Students are surrounded by Digital Media 24/7. They are accustomed to highly edited, highly entertaining vignettes for music, games, social media, etc. When a digital native student walks into the classroom and is lectured to by the teacher, has to open a textbook, answer questions on page etc., and has to answer questions on a pen and paper test: many will zone out and constantly try to check the latest tweet or post on kick. This is what was struggling with as a teacher before I learned about 21st Century skills.
The last three years have been transformative for me. Given the opportunity to teach STEAM as part of my class line, I was forced to learn a new way of teaching called Project Based Learning. This is where I learned the 4C's and how powerful they are in the classroom. With the addition to teaching robotics, programming, and given the tools used to teach technology, my teaching has changed completely. The upcoming school year will be different and unlike any other that I have taught.
The last three years have been transformative for me. Given the opportunity to teach STEAM as part of my class line, I was forced to learn a new way of teaching called Project Based Learning. This is where I learned the 4C's and how powerful they are in the classroom. With the addition to teaching robotics, programming, and given the tools used to teach technology, my teaching has changed completely. The upcoming school year will be different and unlike any other that I have taught.
I have been given all the tools and training to expand the digital learning for both myself and my students. In addition to programming and engineering design content: the 4Cs and Digital Citizenship will be the foundation of the class. The image that I found above will serve as my mind map in what I want to do with digital literacy. Each student will need to earn a Digital Citizenship Certificate at the beginning of the school year that is based upon the skills required by Common Sense Media.
The driving question for my Action Research Project revolves around the 21st century skill of Collaboration. The research, articles, teacher blogs, white papers, and websites of organizations that focus on the 21st century skills agree that collaboration is the most important of the 4 skills. I strongly agree with the information and plan to teach the skills that are needed to be successful when collaborating. These skills will be taught individually with overall goal of students being able to switch between the skills as needed. Both Buck Institute and Napa Valley Unified School District have excellent rubrics to evaluate if students are progressing and mastering each of the skills.
The 2015-2016 school year will be different and will bring many challenges and issues. By working through each challenge and problem, I will grow stronger and more importantly, a more effective teacher.
Walt Disney said" If you can dream it, you can do it"
My dream is that I see 100% of my students doing three things: Thinking - Participating - Collaborating
That is my dream!!......
The 2015-2016 school year will be different and will bring many challenges and issues. By working through each challenge and problem, I will grow stronger and more importantly, a more effective teacher.
Walt Disney said" If you can dream it, you can do it"
My dream is that I see 100% of my students doing three things: Thinking - Participating - Collaborating
That is my dream!!......