Podcast Assignment: Profiling the Students of Today

http://www.gcast.com/u/danikafulcher

Podcast Assignment: Profiling the Students of Today

http://www.gcast.com/u/danikafulcher/main

Partnership for 21^st Century Skills

After looking through the web site I was in amazement do to the high standards and the alignment to the business world. I feel I could really stand behind the framework and the “21^st century student outcomes”.

Some of the things that surprised me were the intense focus on Information, Media, and Technology Skills starting at the kindergarten level up to high school. In most public schools we focus on Reading, Writing and Math we add technology here and there but there is no true focus. This make a huge gap between graduating high school students and the skills needed when applying for a job. Another thing that surprised me was the section on Life Skills. There are not many teachers that take the time to teach ethics, accountability, adaptability, personal productivity, personal responsibility, people skills, self-direction, and social responsibility. Teachers expect these skills in their students but usually do not take the time to teach these skills. I fully believe in teaching students life skills, I currently teach social skills and character education skills to my students 60 minutes a day. There are a few teachers in my school that take the time to teach some of the social skills their students are missing.

There really wasn’t anything I disagreed with on this site.

Some of the impacts for me as an educator would be the need for more professional development in the area’s of Information, Media, and Technology Skills, economics, and civic literacy. I currently try to teach the core subjects with a project-based viewpoint. This has really seemed to help my students focus on content instead of isolated skills.

If my school district adopted the frameworks it would mean that many more of our students would graduate being prepared for what is expected from them in the work place.

How I might use a blog in my classroom.

I currently teach 3rd, 4th and 5th grade Emotional/Behavioral Disordered Special Education students at a Title One school. Twice a year we hold student led conferences where our students show their parents their work and explain whether or not they are meeting standard on the items they have chosen to put into their portfolio's.

I think it would be exciting to set up a blog for each of my students where they would be able to upload the work they would want to put in a portfolio and blog about their work. They could reflect on each assignment from what they liked, what they didn't like, what they could change for next time. This would give students an electronic portfolio that they would be able to share with their family outside of the school day. If each of my students had an E-Portfolio they could build on it year after year and share it with their next teacher. With the blog set up I would be able to give feed back to each of the assignments and post the rubric that goes with each assignment.

The only draw back is the fact that our district does not allow any blog sites to be brought up on school computers. I would have to figure out a way to use a non-school computer and a wireless network that didn't belong to the district to make this happen.

Is there a need for teachers to teach social skills in the classroom?

Year after year, day after day we see the same students going in and out of the principles room with the never ending behavior problems. These students fill out problem solving sheets and do their time and are back in class doing the same behaviors they were sent out for in the first place. What are we as educators doing to help these students with these never ending behavior problems? We see these problems because of the students lack of social skills but are they teaching social skills in many of the general education program as part of the curriculum? At our school there are a few teachers that take the time to address and teach social skills but not very many. Those teachers that do not take the time are the teachers that are sending students out to the office.
I teach social skills everyday for 60 minutes in my Emotional/Behavioral Disorder Special Education Classroom. I follow a scope and sequence starting with manners ending with bulling and anger management. I have found that the Social Star curriculum is very helpful when I write my lessons. I have really seen a big change in the behavior of my boys once we completed a section of the scope and sequence.

How do other teacher handle lack of social skills in their classroom?
Do you feel there is a need to teach social skills in General Education as well as Special Education?