21st Century Skills

The Partnership for 21st Century Skills website (http://www.21stcenturyskills.org/) earned a top spot on the American Association of School Librarians for a good reason - there is a lot of information on here to help the educator in the 21st century try to bring these skills into the classroom when the curriculum falls short. I like how the authors of P21 have broken down everything in to the framework and further breakdown the framework into detailed ways of how these skills can be implemented into the classroom and even samples of what they can look like with the video snapshots. This information is vital to the 21st century classroom and all teachers and administrators should be aware of these skills that are so lacking in our classrooms. As educators, we are constantly talking about how to prepare our students for the "real world." The problem is that the "real world" has changed a lot in the past 10, 15, 2o years and the education world has remained the same in the ways that information is brought forward, the type of information that is taught, and when the information is taught. A lot of the problems stem from the fact that states have required standardized tests that teachers have to "teach to." It is a reality. Period. Unfortunately, it also creates a time crunch in which there is not much room to play with concepts and skills our students do need to learn that are not in the "standards" or "benchmarks."

One thing that surprised me on this website was how few states are on the list of state initiatives. My state, Ohio, is not on this list. I wonder what the criteria are for a state to be on the list and how to push for this in our own state. Before this week, I did not even know there was a partnership that involved teaching students 21st Century skills. I was also surprised the amount of information that is on this website. It links to resources, samples of how to implement this into the classroom, press releases to inform the latest news from the partnership, and best of all the skills framework that is very detailed and easy to understand. I really like and agree with the section on critical thinking. As a science teacher, I cannot emphasize enough the importance of problem solving and critical thinking. So many students cannot reason, make good judgments, analyze, and think critically about concepts or problems in life. This is important to know how to do. I use critical thinking skills frequently throughout the day with my job. If we can teach our students that this is something we don't just do when talking about science concepts but also something that is important in life, then we are achieving one of the goals of the partnership.

I feel that this will really aid in my student's learning and also allow me to become an educator who not only teaches the concepts that the students need to have to pass their achievement tests but also give them the skills they need to do well in the "real world." Even the college experience is different and being thrown into something you don't understand can be detrimental. I want to delve deeper into this website, as I suggest every educator out there that has a few minutes to spare, and learn more about how I can implement these skills into my classroom.