21st CENTURY SKILLS

     I am all for providing our students with the necessary skills to prepare them for the 21st century.  I like the idea of the 3Rs and 4 Cs.  I feel in our math classroom there are opportunities for the students to practice and work on improving their critical thinking skills, communication skills, collaboration (especially during group activities and projects) and even creativity and innovation does take place in our classroom as the students come up with crafty and creative ideas when preparing for presentations or other ways of exemplifying their work.
     This organization has the support of Disney, Microsoft, Verizon, Apple,etc.  The Big belief is that what skills and knowledge the kids should have for the 21st Century in the real world isn't necessarily the same as what skills and knowledge they learn within the school.  I can agree with two supporting reasons: 1.  the economy is limiting what the districts are allowed to spend towards the latest and greatest of current technology & 2.  the fact that most states are feeling the heat of NCLB and the state testing scores.
     I can see (to a point) that in our math class we can incorporate the 4Cs into some of our group work.  The group work doesn't happen very often though - on average , perhaps once every 3 to 4 weeks.  Now, the critical thinking is often a part of math; although the mastery is not where we would like for it to be. 
     I can see the Technology courses that the students take having more opportunities to allow the students to hone their use of technology more so than any other class.  If the economy continues the downward spiral, we will most likely see less funding for up-to-date technology and even downsizing the teachers per school.
     There is no doubt, these students need the learning and thinking skills, life skills (ethics, leadership, self-direction), 21st Century content such as global awareness and finance and success in the academic subjects. 
     One question I do have is what may be the reason or reasons every state has not jumped on the partnership for the 21st Century Skills bandwagon?

Initially,prior to reading and viewing any of this week's resources, I had been scratching my head wondering how can a math teacher utilize and benefit from blogging. Blogging sounded as though it was geared more towards the Literature, Social Studies and perhaps, the Science teachers.  Much to my surprise, the explanations of blogging and how effective it can be for ALL teachers and students wasn't hard at all to grasp.  I felt like a dummy for a few minutes.  However, since reviewing all resources from this week, I have discovered that blogging is and can be such an easier, more comfortable way for many of my students to communicate. 
Some of the possible uses for math teachers to blog are as follows:
* Having the class syllabus on the blog page
* My planning period time frame
* Daily lessons and assignments posted and updated
* Reminders of upcoming homework, quizzes and/or test that are approaching
* homework page and the problem numbers
* notes from each day's class
* some more step-by-step examples of work covered in class
* Question and answer forum (especially for those students that are reluctant or too shy to speak up in class).
* Reflection moments - This would be a chance for my students to share with me what lesson or part of the lesson was effective and/or what part of my activities/lesson did not make sense to them.

Not all students do have the Internet at home.  The only opportunity they have to use the Internet would be if they were given library time where they could access the Internet or if they have a computer application's class and they have caught up with their work.  Unfortunately, we do not have a supply of iPads or laptops to sign out to students.  This is one of my concerns with the blogging.  It seems that many of the kids that need Internet access the most for stuff such as this are the ones that are less fortunate and their parents/guardians can not afford it.

Hmm , let's see if this works

My name is Lori Baerne. I'm pursuing my Master's Degree in Utilizing Technology in the Classroom.  I co-teach in  10th grade Math II classes.  The fact that there was very,very little technology in my high school days lends to the fact that technology isn't my strong point.  I've learned a great deal about the computer and some other technology components.  However,by no means would I consider myself the technology guro. 
I'm willing to learn.  Thus, this is one of the big reasons I chose this specific area for my masters. 
Shower me with the technology knowledge.  :0)
Welcome to my page and let's get this party started.

Thanks for visiting!