Twenty-First Century Schools Committee

   You!

At our last meeting, we touched on the issue of how to share the vision we are developing with students and the community.

A technology teacher at Arapahoe High School, (which is working on their vision) worries on his blog that staff or students can’t articulate the school’s vision and wonders how to better share it, in his  post What are Your Core Values?  

I think this is an important consideration as our committee moves forward–how to we share the message and values of our vision with the students and staff, and the larger community?  Landon touched on this in the previous post.

Comments?  thoughts?

Next week’s issue of Time has an important feature article for our committee–
“How to Bring our Schools out of the 21st Century.”  

For the past five years, the national conversation on education has focused on reading scores, math tests and closing the “achievement gap” between social classes. This is not a story about that conversation. This is a story about the big public conversation the nation is not having about education, the one that will ultimately determine not merely whether some fraction of our children get “left behind” but also whether an entire generation of kids will fail to make the grade in the global economy because they can’t think their way through abstract problems, work in teams, distinguish good information from bad or speak a language other than English.

The article raises many interesting discussion points, some of which are about to be released next week in a report by a bipartisan commission on education, the New Commission on the Skills of the American Workforce.   

The article complemented  many of the things we have been discussing and gave some great examples of what schools throughout the country are doing.    

Thoughts on the article?  Ideas?  

Since we are discussing Whole New Mind on the committee, I thought I’d post a link to my first effort to create a podcast in case you’d like to listen to a quick review of the book and don’t have time to read it.

http://futura.edublogs.org/2006/11/14/whole-new-mind/

Carolyn

After reviewing predictions for their lifetime, my 10th graders developed a list of the knowledge and skills they will need to succeed. 

What I Need to Succeed in the Future ·       Originality and ideas·       Ability to multi-task·       Good grades·       Common sense·       Money management·       A wonderful place to “chill”·       Initiative·       Self-control·       Ambition·       Negotiation skills·       Hugs and kisses·       Confidence and self esteem·       Good health·       Mentors·       Family and Friends·       Food and cooking skills·       Computer skills·       Talent·       Music·       Self-motivation·       Patience·       Games and fun·       Be happy and in love·       Passion·       Convictions and the strength to live by them·       Resources·       Independence·       A clean police record·       Job/career·       Political and governmental savvy·       Karate/Kung fu skills·       College degree·       Communication skills·       Post-graduate school·       Money·       Gardening skills·       Morals·       Manners and etiquette·       Drawing skills·       Dancing skills·       Weapons·       Faith in God·       Goals·       Sense of humor·       Transportation·       Parenting skills·       Cleaning skills·       Preserve natural resources·       Preparation for death·       Friends and family·       Imagination·       Creativity·       Relationship skills·       Self-control·       Tolerance·       Connections

Debora Orrick 

My 10th grade students researched future predictions up to 2088.  Of the many types of predited events, the following are the ones that my 10th graders thought were the most possible:

Future Possibilities ·       Develop an earthquake warning system·       Three damaging earthquakes·       Earth will get hotter·       Virtual reality·       Lifespan will be 90 years·       Decreasing natural resources·       Painless surgery·       Food and water become more valuable and costly·       More addiction to drugs, alcohol, and food in children·       A plague will kill may people·       People have three or more marriages; divorce rate will increase·       Land will be reserved for forest farming·       Food scarce because population too big·       Medication to prevent obesity·       Earlier high school graduation·       Digital equipment will get smaller and faster·       Individualized advertising·       Colonize Mars·       Create and clone Martians·       Produce effective vaccines more quickly·       E-delivery of newspapers·       New highway system·       Flying cars·       Houses built stronger with new materials·       More natural disasters·       More immigrants to U.S.·       Digital books and libraries·       Robots do everything·       Cures for HIV, cancer, and diabetes·       Men are no longer the “bread winner” of the family·       Society is still as plagued by liars as it is today·       Earth becomes one big urban community

Debora Orrick