Moriarty+Final+Project

** The Project **

 * 1. Describe (in 2-3 paragraphs) your beliefs about learning in a 21st century classroom **

In a world that is ever changing and as competitive as ever the words of legendary UCLA basketball coach, [|John Wooden], capture what I believe about learning in the 21st century classroom. His [|definition] of success navigates away from the traditional way of assessing people and focuses more on the individual’s capabilities. His definition of success is //**“Peace of mind attained only through self-satisfaction in knowing you made the effort to do the best of which you are capable.”**// Today’s student was born in an era that saw exponential growth in regards to technological advancements. Yet, these very same students who are “tech-saavy” struggle demonstrating other real life skills that are imperative to succeeding in society. They are terrified of failing or making mistakes. Instincts push them to seek out answers from the authority figure first rather than investigating a solution themselves. Additionally, they struggle to communicate through speaking and writing. The big question is how to incorporate these real life skills within the classroom so students are prepared for their post-secondary education and beyond?

I believe these are the most crucial elements to include within the 21st century classroom:
 * Incorporating face to face peer interaction within the technological interaction
 * Emphasizing skills over content--//**What can you do rather than what do you know**//!
 * Communicating through speaking AND writing
 * Supporting arguments with logical information
 * Competing with yourself over competing with others--//**Success can take on many different forms**//
 * Educators as learning designers rather than content presenters


 * 2. Identify an ecosystem element (column 3 of the Manifesto) in which to develop in depth in your classroom. Share how this element connects to your belief statement. **

After learning about Dr. Bill’s [|Manifesto] it is difficult to focus on just one ecosystem element. While hashing out my beliefs about the 21st century classroom I think it makes sense to focus on // Classroom Norms and Routines // along with // Technology // to foster a 21st century learning environment in my classroom. Students need to be a participatory member of a class community to prepare them for society outside the often sheltered life of a high school student. Technology allows for that participation to take on many forms and include some students who may be hesitant to share thoughts out loud.

I can see using technology to help improve how the classroom functions. Developing classroom norms has been at a basic level my first two years of teaching. Using resources such as Edmodo, google forms, or twitter can augment the process on how each class develops norms. Feedback would be much faster as opposed to the traditional pen and paper surveys of the past. Using technology to promote various thoughts can help jump start larger classroom discussion.


 * 3. Develop 2-3 artifacts that show evidence of your work in implementing this element in your classroom. **


 * Artifact #1: ** [|Class Norms]




 * Determining success indicators and the interconnectedness of the Ecosystem:**

I see these artifacts promoting more participation and student ownership within the classroom. As the teacher I can also control what comments are posted in the event that there is disrespectful dialogue concerning sensitive social studies topics. I really like the instantaneous feedback that students can actually "see" rather than being presented the data from a teacher. Focusing these artifacts on technology and norms/procedures also has an affect on other ecosystem elements within column three of the manifesto such as resources, instructional strategies and even assessment.