Read the article Ten skills every student should learn at
http://www.eschoolnews.com/2011/08/11/ten-skills-every-student-should-learn/print/
In the comments section of this posting, please respond to the following:
1) Identify which two skills are the most important to the success of students
2) Identify which skill is not being addressed well in U.S. schools
3) Pick one of the skills and give a specific example how you will address this in your teaching
4) What necessary skill is missing? Why?
1)Identify which two skills are the most important to the success of students
ReplyDeleteI had a difficult time selecting only two skills for success of students without knowing the specific area we are dealing with when defining “success.” I selected Communicate Effectively and with Respect as the #1 Skill. This is a skill that I can see would increase the likelihood of success in most any field. Skill #2 was more difficult to select but I am going with Critical Thinking. My co-worker and I discussed what we thought it meant to “think critically.” We both came up with different definitions. I consider Wikipedia’s definition of “critical thinking” to be similar to my own--a type of reasonable, reflective thinking that is aimed at deciding what to believe or what to do.
2)Identify which skill is not being addressed well in U.S. schools
I wonder if schools are not addressing the ability to ask questions as well as they could. I don’t know that I ever worked on this skill as a teacher or even with my own children. They seemed to have no problem asking “Why?” 50x each day up until they hit 1st grade. Then it seems to slow down. I wonder why? (Sorry, I couldn’t resist).
3)Pick one of the skills and give a specific example how you will address this in your teaching
I think I would consider how I could improve the practice of communicating effectively and with respect. While I do not currently have a classroom or students to teach, I have actually tried to work on this skill myself. I read two books over the summer that had an impact on my ability to communicate. Influencer and Crucial Conversations both gave excellent examples of the way that effective communication can have a positive influence on others and provided tips for improving communication in difficult/crucial circumstances. I would recommend both of these books to educators.
4)What necessary skill is missing? Why?
I would suggest that Compassion is a crucial skill that is missing from the list. I believe this is a very important skill in order to be successful and happy. It is my belief that showing compassion to others not only improves things for the other person, but it also makes me feel better. Perhaps compassionate acts have a ripple effect and make our world a better place. Compassion can make a positive experience out of a tragedy and helps to bring healing instead of anger. I wrote this post and then got this in an email from Vital Smarts the next day. I enjoyed the story.
http://static.vitalsmartscdn.com/kerryingon/KerryingOn_201209.mp3?elq=fd99b1e853964b9eabd0193c1c5a65cd&elqCampaignId=75
Two skiils most important:
ReplyDeleteI would have to say reading first, as almost all of the others could follow from being able to read. Second would be knowing how to learn.
The skill not being addressed might be "be accountable"--although I suppose that depends upon which school and/or instructor. I believe all students have the right to be educated, but I do not believe anyone has the right to ruin the environment for others.
I currently just help to oversee a math lab, so I would say that I address being resourceful the most. It is amazing how many self-help videos are out there if you just search.
The article mentioned global empathy and I think that would be another important skill. Also the importance of community involvement.
It was an interesting read.
Michelle
1) The two skills that I think are the most important factors of a student's success are reading and critical thinking skills. One must be able to to read in order to pull knowledge building information from various resources. Reading goes beyond English class. Reading is imperative across all content areas. Thinking critically goes well beyond the classroom. You must have critical thinking skills to be successful in life. Critical thinking is important to create a problem solving plan.
ReplyDelete2) The skill that I do not think is emphasized nearly enough in US schools is writing. Writing is very important in allowing a student to put their understanding into words. I am worried that we are getting worse at writing as a nation. In a world of texting and twitter, we have become lazy with our writing skills.
3) I plan on implementing more writing in my math classroom. I will expect students to describe the steps they have taken to solve a problem. Students create better understanding of their learning by writing.
4) A skill that I think needs to be emphasized is the importance of being on time. This may seem like a trivial skill, but this is a skill that will carry through life. Students need to know the importance of being on time. No human can be successful in the working world if they are consistently coming in late and forgetting their responsibilities.
1) I believe the two most important skills taught today are reading and writing. These skills are the foundation to just about any other skills that can be learned. Without them we would be unable to communicate with others, learn, find knowledge, gain resourcefulness, etc.
