Sunday, September 26, 2010

Perusing the Partnership for 21st Century Skills website

I recently checked out the Partnership for 21st Century Skills Website. I actually did it as a requirment in a college class assignment.  It was well worth my time and I feel that anyone who is interested in pushing for 21st Century Skills in education should use this site to educate theirself.
“About the Partnership for 21st Century Skills: P21 is a national organization that advocates for 21st century readiness for every student. As the United States continues to compete in a global economy that demands innovation, P21 and its members provide tools and resources to help the U.S. education system keep up by fusing the three Rs and four Cs (critical thinking and problem solving, communication, collaboration and creativity and innovation). While leading districts and schools are already doing this, P21 advocates for local, state and federal policies that support this approach for every school.” 
While perusing the site, I found articles that touch on current issues. New information that I found regarding the 3 R’s and 4 C’s was helpful in developing new understanding of issues surrounding the 21st Century skills. My favorite thing about the website  that I found helpful, fun, and inspiring were videos that are easily accessible, and explain what 21st Century readiness looks like. I took the liberty of taking my favorite quotes off of one of them to share with you. This video is called Tomizawa, and although it was only given a 3 star rating (which I would have to disagree with), I would highly recommend it to any teacher who wants to be inspired. 


“Every classroom teacher begins with a captive audience, but effective teaching is about captivating that audience….A captive audience is short on patience, but a captivated audience wants more after the bell has rung.” –Tomizawa

Check it out for yourself by following this link: http://www.p21.org/

5 comments:

  1. Cathy,

    Love the quote. I think that technology,4 C's and 3 R's helps to keep our students actively learning and having fun within the classrooms. When I utilize a SMART Board, the students have so much fun working with it, the time passes so quickly. I rarely ever have a classroom issues/problems, which ehnances the learning taking place.

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  2. Marialena,
    I have yet to use a SmartBoard. They seem light years away from my district...hopefully we will hit a time warp soon! I do agree with you that when technology is infused into lessons, classroom management seems much easier.
    Thanks for your comment on my blog!

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  3. Cathy,
    Did you notice that out there are only 15 states that are utilizing the 21st Century Skills and our state is NOT one of them? How do you feel about that and do you think we will be on board soon (how long)?

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  4. Wow, your quote is great! It’s always nice to read something like that, that really makes you smile while you think about it! How are you going to try to bring it here Cathy? Inspiring minds want to know. :)

    I agree, I thought this site was a great resource for wonderful ideas and critical thinking and problem solving, communication, collaboration and creativity...that's what "IT'S" all about!

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  5. I can not believe that that video clip only got three stars. The quote alone should have given it higher rating. I als thik it is amazing that only 15 states are utilizing the 21st Cenyury Skills.

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