So recently I have had a lot of time to think. I am learning many new things from my education classes about standards, current views and trends, gifted education, literacy in the 21st century, etc. and I need a place to track my learning. In my education classes, I am taught to have kids take control of their own learning and to make learning meaningful. Although, the way my education classes are set up, I am doing assignments for the grade and to get finished with college, not necessarily thoroughly learning the content. This site I will use to change that. When next year comes around and I wish I would remember what I learned this year, I will have this blog to come to to analyze and critique what I have learned previously.
I will start with a quote I learned recently...
The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn and relearn.
-Alvin Toffler (1928- )
This quote relates to the Common Core State Standards that are about to be implemented in Florida. The CCSS focus on the learning process, rather than just content knowledge. It asks essential questions such as
"How do students learn?"
"What are they learning this for?"
"How does this knowledge relate to real world situations?"
"How can students apply this knowledge in different ways?"
The CCSS implements a focus on higher-order thinking, critical thinking, deeper learning, transferable knowledge, collaboration, creativity & innovation, and problem-solving.
In the past, school was a place where students would go to receive information. Today, schools should be a place where students can go to learn how to find information, to adapt/understand/critique current information, to relate information to different situations and contexts, and to think creatively, providing new information to the world.
In the world today, there are millions of learners who will be living a very different world when they grow up. In this future world, it will be essential to know about technology and how to navigate the internet. In the future, new jobs will focus on the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics fields. These fields will make up the parts of essential careers. We will finally be able to decode our world on a scale that has never been done before in human history. So I will leave you with my own quote...
"In this next decade, society is going to progress further than ever before...whether our students are ready for it or not."
That's what us teachers have to be prepared for.
