A Look at the Partnership for 21st Century Skills

 My assignment for Walden University was to view The Partnership for 21^st Century Skills website (http://www.p21.org) and post a reaction and an evaluation of the website.  At first glance, I was very impressed with the broad coalition of individuals and businesses that were involved in this program.  

 The Partnership for 21^st Century Skills website is a great resource for educators to read and follow with their blog and twitter account.  I discovered the schools which are currently using the 21^st Century Skills in their classroom and was able to view videos and information on what they were doing in the their classroom.  Along with the information that helped describe what 21 Century Skills was all about, I was able to actually view what it looks like in the classroom which had greater value to me personally.   

Sometimes the challenge for educators as it relates to 21 Century Skill is that we know they are needed and are important for our students, however the focus on meeting core curriculum standards and making sure that our students are proficient in all key areas places these skills as a secondary concern.  The 21^st Century Skills website however at least provides a central location to find answers on how these skills can be incorporated within the classroom.  The implications for my students will be an enlighten teacher who has been shown that it can work within the classroom and by following the model I can transfer those skills within my own classroom. 

A Exciting New Look at Why I Should Create a Class Blog!

I teach computer classes for grades 5-12 at a private school. A webblog will be a tremendous asset for my class.  Last year I started with the concept of students having their own web page to showcase their projects.  However, the website was limited to just our class and parents and didn't have the ability of a blog interaction with comments and feedback.  After reading about the impact of blogging and the skill that my students need to have in regards to RSS feeds, I will begin having my students develop a blog page to still showcase their work.  However, the difference will be they will be able to share it to the world and look to engage their followers (classmates, parents and global audience) through comments. I am currently using a program called Weebly.com for my class weblog and now I will just give my students one page access to edit and I can still monitor postings as well. The focus will be to showcase projects verses designing a website for showcasing.   I believe this will have a motivating factor for my students knowing that their work will be seen by the world.  It will also serve as a greater purpose than just doing the work for a grade but to ultimately share it with a global community. 

Reflection on Using Google Voice

I have been using  Google Voice for several years and have found it to be a great tool for communication with parents. The features have worked well tying in with my cell phone with texting ability and note recording.  I set up my number as a voice mail for parents to leave messages or to receive calls as I was available.  This provides open communication with my parents without giving up my personal cell phone number.  I also have the ability to have all my calls go directly to voice mail if needed.  I  provided business cards with my voice mail number which creates a professional appearance and approach to my teaching profession.  The ability to have this type of open communication with my parents has been a great asset for my teaching career and I highly recommend Google Voice for all teachers.