatest minds from these companies are truly amazing!

I looked through the site to see if there was anything that I truly disagreed with, but was not able to actually find anything that bothered me. I saw far more that I was happy to see stated in print, in association with such reputable names. I am a foreign language teacher, and am embarrassed to admit it, but this was the first time that I have seen that foreign languages are now grouped in as core subjects and 21st century themes. Just seeing that my area has been put in as an "equal" with English and math gives me a greater feeling of responsibility to my students. I realize that it is not an "elective" in a global society to learn foreign languages, but it was a pleasant surprise to see that someone outside of my field sees the same thing!

The implications of this initiative for my students, and for myself as a contemporary educator, are potentially huge. South Carolina is not one of the partner states at this time, but could well become one, and that would mean that these skills would be required to be taught. But, why wait for them to be required if we agree with their importance? I plan to spend a good deal of time this summer, planning for the fall, and for a classroom that truly prepares my students for their 21st Century world.

Trina Godwin

I have been trying to think of a way in which I will use a blog in my classroom, and I think it would be good to use for homework help. The blog would be a forum for students to ask and answer one another's questions, as well as recieve input from me. It would be far more of a place for students to interact about content than for them to showcase their work.

Using a blog in this way could enhance my lessons by giving students more confidence as a result of giving them a resource that can give them a better understanding of the material. I teach high school Spanish, and while many students catch on to concepts (especially grammar) exceptionally quickly, many of my students need to ask lots of questions and need things explained repeatedly with lots of examples. With this tool, even outside-of-class extra help could still have the benefit of one student's question providing an answer for many.