P21, Anyone?

PLC , AYP, KWL, DOK, UBD . . . are you ever overwhelmed by the alphabet soup of faculty meeting and professional development topics? Well, if it weren’t confusing enough, enter two of the most recent:  CCSS (Common Core State Standards), and P21 (the Partnership for 21st Century Skills).

We hear these names bandied about, but do we really know what they mean? 21^st Century Skills - some of us may think we know what this means; after all, doesn’t the name say it all? We are preparing students for the 21^st century.

Upon first glance at the p21.org web site, it becomes apparent that it is a little more complicated than that. However, it doesn’t have to be overwhelming. Despite the many layers of the Framework for 21^st Century Learning, if you peel them back carefully, you see that they all are all interrelated and connect around the common goal of shaping the readiness  of every student for the challenges of today and tomorrow.

It may require digging a little deeper to fully understand the components of the framework. More importantly, for educators like us, it presents an enormous challenge. Upon reviewing the site again this week, I discovered that there are many more resources available to us as educators that I ever realized. The site offers assessment and self-assessment tools, implementation guides, skills and literacy maps, a common core toolkit, and much more.

The first step, clearly, in advocating for our students’ 21^st century readiness, is to fully understand the framework and avail ourselves of the available resources. Implementing the framework components in our classrooms requires a huge commitment on our parts. States and districts must commit to providing the professional development and resources necessary to meet this vision. Some teachers will need to step outside of their comfort zones or abandon their filing cabinet of favorite lesson plans and embrace the changes and the technology that some of these changes will require. We as teachers can best lead by example by becoming 21^st century learners ourselves.

Most young people today are daily consumers of technology: MP3 players, Facebook, Twitter, Skype, etc. Yet, many of them do not know how to use the technology available to them effectively as tools for learning. They must begin to appreciate these technologies as tools for productivity, not just tools for enjoyment. Students, too, will need to stretch themselves outside of their comfort zones and become willing to think independently, creatively, and critically.

Are you truly ready for the challenge? Learn more by visiting the Partnership for 21^st Century Skills at http://www.p21.org .

A Webblog would be a valuable learning tool in my 8th grade French 1 classroom.

The blog would be a great place to share course information and documents, such as the course syllabus, homework assignments, project instructions, and other important communications. I could also post class notes, presentations, and other media. This would benefit students and parents immensely.

There is a tremendous amount of resources available about the French language and culture. The best way to learn a second language is to immerse oneself as much as possible in that language. Although my students are only beginning learners, identify resources rich in the target language and culture for them will hopefully help them appreciate the language in real contexts and connect to the culture. I want to get them excited and motivated about learning French, and what I can provide to them inside the confines of a classroom is just the tip of the iceberg. A blog would be a great place to centralize their access to the wonderful resources available to them.

Eventually, the blog could be a place for students to share as well. Students could share their thoughts, reflections, and links articles, Web sites, and online materials that they locate. It would also be an ideal place to highlight student work as well.

I have thought about, and even explored resources pertaining to, pen-pal type communications between my students and French students. It seemed that the logistics become very complicated -- I only have one group 18-25 of students each year. From the pen-pal matching sites I had explored in earlier years, many teachers had different numbers of students they were trying to match. Given the differences in second language learning in the two countries, it also seemed difficult to match students' language readiness / levels with their respective ages and interests. Perhaps blogging would be an ideal forum to re-examine this possibility.