Lee-Rivers,+Deanna


 * Use the course materials to help you respond to these questions for each Module.**

> This format also encourages the interpersonal, collaborative, and self-direction skills that are necessary for students to be successful in a 21st Century learning environment. I am from the school of thought that science isn't something that is just watched but it is something that is experienced, therefore my students interact with the content in many different ways. They may watch a video, manipulate an interactive website, create a lesson, share their ideas with the class and then give feedback to their peers on their ability to convey meaning and understanding. > I do admit that although my curriculum addresses economic and business literacy, this is definitely a place that I can improve. We do discuss the economic implications of some of the concepts taught in my class, but I could really focus more on encouraging the entrepreneurial spirit and innovative approaches that our students will need as well. > Civic literacy is one of the 21st Century skills that have been a personal focus for the past year. In addition to presenting the content, we look at how it affects my student’s families, communities, and we then choose an area of critical need and relate what we learned to examine solutions for these problems. For instance, we did a unit on the various systems in the body. The first day we examined how a properly functioning digestive system contributes to overall health. This lesson delved into the anatomy and physiology where they learned about how the organs work independently and their roles in the system. For homework, they had to create a brochure about an organ that teaches others what they learned but they had to take their learning further and add facts or diagrams that weren’t presented in class. Then Day Two, we looked into what were the effects of an improperly functioning digestive system. We discussed the diseases and adverse health conditions that were associated and then created a class list of the diseases that they had experience with. For homework, they had to interview family members for disease incidence, causes, and treatments of their conditions to be shared with the class. We quantified how many family members, what types of diseases, common causes, common misconceptions, etc. Day Three, the essential question was “Now that we know what we need to do to maintain proper health, how do we motivate our families and our communities to do the same?” Students had to figure out what were the barriers to good health socially, culturally, economically, etc. We read an article “Diabetes Disparities Among Racial and Ethnic Minorities” by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality that talked about some of these barriers and a few of their ideas for overcoming them. The end result was a Community-Based Learning project where we collaborated with Thomas Edison Middle School and participated in a Diabetes Walk and Health Fair.
 * Module 1 Notes**
 * 1) What skills you think today's students will need to be able to live and work in the 21st Century? Critical thinking, problem solving, and communication are the prevailing skills our students will need to be successful in the 21st Century. Creativity, decision-making skills the ability to respectfully interact with people of different backgrounds and cultures are also vital in being a productive member of a global society.
 * 2) How you are preparing your students to gain these skills? If you are not currently teaching: How are educators preparing students to gain these skills? Information, media literacy and communication skills-Students are always asked to gather information and data, analyze it either individually or collaboratively (or both) and share their findings to the class. This can be done in large projects or even as small as discussions with a partner that allows for more depth of understanding during a lesson.
 * 1) What is the difference between ’Foundation Skills" and "Functional Skills"? Foundation skills are the skills and talent that the employee brings to the job. The skills that the employee already possesses. Functional skills are the skills that are necessary to be successful at a particular job or to fulfill a specific role.
 * 2) How well your curriculum and current instructional strategies are helping your students acquire these skill? If your are not currently teaching how well do you think our schools are using instructional strategies to help students acquire these skills? I believe that my students are learning and practicing the necessary skills for the 21st Century. Of course, there are areas that I would like to improve upon so that I can be more effective but I am definitely on the right track. This class is giving me some great ideas and exposing me to more information, so I am excited to see how it contributes to be becoming even more of an effective educator.
 * 3) Think about today's students and the potential professions they might go into. Which of these skills might each student need? How can we make sure that all students are prepared with the skills necessary to enter the 21st Century Job Market? One of the biggest messages that I took away from the Shift Happens video is that we are preparing students for jobs that haven't been invented yet to solve problems we haven't even uncovered yet. This means that the need for critical thinking, problem solving, and communication are the best ways to prepare them because these skills will make our students successful in any industry.
 * 4) What patterns are beginning to emerge between the various resources you’ve been exploring? How do these skills compare with the list you made in question 1? Many of the skills do overlap from resource to resource. These skills have been compartmentalized so that one is able to understa nd the roles of each skill and why it is so valuable to the 21st Century citizen. Additional skills include: information and media literacy, interpersonal/collaborative/self-direction skills, global awareness, economic and business literacy, and civic literacy were also critical skills that were highlighted in the reading.


