21st Century Learning through Projects

Kristin SkogstadClassroom Teacher-Instructional CoachSioux Falls School District

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Who Am I?

• Mother of Jacob and Emelia• Wife of Kurt• Daughter of Wayne and Karen• Sister of Michelle• Passionate Learner• Employee of Sioux Falls School District

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Background

• Classroom Teacher – 2nd and 3rd grade• Intel Teach to the Future Senior Trainer• Building level Trainer in technology and reading• Presenter at various workshops, conferences, and

classes• Instructional Coach

Introductions

• Name• School• Position• Experiences in Integrated Projects

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Goals

• Understand what 21st Century Learning is.• Explore the use of projects in the classroom to

meet the needs of our students.• Share resources, ideas, and tools that can be

used to enhance the teaching of state standards through projects.

What do you remember about your school experience?• Think about the way you were taught. How do

these experience influence you as a teacher?

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Think, Pair Share….

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Did You Know???

The students in our classrooms are unique. Are we meeting their needs?

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21st Century Learners

• Prefer receiving information quickly from multiple multimedia sources

• Prefer parallel processing and multitasking. • Prefer processing pictures, sounds and video before text. • Prefer to interact/network simultaneously with many others • Prefer instant gratification and instant rewards • Prefer learning that is relevant, instantly useful and fun

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By the age of 21…

• These learners will have:– Sent 200,000 emails/text messages– Watched 20,000 hours of TV– Talked 10,000 hours on a cell phone– Spent under 5,000 hours reading– Played 10,000 hours of video games

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Today’s Students…

• Will most likely have more than 10-15 jobs in their lifetime

• Their jobs will require them to be able to adapt easily and to be flexible.

• Many of their jobs will require them to be self-motivated.

• Must have the integrate 21st century skills into subject matter for mastery.

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Why are 21st Century Skills important?

• The demands of the workplace are changing.• Students need experiences within the global

community.• Our students have changed.• Students need to become 21st century citizens.

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Today’s Learners….

• Crave interactivity• Are digitally literate• Multitask and are always on• Are social• Have a fast response time and short attention

span.

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Students must be able to…

• Think critically• Solve problems• Be innovative• Communicate effectively• Collaborate• Be a self-directed learner• Be information and media literate• Be civically engaged

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Teaching the 21st Century Learner

• Requires:– Much less emphasis on the amount of material that is

memorized– Much more emphasis on making connections, thinking

through issues, and solving problems

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Teaching the 21st Century Learner

• Teacher’s Role:– Facilitate peer-to-peer learning– Provide meaningful, engaging lessons– Provide opportunities for students to see the real-world

connections in what they are learning– Meet students where they are and take them as far as

they can go – Provide opportunities for collaboration, problem solving,

and communication– A partner in teaching and learning - flexible

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Teaching the 21st Century Learner

• Instructional Implications:– Movement towards blended classes/subject areas– More collaborative learning approaches– Continuous and formative assessments– Greater flexibility and customization lessons to meet

the needs of all learners

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“Today’s education system faces irrelevance unless we bridge the gap between how students live and how they learn.”

--learning for the 21st century

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• Many standards can be taught within the context of one project.

• Students are engaged in read world situations.

• Active learning

• Fosters the 21st century skills

Why Projects?

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Teaching the Core Subjects

• Reading / Language Arts• Mathematics• Science• Civics• Government• Arts• History• Geography• Foreign Language / English

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We must rethink our teaching…

“The world we have created is a product of our thinking. It cannot be changed without changing our thinking.”

-Albert Einstein

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Project Resources

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If we teach today the way we were taught yesterday we aren't preparing students for today or tomorrow.

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Why are 21st Century Skills important?

• The demands of the workplace are changing.• We need to develop within the global community.• Our students have changed.• Students need to become 21st century citizens.

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Using 21st Century Learning Skills

• Information and communication skills• Thinking and problem solving skills• Interpersonal and self-directional skills

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Within a 21st Century Classroom

• Learning takes place through real-world examples• Learning must be relevant, engaging, and

meaningful to students• Learning must expand beyond the classroom

walls• There needs to be global awareness-learning

takes place outside the four classroom

What are the 21st Century Skills?

Partnership for 21st Century Skills

A closer look at projects….• Work with a partner or small group.

• Read through the lesson examples.– What are the students doing?– What are the teachers doing?– What 21st century skills can you identify?– How are the students assessed?– What subject areas are addressed?

The Importance of Questioning

Planning for Projects – Questions Teachers have….

• How can I use projects when I have to teach all of these standards???

• When will I find time to use projects in my classroom?

• What is the best way to organize a project?• How can I help my students with the research?

Standards and Time….• Integrated projects allows teachers to teach and

reinforce many standards at one time.• Many subject areas can be taught within the

context of one project. This is especially true in elementary classrooms.

Resources

• Resources can be found at:• http://sfideas.edublogs.org/• http://guest.portaportal.com/21stlearning• http://2009ess.sfinstructionalresources.wikispaces.net/

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“Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss it you will land among the stars.”

- Les Brown

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What Questions do you have?

• All links and hand-outs can be found at the following websites:

• http://2009ess.sfinstructionalresources.wikispaces.net/

• http://sfideas.edublogs.org/