A Review of the 21st Century Partnership Website

While viewing the 21st Century website as assigned by my Graduate Studies Professor, I was pleased to initially see a collaborative partnership with the Librarians Association listed on the homepage. In my opinion, it is these individuals who have direct access and correlations to technology and 21st Century tools, within our educational system; so they should be part of the initiative. I also was delighted in the easy navigational tools provided by the Partnership website. Too often, websites that need to convey a vast amount of information seem unorganized or difficult to find your way. This site was not at all difficult to utilize, rather it provided easy access to upcoming events, frameworks for the Partnership, tools and resources, as well as what is currently in place for their initiatives. I was surprised to read of the states that already had begun their participation, at first; but upon further contemplation, I realized that it was simply because these states had a need for a Partnership that could apply real world skills and learning to their possibly struggling educational systems.

Students and educators can benefit from inquiry and participation with this Association. The framework appears to be grounded and applicable. As an educator, I believe that there is always room for improvement and growth, therefore supporting the goals of the 21st Century Partnership. I can foresee this program having a great impact on students and how they feel or prepare for future life and work experiences. Not to end on a negative note, but I was surprised at two of the statements listed under the State Initiatives Navigation button claiming, “Most academic standards are too low and do not reflect 21st Century skills or content,” and that “many states allow students to earn a high school diploma with 8th or 10th grade knowledge and skills (or less) in core subjects.” Personally, I don’t believe that overall academic standards are too low; I simply believe that individual educators may partake in the lowering of their expectations due to real life experience and socioeconomic struggles. Overall, standards are what they have always been; society and the nature of our students have simply changed, creating the need for standards and expectations to also be modified, not necessarily lowered. As for students being able to earn a high school diploma with 8th or 10th grade skills, I must simply say that my 8th graders surpass those noted expectations in, in the 8th grade and obviously do not represent the students for which the Partnership was speaking of. Clearly, there are benefits to displaying data, but data shared in a positive context usually promotes better interest and results.

My newest addition happening in Science!

I believe I can utilize a blog in my 8th grade science classroom to develop content knowledge and to engage my students in active discussion about "the nature of science". The benefit of using a blog will allow this discussion and learning experience to take place outside of the classroom, avoiding the "time crunch" which usually would discourage such extensive focus on this one particular topic. While "the nature of science" is part of the 8th grade curriculum, it is not an SOL focus, per say. Personally, I think that it enhances a real-world connection and provides validity to the process as it is defined. The discussion would be applicable to future experiences that my students themselves, may actually have.

First, my thought was to begin interaction by requesting that each student participate in a discussion/debate about the "nature of science". Certainly, I would provide a writing prompt or sentence starter that would elicit the desired responses. Since there are many views on the process, and numerous scientists involved, students should be able to conduct their own research and voice their own opinions with authority and individuality. I would ask students to include their thoughts of the ancient examples used in class and then to be able to relate it to how they may utilize the process currently or in the future. I would also request that students address the advantages and disadvantages of "building on others ideas", and that they would be able to clearly and concisely respond to each other.