I spent some time for my graduate course exploring the site
“Partnership for 21st Century Skills”. This site is from “a national organization
that advocates for 21st century readiness for every student”. This
site had been shared with me before but I had not really taken the time to
explore everything it has to offer. Now that I have, I'm glad I did.
The site has a plethora of tools and resources available for
educators on 21st century skills.
They have everything from defining what these skills are to why are
these skills important. This would be a
great place for educators who are just beginning to explore this avenue to
begin their journey. As I continue my professional development of teachers, I will share many of the articles and resources that this site provides. There are even definitions for those who are still looking for clarification.
This site also provides a
toolkit for school and districts that is “A Guide to Aligning the Common Core
State Standards with the Framework for 21st Century Skills”. It’s always key to have your administration
on board with new movements and what a wonderful resource and support for them
as they try to role out this initiative in their schools. The alignment of the common core and 21st century skills is really key when moving forward. We want these skills to be taught and implemented within are curriculum and not in isolation. Understanding the alignment will help educators move forward in this udnerstanding.
Another feature that the site had was an area called “what
employers say”. I was surprised to see
this despite its importance. I think
that this would also be an eye opener for educators. Our role is to prepare our students for the
future, so what better way to show what is important than hearing from
employers about why these skills are so important.
The P21 website has its own blog where new topics are
discussed by a variety of knowledgeable bloggers. I think this is important for multiple contributors
to share their viewpoints on such a huge topic.
This is beneficial for those wanting one place to continue to develop
their understanding and to gain new ideas.
I have already added this blog to my Feedly
subscription list.
In addition to this site, I would also encourage to others
to check out the 21st Century Fluency
Project. Both have their many useful
resources but this particular sites takes it a step further and offers a new
feature called the unit planner. This planner
is free and allows you to share and search 21st century units that
meet the standards, fluencies, and provide the essential question.
After exploring this site, I was pleasantly surprised with many of the elements that you point out. I also noted the information toolkit for aligning the common core state standards. I thought that was an essential feature of what makes this partnership so effective. It is very true that in order for a school to take the necessary steps to promote and build a valuable 21st century infused curriculum, there needs to be administrative support. As you pointed out, this site is a useful resource in clarifying just what a curriculum integrating 21st century skills entails.
ReplyDeleteThe most surprising aspect of this partnership for me was similar to yours, the fact that businesses were involved. While I believe this can be beneficial, as you stated, the implications of mixing businesses with educational policy somewhat concerns me.
I agree that the site is a great resource for those of us who really didn't understand what the 21st century skills are all about. I still feel that incorporating these skills will be a challenge for me, but with the information given, I think I can figure it out somehow.
ReplyDeleteLike you and Danielle, I was very surprised that there was a section on what employers think. I'm not sure why I was so surprised, givent that we are preparing our students for the work force.
If we can get our administration on board with teaching 21st century skills, we would really see an increase in the readiness of our students. I think that a lot of times teachers hands are tied by the expectations of our administrators. If we can all get on the same page and move toward the same goal it would really help to prepare students for the future. I think that sites that offer information for administration really helps to smooth the path of change so that it is not quite so scary.
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