 * Module 2 Notes**
 * 1) How can we make personalized learning a part of our schools and classrooms? Personalized learning requires access to resources where the students are able to guide their learning. Inquiry based learning is the beginning of it, but encouraging students to delve deeper in the curriculum that interests them most is one of the best ways to do so. Empowering students to critically think through real w orld problems gives them a sense that they are not simply learning abstract ideas but instead their education is preparing them for the world that they will inherit.
 * 2) How do we help our students become real learners? As educators we need to attach as much classroom learning to their lived experience makes their learning relevant and meaningful which fosters real learning. We provide as many real world examples as possible and enrich the learning environment by making it as experiential as possible. Science isn't just learned by reading, but by doing as well.
 * 3) What is/should be the role of assessment in student learning? How can we improve upon our assessment practices in order to really help all students be engaged, life-long learners? Assessment is one of the most important aspects of teaching. Assessments allow teachers analyze if students are understanding the content, how they are making connections within the curriculum, how they are making connections across the curriculum, etc.
 * 4) What is the role of e-learning, and how will/isl this change(ing) the educational paradigm? E-learning is very important in 21st century learning. The use of technology incorporates many of the skills our students need to be successful. The educational paradigm MUST shift because our system is based on "brick and mortar" classrooms with textbooks that become outdated every year. Resources need to be realicated to provide teachers and students with the necessary tools for the 21st century classroom.
 * 5) How do your students compare with the 21st Century learners described in Mark Prensky"s article on "The 21st Century Digital Learner"? I create a student-centered learning environment where we have a lot of discussion about the curriculum and how it relates to their lived experience. I ask for and encourage feedback at the end of lessons and units to faciliate discussions with the students about their experience and aspects of the curriculum that I could modify or remove to effectively convey the messages that I would like for them to receive. My students are also given time to reflect on their learning and what they would like to modify as well.
 * 6) HotChalk’s article on 21st Century Learners? If you are not a teacher: How do you as a student or your children compare with the 21 Century learners described in this article? Our students only seem to use the Internet to communicate with friends and play games. There are varying degrees of access amongst my students, but they don't seem to understand how to use the Internet for their projects and assignments. They aren't creating games or ringtones or anything like that, so they are very far behind. We have an art teacher that has been teaching them graphic design and an English teacher helping them with animation, but for many of them the learning stops when they leave school.
 * 7) To what extent to you see your students (or your children, or yourself as a student) possessing the qualities shown on thegraphic on the wiki for the International School in Bangkok? If you see any gaps, what do you consider the reason for these gaps, and how might educators help students gain these skills and qualities? Our students are nowhere inside that circle! Our students come to our school and learn to be effective communicators, collaborators, and creators. By the time they graduate, they are better at those skills but we don't often get to see the "fruits of our labor" because they are off to high school. One important thing to note is that the high schools who have enrolled our students are surprised how equipped they are in comparison to their peers and in comparison to the students they were when we enrolled them.
 * 8) To what extent are you, your children or your students Effective Learners, Effective Communicators, and Effective Global Collaborators.? Our students are still working on the basics of effective learning, communicators, and collaborating. They learn many different learning, studying, and teaching strategies that help to encourage these skills. Effective communication is so important we have a schoolwide policy of "accountable talk" which teaches students respectful and academic strategies for effective communication. Collaboration is taught in each classroom on campus. In science, it is ever so important that the students use each others thoughts and ideas for their inquiry-based learning and they see teachers model this behavior as well. They see teachers asking questions, giving help when necessary, observing, etc.
 * 9) To what extent is your school (or your children's school) and classroom meeting these needs? Again, our students come to us so far behind that it is remarkable how far they have come when they graduate. We are WASC accredited, so our students understand that our level of academic rigor and community approach to thinking and problem-solving is equipping them with the skills that they need. Of course, with more resources we would be able to do more but we are creating some quality, lifelong learners on our little corner in Inglewood.
 * 10) How might you rethink your classroom to make it a 21st Century classroom? What are the barriers you face to making your class a 21st Century learning environment? If you are not currently teaching how should classrooms be re-thought? My classroom is one big rectangle, so there is no space to create separate rooms to encourage different types of learning and not enough staff to supervise. I move my benches and stools as necessary to create these spaces as I need them. We need a bigger school site and more teachers to provide more sections so that the classrooms don't have to be as full (average size is 25). Furthermore, more computers and more technology are also very necessary to ensure that our students can compete in a 21st century world.


