Are my students ready for the 21st century?

I feel that I am pretty equipped to teach 21st century skills. I feel a lot of this comes from myself going to school in the 21st century. There are times I find myself jealous of those teachers who have more experience and seem to be in their teaching groove. This is one thing however I am not jealous of. Some of the veteran teachers are very good at keeping up with this new pace of life. However, some of the teachers still seem to be wondering why when they hit reply all on the email, every single person in the district gets their response. I appreciate that I understand the technology and am able to help my students transition into being better equipped. There are still things that I am learning, often from the students themseleves, but I am capable of following what they are saying. One beautiful thing about the 21st century is that it is requiring change each and every year and I am good with change. Some parents and teachers would say, why are we changing it now, the way we learned as kids worked just as good. These things are changing, because our world is changing. Students need some different skills to survive in today's world!

I feel that my students learn most of the necessary skills before leaving my classroom. I would love to focus more in depth on some of the skills, like financial literacy, but with the state required standards my classrom time is very packed! This is when it is necessary to get creative! You need to incorporate those skills into your lessons. Problem solving is very easy to add into my math classroom. I often have to link those skills and the real world for my students. They don't understand that problem solving skills on a math problem, can still be applied to other problems in their lives, even personal problems. You evaulate the problem, plan an approach, solve, and end up with a solution! One of my weaknesses is being able to link all of the necessary skills in my mathematics class. That is a personal goal I have for my self this year. I do feel that there is a reason that high school students have more than one teacher, because hopefully what ever skills they might not be getting in math class, they are still getting in another class! That way when they graduate from high school, they are a well rounded 21st century skilled person!

Filling in the Gaps

Technology is a beautiful thing to many and a scary thing to many! You find yourself one of three people. One person is completely lost with technology and are often scared of learning new things. The second is able to learn new things to get by, but doesn't want to go to far. The third person is the one looking at technology straight in the eye, and saying "I am going to figure you out!"

As a teacher it is very helpful to be at least the second or third person. To help our students be prepared for 21st century careers they need educators that are willing to change and willing to take risks and learn new things. School isn't the same when I was there 7 years ago, so it is certainly not the same for the teachers that have been teaching longer than me. Teachers are in this profession because we love to learn, and love to educate others! Technology can be scary, but if we are scared, how do you think our students will feel!

Technology does take funding, but use what you have. If all you have is the Internet, there are many different things you can do with that! Be creative! I just wouldn't let funding stop you from teaching today's youth as much about technology as you can! This is when the biblical words "fear not" really takes place. When a teacher can stand up against all odds (funding, availability, support) and still make it work.

Some of my personal goals for this year and as I embark on this Technology class.
1. Start up my own website.
2. Incorporate technology in every project I assign.
3. Attempt a "new" technology method once a month.

I feel that today I am person number 2. After this class, I plan to be the third person! Bring it on Technology! I am not afraid of you!