Beyond Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic

The Essential Skills for our 21st Century Students

Pearson, along with the Economist Intelligence Unit have worked together to create program that focuses beyond just our three R's. "In recent years it has become increasingly clear that basic reading, writing and arithmetic, while essential, are not necessarily enough. The importance of non-cognitive skills – usually defined as abilities important for social interaction – is also pronounced" (Pearson, n.d.). Students need so much more now-a-days to be able to succeed in the world now. There are many more demands on anyone looking to creating a career for themselves. The Learning Curve which is the name of the program that Pearson is displaying, gives a list of essential skills that our students need to have to be able to survive in the future.


There are eight essential skills:

We, as teachers, have a lot more on our plate than ever before. Our schools districts need to start preparing the teachers, so the teachers can prepare the students and help to instill these skills into our students.




References:

Kharbach, M. (2014, June 23). The 8 Must have Skills for the 21st Century Students. Educational Technology and Mobile Learning. [Web article]. Retrieved from http://www.educatorstechnology.com/2014/06/the-8-must-have-skills-for-21st-century.html

Kielstra, P. (2014). The Learning Curve. Pearson & The Economist Intelligence Unit. Retrieved from
http://thelearningcurve.pearson.com/

Reminding Students about Grammar

I wanted to share this because it is something that I see often in writing when I visit Facebook, when people are texting with me and even in invitations to party. Grammar is very important to me. Being able to understand what you are actually saying/typing is very important. Mel Kharbach (2014) explains "It does seem like digitality is killing some important aspects of language use and as such it behooves as teachers and educators to draw our students attention to this growing mal-appropriation of language and its negative effects on the grammaticality of their language." With the 21st century being all about the quickness of typing and getting things out fast, grammar seems to have been lost. It is our jobs as educators to make sure that our students understand the proper use of grammar and can choose the correct spelling when writing.

An example:
They're eating lunch right now!
There eating lunch right now!

                                        One is just wrong. :)




My favorite infograpic from the article:

*I cannot find the code to embed, so please go to the site for a larger view of the infographic at  http://www.copyblogger.com/grammar-goofs/



Reference:
Clark, B. (n.d.). 15 Grammat Goofs That Make You Look Silly. Copyblogger. [Web infographic]. Retrieved from http://www.copyblogger.com/grammar-goofs/

Kharbach, M. (2014, June 21). 3 Awesome Grammar Visuals to Use in Class. Educational Technology and Mobile Learning. Retrieved from www.educatorstechnology.com/2014/06/3-awesome-grammar-visuals-to-use-in.html

Bring Your Own Device vs 1:1 Devices

There are pros and cons to both BYOD and 1:1 device programs. The pretty much evenly outweigh each other and the best way to see what works for your school or classroom is try them both or have pilot summer groups for both styles of devices. You are not going to know what works best until you try.

When thinking about cost, BYOD trumps 1:1 devices. Students are using their own devices in the classroom and have to keep up the maintenance of their device also. Since the devices are their own, students will probably be able to use them more efficiently and effectively in the classroom. But that brings the problem of the compatibility of applications on the devices. To make everything uniform and equal, going with the 1:1 devices would be the better choice. All students would have the same device, with the same apps and everything would most likely be working smoothly in the classroom.

If I were to have the choice, I think that I would start with the 1:1 devices with the lower elementary students and then work into the BYOD with upper elementary into high school. BYOD is becoming more common in the workplace and students would definitely learn more from using their own devices and working with classmates that are using different devices.

Either way, getting devices into students hands should be a priority. Technology is only going to continue being a huge part of our world!

Reference:

Kharbach, M. (2014, June 10). What Teachers Need to Know about 1:1 vs BYOD. Educational Technology and Mobile Learning. [Web blog]. Retrieved from http://www.educatorstechnology.com/2014/06/what-teachers-need-to-know-about-11-vs.html

Looking into what a One-Room Schoolhouse Does!

I just thought that this topic was really interesting. It is nice to know that there are still one-room classrooms around the USA. "Today about 200 one-room schools carry on a tradition that's older than America itself" (CBS News, 2014). The two teachers that the article spoke to where all into their jobs and loved everything about what they do. They are not only the teacher but the principal, the guidance counselor, and even the specialist. They have a lot to do but seem to find it easy to do because of the relationship they have with the students.

The teachers usually have the students from kindergarten to eighth grade and get to know the students and how they learn and can cater to the individual needs of the students. There is also a bit more older students teaching younger students because they are all interacting in the classroom. One student explains that it is even fun to ease-drop on the other grade levels. The child's parent explains it is fun when her child comes home asking questions about subjects that are outside his grade level. I like this concept because students are hearing not only what they need to learn at their grade level but are getting a little taste of what other students are learning. It intrigues the students and keeps them wanting to learn because they are seeing others doing those subjects and topics.

I love the learning from each other. That is something that we can do in the public schools but do not have as many opportunities like the one-room schoolhouse. Young children always want to do what they see older students doing and that is not always modeled in the public school.

Just thought that I would share this article because it is interesting to think about!

Found Article at:

Mind Shift. (2014, June 3). What Can Educators Learn From the One Room Schoolhouse Model? MindShift. Retrieved from http://blogs.kqed.org/mindshift/2014/06/what-can-educators-learn-from-the-one-room-schoolhouse-model/

Original Article:

CBS News. (2014, June 1). Lessons to be Learned from a One-Room Schoolhouse. CBSNews.com. Retrieved from http://www.cbsnews.com/news/lessons-to-be-learned-from-a-one-room-schoolhouse/