 * Module 3 Notes**
 * 1) List how your school and classroom environments support 21st Century learning outcomes. If you are not teaching, think about your school experience of the your children's school. Consider:
 * the extent to which faculty at your school collaborate, share best practices and integrate 21st century skills into classroom practice
 * students learn in relevant, real world 21st century contexts such as project-based and applied learning experiences
 * students experience equitable access to quality learning tools, technologies and resources
 * to what extent architectural design of your classroom creates space for for group, team and individual learning
 * to what extent you provide opportunities for both face to face and online interaction with community members and experts in their field for your students
 * to what extent does your school and classroom reflect the 21st Century Learning environment

a. require technology based assignments (Study Island), encourage learning through peer interaction (collaborative small groups), community based learning, cross-curricular studies, project based learning b. very small, very collaborative staff. We have Critical Friends groups where we observe each other teach and then analyze the lesson. We analyze Data Director test data by content area and by grade level to look for trends and identify which strategies are most efficient and why. We participate in the California state BTSA process which provides support and mentoring for novice teachers by veteran staff and administration. We co-teach where we are actually teacher's assistants for our peers to further observe and provide support. Administration observes lessons and classrooms to examine how well we are implementing schoolwide policies and best practices. Teachers all have computers and access to technology and incorporate as much of it as possible creating meaningful learning environments utilizing as many modalities and types of media that we have available. Lastly, we are attempting to provide our students with a computer lab to allow them to cultivate more of the 21st century skills. Professional development is an ongoing method of keeping teachers abreast ways that we are teaching these 21st century skills and strategies that make us more effective. c. We require project-based learning, community-based learning projects, inquiry-based learning, and technology-based learning to encourage their 21st century skills. d. Our students do not have the same access to quality learning tools and technologies. This is one of the limiting factors that we have in designing curriculum for our students. They have to rely on the school to provide the access but we don't have the resources to support all of them. e. No the architectural design of my classroom does not create a space for each of those different types of learning. I have to get creative and move desks and chairs to create the space that I need them to use each time. They sit at lab benches in pairs and then I move the pairs together to create small groups as necessary. f. As often as I can, I invite experts to come and talk to my students. One of the problems is a lack of individuals willing to come and talk to us and scheduling. Also, I have to get better at finding more individuals that are relevant to my curriculum to interact with my students as well. g. Again, my classroom doesn't allow for completely separate spaces for technology-based, individual, and collaborative learning. The easiest way for me to accomplish this is by moving desks and chairs to create the spaces I need as I need them. Our administration is incredibly supportive and have always allowed us to make the changes that we believe would most benefit our students. If I was able to create a "wish list", I would create a computer lab in each class with movable desks and carts so that students could create individually and with their peers. I would love a Smartboard so that we could quantify classroom discussions and uncover trends and misconceptions. There would be comfortable spaces for students to read, think, and reflect in my "dream" classroom as well.


 * Module 4 Notes**
 * 1) In what ways are your assuring that the 21st century skills taught discretely in the context of core subjects Is your curriculum interdisciplinary? If you are a middle or high school teacher how can you or do you collaborate with teachers in other departments to create multidisciplinary projects? On a continuous basis we are instilling the 21st century skills for our students. It isn't something that you announce, you just do it. Our students are learning to think globally, effectively communicate and collaborate, and are encouraged and required to create. We collaborate across the grade level in interdisciplinary conversations about our students and learning and best practices. We collaborate by department to ensure that the strategies are effective, schoolwide policies are being implemented, and that the curriculum and learning are "spiraling up". Our community-based learning is often multidisciplinary since those projects frequently involve the entire school and community. The only problem we have is finding the time to collaborate. We have professional development where we are often given time to work with other teachers. But for me, the saving grace is that we can have these conversations on a continuous basis at lunch, before school, afterschool, and ALOT via email!
 * 2) How does your curriculum focus on providing opportunities for applying 21st century skills across content areas and for a competency-based approach to learning? Science curriculum facilitates collaboration in small groups and pairs, effective communication is fostered in discussions and conversations about the curriculum, and they are asked to create on a regular basis from creating vocabulary puzzles to share with their peers to creating edible models of cells. Since creating is such an important component for differentiating instruction and addresses the needs of our special populations, it is a very important portion of their learning.
 * 3) What instructional strategies do you use to enable innovative learning methods that integrate the use of supportive technologies such as inquiry-based, project-based and problem-based approaches as well as promote higher order thinking skill? I use BrainPop which are standards-based and engaging videos with quizzes to break the curriculum down into more manageable chunks. We then use the content to have discussions that push their thinking to the next level.
 * 4) How do you encourage the integration of community resources beyond school walls?
 * 5) How can you better integrate 21st Century skills into your curriculum.

IF you are not currently teaching answer this from the point of view of your children's school or your experience as a college student.


 * Module 5 Notes**
 * 1) What are the best uses of technology to promote student learning in a 21st Century Classroom?
 * 2) What strategies can teachers use to assure their students are acquiring the 21st Century skills necessary for their future?


 * Module 6 Notes**
 * 1) What aspects of Finland's educational model work in the United States?
 * 2) How can we best reshape education so that all students gain the skills they need to live and work in the 21st Century?