One thing I hear all the time in education is 21st Century Skills. It is one of those buzz words that every school district knows about and is constantly trying to put into the curriculum. I believe 21st Century Skills are important because they are helping to pave the way for students and their futures.
This week, I viewed a website called Partnership for 21st Century Skills. The website is http://www.p21.org/.
Some neat things about this website:
- It has a simple layout that you can clearly navigate
- It gives a general overview of 21st Century Skills
- A great announcement page on activities involving 21st Century Skills
Some negatives about this website:
- There is a lot of reading that must be done and it does not break the reading down
Through researching this website, I came across a web page called Route 21. The web page address is http://www.p21.org/route21/index.php. This web page is AWESOME!
What I love about the website:
- It breaks down 21st Century Skills into the different areas.
- It gives resources to help teachers to incorporate 21st Century Skills into the classroom
- It gives assessment ideas for 21st Century Skills
- It is extremely easy to navigate
- It is a quick reading
I teach very young children (ages 3-5) and many of them are just learning how to use a mouse. I love the idea of blogging in the classroom, but obviously, this is impractical for my students. I was thinking about using a blog with the parents in my classroom. I could use it as a way to let parents know what we did that day, answer questions they might have, etc. I do see the potential for great communication with my parents; however, I see the potential downfall of an angry parent posting on the blog. Has anyone ever done this with their parents? If you have, what kinds of things did you post on the blog? How did you monitor the comments?
I have a new student who has cerebral palsy. He is unable to use a computer mouse to do programs on the computer. Our school has an adaptive switch for him to use; however, no internet program such as stafall.com, works with the adaptive switch. The only program I have found that works involves him hitting the switch and a ball kicks into the goal. Obviously, this is not educational and is serving no purpose for him expect mere enjoyment. Does anyone know of any good adaptive equipment for a child with cerebral palsy that works with internet sites? Does anyone know of any good programs that work with an adaptive switch?