In your blog, consider reflecting on your journey towards 21st century teaching practices (or leading them). After reading about what is expected (in terms of the standards, 4Cs, etc) and the path the journey takes, what are you feeling? What can you do in your classroom/school to engender 21st century teaching and learning? What do you need to learn? Include your thoughts related to the Darling-Hammond readings, too, as they apply.
When I think about the 21st century teaching and how we are teaching today (virtually). I think they go hand in hand. There are many negatives about COVID but I am "a glass half full" kind of girl so I see many positives to our new reality. The key is to be creative and challenge yourself to learn new things. First of all, I know that many of my colleagues, myself included, would not be as tech savvy as we are today, if it weren't for COVID necessitating new ways of teaching. However, with that being said, I still feel like I need to step up my game a bit. As I have mentioned in the past, I have had a difficult time with Linda Darling-Hammond's honesty of our United States educational system. In spite of our reading, I have researched Ms. Darling-Hammond a little more, and I have found her to be a profound researcher. She is progressive and knowledgeable. She understands and is educating others that there is a BIG need for the United States to re-evaluate and restructure our old and outdated educational system. Her "system" not only encompasses the need for the 4 C's (Communication, Collaboration, Creativity and Critical Thinking) but she also includes the need for social-emotional learning, project-based learning, and inquiry-based learning. Now you can probably see why I agree and am so motivated by her work. She includes ideas of restructuring by getting rid of NCLB (No Child Left Behind), and allowing teachers more prep time to work with colleagues to plan lessons that dig deep into content and not just graze the surface of many lessons. She believes the idea of "looping" with students is positive and allows teachers to really bond with their students and foster their individual needs. She feels teachers need to be valued and treated professionally so better teaching can happen. She also believes that the US should give less assessments and focus on open-ended assessments, instead of multiple choice. Curriculum and lessons should be designed to align project-based learning that include inquiry-based thinking and the 4 C's. Secondly, as mentioned previously, I need to still step up my game. After creating our lesson for this week, I realized that I need to focus more on meeting the 4 C's in every lesson. In all honesty, it wasn't difficult to create our lesson with the 4 C's in mind. It just takes time so the teacher can build upon scripted curriculum programs. I believe that is the problem. We are directed to teach the curriculum (usually from a script if you look at Benchmark (elementary English Language Arts curriculum) and Bridges (elementary Math curriculum). There is no room for freedom of creating your own lessons because there isn't enough time in the day to teach all of the above. If our curriculum was redesigned as an outline and we had the freedom to create lessons that included Creativity, Collaboration, Communication and Critical Thinking, I think the students would be more successful. As for now, I am taking what I have to teach and using positive moments to take advantage of better teaching strategies. For example, I am using more "breakout rooms" for collaboration and communication. I am including directions that asks students to be creative and use their critical thinking skills. My only worry is that not everyone is doing this. So, what happens to those students who don't have teachers that challenge themselves and challenge their students? Do they remain the statistics? How do we step back, recreate our purpose for our students, change and challenge our teachers, in order to make progress and get out of this "Factory Model" system?
3 Comments
Jamie Lutz
2/21/2021 02:55:49 pm
Kimberlee,
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Janine Burt
2/24/2021 02:51:02 pm
Hi Kimberlee, I really agree that creating more opportunities to develop the 4Cs isn't hard necessarily, but you're right it does take planning with that purpose in mind. I think we do get burdened by curriculum and pacing. Bridges at least has lessons that engage students in critical thinking and communicating with multiple representations. But I agree that we need the flexibility to create our own units/lessons that give our kids a more well rounded experience to develop their skills. I always appreciate how much you care about your students!
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Amy Bardwell
2/24/2021 06:01:03 pm
I agree with both you and Janine. Planning, pacing, and curriculum can bog you down. Flexibility is so needed in our classrooms. I am excited for you project. Thank you for your words.
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