Something Old, Something New, and Something...21st Century

Technological and 21st century soft skills, like communication and teamwork, are already being integrated into the curriculum. The core of a language arts curriculum is, or should be, communication. By strengthening the language and literacy skills of students, they are learning to engage in conversations with various texts, as well as communicate their ideas both orally and scripturally. Teamwork and other soft skills, such as critical thinking, solving problems, comprehending information, and making decisions, can be incorporated into any subject area with a little creativity from both teachers and students.

Teaching 21st century soft skills should not be "about teaching either academics or skills; [but] about blending the two and teaching one using the other" (The Value of Teaching 21st Century Skills). Academics are certainly a forum through which critical skills can be inherited, and skills are certainly tools that can be used to engage students in their academic studies. Both are interchangeable; one should definitely not be able to exist without the other.

Academics can not be eliminated from the school curriculum simply because they are the porthole to our past, present, and future. Particularly in language arts, where novels are able to give students insight into different periods of time (including the future), academics are the foundation of our existence as human beings- we "do not restart the world anew with each generation...we stand on the shoulders of those who have gone before us" (Critical Thinking? You Need Knowledge). The past cannot be erased. As humans, we need a firm understanding of where we came from, where we are, and where we are going. Literature is one way of gaining this sort of knowledge, which students need to acquire before developing critical thinking skills because one "cannot think critically without quite a lot of knowledge to think about" (Critical Thinking? You Need Knowledge). It is imperative that students continue reading canonical novels, such as The Great Gatsby and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, as well as Shakespeare's plays and ancient texts like The Iliad, because these are the foundations of our existence and, therefore, our knowledge- there can be no new knowledge without old knowledge.

This isn't to say that newer pieces of literature should be exempt from the classroom (every student should be reading The Fault in Our Stars by John Green and Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher) but reading the classics before and in-between will only enhance students' understanding of contemporary literature.

"We cannot stand still" 

(The Value of Teaching 21st Century Skills)

This, perhaps, is the most important thing to remember about education- it must be treated like a living, breathing, and growing creature and cannot stand still. However, this does not mean that the past should be forgotten. The educational system must be considerate of the present and past in order to prepare for students' success in the future. The old and the new must be considered within the context of the 21st century. Technology and 21st century soft skills must be integrated into the curriculum, as they have become important parts of our society. But academics must persevere because they are central to our existence as human beings. There is room in our educational system for all of these old, new, and 21st century academics and skills to be addressed, and in many cases they already are.

My Week in Technology (2/10-2/16)

This week I inquired about the lack of technology in my cooperating teacher's classroom at Columbia High School. When I walked in on the first day (two weeks ago) I observed that the classroom was technologically equipped with one laptop at the teacher's desk and one overhead projector (the ancient kind that uses transparencies). I was shocked, to say the least. Overhead projectors were the thing to use when I was in elementary school, but with the Smart Board craze I really did not think that overhead projectors were still in use. Before confronting my cooperating teacher, however, I explored the rest of the school and actually found a lot of Smart Boards in classrooms that housed subject areas like mathematics, science, and history. So why did it seem that nearly all of the classrooms had Smart Boards except the ones with English classes? Well, during my second visit to the school I asked my cooperating teacher and apparently the school ran out of funding to equip the English classrooms with Smart Boards.

So we are traveling back to the Stone Age! In my future observations I am going to be sure to pay special attention to how my cooperating teacher utilizes the overhead projector and gauge whether or not it is effective to student learning. Thus far, she has used it to project directions for individual and group work, as well as the results of group work. For example, students were situated into groups and given a transparency on which they were instructed to write down important aspects of a particular chapter in the novel A Tale of Two Cities. These aspects included a brief summary, character descriptions, important themes/metaphors/symbols (it was much like creating their own SparkNotes page). The groups then displayed and presented their transparencies to the class. It was effective, but just seemed like a really outdated way of doing things. It will definitely be interesting to observe how else my cooperating teacher makes use of the overhead transparency- more details to come!

Wonderful Wikis

Out of all the TECH tools we have been introduced to in class thus far- Blogs, Web Design, and Wikis- my favorite has been the Wiki. I think the Wiki is an excellent technological tool to utilize in a classroom setting because it establishes a sense of community. Wikis allow students to collaborate and interact with one another through editorial access, as well as feel a sense of ownership and responsibility over their education. Plus the format of the site we used, Wikispaces, is accessible and easy to navigate. Of course it was a bit challenging at first, but with practice the posting of information became quite simple- almost second nature.

In relationship to the Core Curriculum Content Standards for Technology, grade 12, a classroom Wiki fulfills the CPI# 8.1.12.A.3- participating in online courses, learning communities, social networks, or virtual worlds and recognize them as resources for lifelong learning- located under Strand A: Technology Operations and Concepts. A Wiki is an online learning community as well as a resource that students can refer to anytime beyond their one year spent in a class. In regards to Strand B: Creativity and Innovation, Wikis also fulfill CPI# 8.1.12.B.1- design and pilot a digital learning game to demonstrate knowledge and skills related to one or more content areas or a real world situation. Although I am confused as to what a digital learning game means, students can definitely post information onto Wikis that demonstrate skills related to other content areas or real world situations. Wikis also accomplish CPI# 8.1.12.C.1- develop an innovative solution to a complex, local or global problem or issue in collaboration with peers and experts, and present ideas for feedback in an online community- which is located under Strand C: Communication and Collaboration. Provide students with a problem to solve and have them collaborate with peers and present their ideas for review and feedback through a classroom Wiki. Wikis can also be used as outlets to practice Digital Citizenship, covering all the standards in Strand D as well as Strand E: Research and Information Literacy and Strand F: Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, and Decision-Making.

