Monday, December 5, 2016

"If we teach today's students as we taught yesterdays, we rob them of tomorrow." John Dewey

Recently I attended a conference that talked about 21st century teaching and learning.  This conference allowed me to evaluate my own knowledge of what a 21st century learner is as well as ponder if our school is preparing our students to be 21st century learners.  What is a 21st century learner?  The term "21st-century skills" is generally used to refer to certain core competencies such as collaboration, digital literacy, critical thinking, and problem-solving that advocates that schools need to teach to help students thrive in today's world.

It is not that we stop teaching the basics or the foundation pieces that students need but it is how we teach these concepts.  Student’s need be engaged in their learning for better understanding of what is being taught.  Research clearly points out that if a student finds relevancy in what they are being taught and if they can teach others what they have learned then the chances of them retaining what they have learned is greater.

Digital literacy is a large part of the 21st century learner and using technology is a great tool to insure that students are engaged in their learning.  Technology opens doors that allows us to do things with our lessons that were not possible before. Learning must be fun and also allow for our students to become critical thinkers.  Teaching has to be different today if we want to prepare our students for their future.  Technology has changed the way we do things and it is does not appear that it will be slowing down anytime soon.


Next week I will share with you what great things we are doing in our classrooms to help prepare our students to for their future as 21st century learners.  

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