21st+CL+Project-+Mather

21st Century Learning Final Project


 * My beliefs about Learning in a 21st Century Classroom **

To try and effectively describe my view of learning in the current century reminds me of telling my students at the beginning of the year that we are going to be studying the Eastern Hemisphere. The topic is broad and the content is deep with implications that will change the student’s view of the world. So it is with grasping an understanding of 21st century learning that fosters shifts in focus of the teacher, student, and content. As a teacher, I need to recognize and encompass a solid understanding of the uniqueness of each student’s background, current circumstances and potential for the future.The environment I create as a teacher and in the classroom must aim high while supplying varied means of achievement, using innovative and varying platforms that build skills and character. This can only happen when as a teacher, the individual student is highly valued, supported, and guided as they pursue their learning. Steve Johnson in __”Where Good Ideas Come From”__ emphasized the need for an environment that supports sharing and connecting. The video of “ __What Students Expect at School”__, listed relationship at the top of the list. Creating the environment for this to take place is the foundation upon which the other aspects of 21st Century Learning can be actualized.

I often refer to students needing to “be in charge of their learning”. This is essential in order to develop into the successful, respectful, contributing member needed in a society that in many ways has yet to be defined. They must be afforded intentional experiences that will enable them to think about and develop an understanding of their thinking. They will recognize the need for adjustments in their thinking that can be accomplished in a wide variety of mediums made available to them as their metacognition develops. They need to have their own vision of becoming a strong communicator who can problem solve in creative, outside the box ways, being able to effectively use current and yet to be developed sources of information.

To accomplish this vision, both the teacher and student need to shift the way they interact with content. Means of instruction must be judged on potential for engagement, with meaningful opportunities for group exposure, small group interaction and independent self-assessment and reflection. Direct instruction is still often needed to build the bricks of skills that are so necessary for a firm foundation. However, the 21st century has provided an ever increasing means of delivering this instruction such as creating instructional videos, usage of websites, interactive technology and means of communication like google sites. Rather than the focus of the teacher being the sole source of information and its delivery, students are exposed to and skills developed for accessing information from multiple sources. Inquiry is stressed through open-ended questions that require pondering and higher level thinking. The teacher’s role as designer evolves into providing a clear understanding of the learning goals and specific targets that the student is aiming for, while providing many instructional strategies to arrive at that target and if needed, interventions to build confidence and guiding the eventual success of the learner. Communicating the overall framework of essential questions that are the overarching goal of pursuing the content in the first place, needs to be kept central in thought and revisited frequently. The view of the forest needs to remain clear so as not to be lost in the trees of which it is made.


 * My Ecosystem **

//“I’ve come to a frightening conclusion that I am the decisive element in the classroom. It’s my personal approach that creates the climate. It’s my daily mood that makes the weather. As a teacher, I possess a tremendous power to make a child’s life miserable or joyous. I can be a tool of torture or an instrument of inspiration. I can humiliate or heal. In all situations, it is my response that decides whether a crisis will be escalated or de-escalated and a child humanized or dehumanized.” // //― [|Haim G. Ginott] //

As a sixth grade teacher, I have increasingly become aware of the depth of transition that takes place in each fifth grader’s life during the, at times, daunting move to middle school. The students come from multiple elementary feeder schools, usually relating to one main teacher with a fairly consistent group of fellow students to now having 8-9 teachers, changing personalities and expectations from period to period, navigating from one end of the building to another, time pressures, and the dreaded fear of not being able to open their locker. As indicated in the above quote, I strongly believe that the classroom environment is a key element in the paradigm of learning and essential to the success of any other endeavors taking place there. The teacher has the distinct privilege and responsibility to create an environment that fosters and not hinders the learning of each student. One of the ecosystems about which I feel strongly is creating a “Positive Culture of Shared Responsibility” through “Classroom Norms and Routines” which will lead to a socially responsible environment.There needs to be a common understanding of what this looks like in order for students to feel safe enough to take the risks necessary in collaborating with others, feeling confident and able to express differing ideas, asking questions, recognizing and adapting to needed change.

This has always been primarily a team effort, carried out in the Language Arts classes and then supported by the rest of the subjects. It has been addressed in my individual classes, but I now feel too briefly and in a heavily teacher directed manner. Referring back to the Ginott quote, the responsibility of the classroom climate needs to be not only demonstrated by the teacher, but cultivated by the class individually and as a whole. Proceeding with inquiry opportunities in a collaborative process will allow a much higher level of student engagement leading to a stronger personal investment in the norms. It will be well worth the time it will take for students to get to know each other and be known in a meaningful way(more than just a name), especially at the beginning of the year. Utilizing Google docs for introducing themselves will allow immediate recognition of each student and feedback for all students, myself, and means to revisit the information to continue to build understanding of each other. Intentionally orchestrated Chalk Talk and Write-Around strategies will provide the level of higher thinking and reflection needed for actual buy-in to collaboratively created class norms. Students need to be fully engaged in the development of the class norms and structures in place. To produce authenticity one must revisit them frequently, giving students the opportunity to evaluate their effectiveness and adjust them if needed. Creating a survey in Google forms and using Edmodo as the portal will be useful and manageable for getting feedback needed for myself and students to assess how successful the class is meeting the norms established. This creates ownership, cultivates an atmosphere of collaboration and supports students being in charge of their learning and behavior. Evidence for the success of establishing these norms and routines will be demonstrated by the level of engagement by students in everyday personal and educational settings and encounters.


 * Artifact 1 - Classroom Norms & Routines via Chalk Talk & Write Around **


 * Artifact 2 - Revisiting Norms Google Form Survey via Edmodo **


 * Screen Shot of Edmodo groups for Class Periods and After-school Club**