One Wiki project I can think of in relation to The Great Gatsby (the topic I did my Wiki on for class) is creating a database for the 1920s. Allow students to choose a specific cultural, political, or economical aspect of society (theater, cars, the World Series, hospitality, sports, dance, fashion, real estate, advertisement, etc.) to research and contribute to an online Wiki database that their peers can refer to for background knowledge while reading the novel. Doing so, all the basic technological requirements of the Core Curriculum Content Standards for Technology, grade 12, are covered and the students are provided the opportunity to enjoy learning by researching how their interests existed during the Jazz Age. Plus students love Wikipedia (as do I), inform them they are making their own classroom version of it and their interest is sure to be sparked.

Wikis are wonderful! I truly can not see any negatives to using them, besides students not having access to a computer at home- but even then the Wiki can become part of an in-class project. I think these standards are appropriate for students to properly develop in this technologically-driven time. I do not know exactly how many job descriptions I see these days where applicants are required to have basic computer skills, but it is a significant amount! If skills are not acquired in the classroom, and students lack access to a computer in their homes, where will they learn? How could they possibly have an equal opportunity to become successful in this society without having basic, foundational technological skills? I believe these standards exist as a resource for educators and schools to ensure their students acquire the necessary technological skills. The standards are also flexible- easy to incorporate into any lesson or unit plan.

The Effective School Webpage

In this technological age it is important for schools to have easy-to-navigate websites packed with information and resources that are accessible at the click of a button. Many of the websites I initially encountered in my exploration were either blase, impersonal, or extremely superficial- with photo-shopped pictures of models, I mean students, who looked as if they were just stepping out of their latest shoot, I mean class. Every smile was white, every hair was perfectly in place, and every book was stacked from largest to smallest, held neatly in every students' arms. Schools were beginning to look like Stepford, Connecticut, and we all know that there is no such thing as a perfect school with perfect students. And there shouldn't be! Schools should embrace individuality and proudly display their real students, in any capacity, on their websites.

One school that has an effective website is Magnolia Public School. Before I even begin to navigate the site, I am instantly drawn-in by the individual pieces of student artwork that flash across the homepage. The art really personalizes the website and communicates that the school takes pride in its students individuality! The curvature design of the website is indicative that the school has an appealing personality, and the fifteen tabs on the top of the page are convenient for easy access to information and resources.

According to the article Why in the World Wide Web, the best school and district websites accomplish these four goals:

1. Appropriately introduce visitors to the school (the article specifically mentions that the site should be able to quickly communicate a school's mission, character, offerings to children, stance on new technologies, and overall spirit).

The Magnolia Public School website nicely introduces visitors to the school. Immediately entering the site I am able to process that the school values learning and achieving, as indicated by the slogan The Learning & Achieving School. I also know the school mascot, a mustang (not the car, the horse), and that there is enough school pride to at least acknowledge Mustang Pride on the homepage. The curvature and colors of the site (presumably their school colors) are indicative of the school's personality, as mentioned earlier, and with a click on the tab About Us, one is able to quickly identify the forty-six page Magnolia School District Technology Plan.

 2. Resources for an education family.

The Magnolia Public School website neatly provides fifteen tabs at the top of the page that include an abundance of information and resources appropriate for an education family. These include Cyber Safety links and information; links to Google Search Engine, You Tube Education, and Everyday Math Games; the yearly calendar (with dates and times of sporting events, club meetings, school board meetings, faculty meetings, etc.); school lunch schedule; overviews of various school departments; and access to administrative and teacher e-mail addresses and room numbers. The Links tab also provides access to classroom resources and blogs, organized and provided by individual teachers. Mrs. McNally provides a link to Classroom Chronicles, a math and science classroom blog that provides students with an overwhelming amount of resources that can only enhance their learning. Check it out by clicking here!

3. Opportunities to publish student works.

As discussed before, the Magnolia Public School website displays student artwork that flashes across the homepage.

4. Rich data locally connected on curriculum related topics.

Under Announcements in the right-hand column of the Magnolia Public School website, users have instant access to School Board News. Two important documents that are entrenched with local data pertaining to curriculum related tops can be found under School Board News: Magnolia Public School Strategic Plan 2012-2015 and the 2012-2013 School Budget. These two documents influence the curriculum and are important resources for students, parents, teachers, and administrators.

The Magnolia Public School website accomplishes everything the article Why in the World Wide Web suggests. One thing I know for sure, however, is that New Jersey public schools have some pretty awful websites, which is ironic considering the technological age we live in. Of course there are some good websites and even some great ones, but there are certainly far too many poor ones that lack important information and resources, as well as appropriate representation of the school and, most importantly, the students.