ReplyDelete2) Several of these skills are not addressed specifically in schools. Communicating effectively and with respect is usually only addressed when there is a problem. Resourcefulness was only taught to me when I came to gradate school, and is something I am still learning. Asking questions/critically thinking are not generally labeled when they are being taught. Also, I had teachers that got angry with me when I asked questions, so I learned not to ask questions because I generally did not get favorable responses.
3) I am implementing more project based learning in my classroom and will have the children learning about resourcefulness through their research in my class when completing units.
4) Cooperative learning. Sharing responsibility with another person. I the 21st century workplace there are many circumstances where people have to work together to get something done and do not know how to do so.
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ReplyDeleteI believe the two most important skills to be reading and communicating effectively. It seems that both of those skills encompass many of the other skills on the list. The skill not being addressed in U.S. schools is perhaps accountability, but I’m not sure that is a skill that can be taught effectively in schools. This is a life skill with which they should come to school learning from home and it must be taught early. Reading would be a skill on which I could focus in my teaching since much of music is reading. As a teacher of Music, I would have to say that Music is a skill that gets overlooked. There is so much brain research that links brain activity and reading and math skills. Students who are involved in Music do better in those skills and it teaches communication as well.
ReplyDeleteMost important:
ReplyDelete1. Communicate effectively and with respect
2. Be accountable
Schools need to improve on:
1. Question
One I can work on in my classes:
1. Think critically. Having student think critically about the information presented in history class will help them make meaningful connections. For example, it is important to critically analyze primary source documents so they connect that information to their overall understanding of history.
Missing:
1. Being intelligent consumers of information. With the increased use of technology in the classroom, students need to be able to intelligently consume information. So often, I see students trusting the first website to which Google directs them. Students need to have the skills necessary to critically analyze their information.
1. I think that reading and learning to be happy are the the most important to the success of students. I think that reading is the key to many other of the skills that are important, and to be happy is something that not all students are taught at home. Or perhaps their home doesn't lead them to be happy. School and education can help them to be happy.
ReplyDelete2. I think that students in the US have a hard time holding themselves accountable. Often times they blame the teacher, or their parents, or another outside source for their mistakes and other things.
3. In my classroom, I think I will work on being happy. Music is a great outlet for happiness and enjoyment. I plan on doing a "Your Playlist" activity sometime in the next few weeks. This activity allows the students to write down their playlist talking about some of their favorite music and why it is their favorite music. It allows the students to share what they love about music with me, and I find that when I do this lesson, most of my students are very enthusiastic about it. It lets them know that I value their musical opinion and it is validating for them.
4. I think with the technology being used today, and the fact that students are constantly texting and facebooking... students need to be taught the appropriate way to use language and when it is appropriate to use slang and abbreviations. I understand that this is taught in school, but it may need to be focused on more. Another thing along these lines that I feel is important is the way of communicating professionally via email and other technology.
In the comments section of this posting, please respond to the following:
ReplyDelete1) Two skills most important to students
Reading
Writing
2) Skill is not being addressed well
Know how to learn
3) Pick one of the skills and give a specific example how you will address this in your teaching
Think critically - provide opportunities for students to discuss, debate, determine how to solve issues and problems posed. Maybe in medical settings or in conversations with colleagues.
4) What necessary skill is missing? Why?
The skill missing is organization. Whether organizing one's time, thoughts & ideas, or physical pieces, students need to understand how to manage and organize these different elements in order to live the life they choose.
#1-The 2 skills I chose are reading and resourcefulness. Reading is a no brainer when it comes to setting a base in which to learn from. Whereas I like resourcefulness because of the way it talks about students becoming independent learners.
ReplyDelete#2-Know how to learn as not being addressed as well as the others. I think this might be in that it is hard to teach and quantify.
#3-I’ll go with resourcefulness. The kids need to gather information for use in posters, bio papers, trading cards, and now bubblus.com. I lend a hand and give them a number of websites to go to. But it is up to them to navigate from there.
#4-Learning math, specifically math across the curriculum. Kids should see math in more classrooms. It doesn’t have to be difficult. I use the subject to show a number of differences in US History by having students make graphs and pie charts.