A Vision of 21st Century Learners

The race is on and already many schools are competing to offer laptops and e-learning at school to attract students. Many schools are already planning to move towards 1:1 laptop or iPad programs, and parents are sitting up and noticing. Now this tells me parents are very aware of what opportunities their child needs, but do they know what know what a 21st Century student is? More importantly, do they/we know what 21st Century teachers look like and what do they do?

Watch the two videos below; if you were a parent checking out the local schools, what you would expect 21st Century teaching to look like?

A Vision of 21st Century Students


A Vision of 21st Century Teachers

Day in a Sentence

Thank you all for participating in Day in a Sentence, I even got my principal to join us this week! I also discovered that DIAS is not only a great reflective tool but a fun literacy activity for your students too.

Day in a sentence

Three of my students are finalists in the TVNZ6 NetGuide Multimedia Challenge, and I am a proud teacher! - Shaun Wood

As I revamp some of my curriculum to focus more on literature and reading skills, I feel like some of my more interesting writing projects and activities may be slipping away from me; I need more balance. --Kevin

I'm excited on my 4th day of National Novel Writing Month and I just finished a digital piece that I'm feeling good about: http://vimeo.com/16273829 - Bonnie

After much indecision I have decided to do a PhD, it will be a good 3 or 4 years study but at the end I will become a Doctor :) - Jared

I was surprised to hear a chorus or requests when I reflected, "I wish we could write all day."- Eric

This last month of spring started well for me; its blue skies, days of sunshine and lengthening warm evenings are this year's promise of a wonderful summer.  - Blogger in Middle-earth

School has been hard, but the days are beginning and ending with spectacular sun performances, so I believe it'll all be okay. - Lynn Jacobs

More than half of what it takes to be an effective teacher is simply showing up everyday.  - Ben@TIC

This week was wonderfully successful, as our school partnered with the University of Ballarat and Country Education Project, to trial virtual teaching rounds with three student teachers - amazingly successful from all points of view with great teamship, student engagement, technology use,virtual classrooms - a glimpse into the classroom of the future. - Murcha

I was away from my class for 4 days this week and they kept blogging without me... very proud! - Ms B

Being apart of my students lives makes my heart sing, I love being a teacher. - @melaniem8

Over the past several weeks Bailey Road School has been recognised in the press for several outstanding achievements, I am proud to be leading such a hardworking and innovative staff. - Derek Linington

Our science topic in class inspired me to plant my own garden and what a buzz I get from it.  - MrsTorrey

Authentic Audience

Reading the online guardian.co.uk a few days back, a headline caught my attention "Class blogs: a better way to teach" by Judy Friedberg. I was amazed to find a reference and link to my own class blog here, "Here's a class in New Zealand making short films about how earthquakes happen."

Aside from being flattered, it made me realize a few things. Firstly if my class blog is an example then I must be using blogs in an appropriate 21st century way. This is thanks to all my PLN's class blogs that I follow who inspire and encourage me. Secondly, teachers also have a need for an authentic audience, we also get engaged and excited when our work is recognised and commented on.

Judy interviews a classroom teacher who blogs, he says, "It gives them pride in their work, acknowledgement of their worth, and some understanding that there is a big wide world out there and people are listening to them." It certainly does, and it applies to teachers too. While on the subject of empowering kids to blog by commenting on their blogs, visit http://comments4kids.blogspot.com and find out how you can make a difference.

Day in a Sentence

I have participated in Day in a Sentence (DIAS) for over a year now and I still love the way it gets me to stop and reflect. So it is a great honour to be allowed to host DIAS on my blog this week.

So please come and share a reflection of your week with us, in just one sentence. Use the comment field below to submit your sentence and I will compile and publish your words at the end of the week.

My own week began with good news, and we need to celebrate our successes. Come join us and celebrate your success in a sentence.

Three of my students are finalists in the TVNZ6 NetGuide Multimedia Challenge, and I am a proud teacher! - Shaun Wood

I shared DIAS with my students and they decided to add their own reflective sentences.

Changing Education Paradigms

I found this presentation by Sir Ken Robinson on the education system and creativity on Derek's Blog.  I had heard it before and thought it was really good, however I had never seen this animated version by the RSA. They create an animated mind map as he speaks, which created a picture of understanding in my head. I am like many of my students, a visual learner. I REALLY got all of Sir Ken Robinson's talk this time around, I could see what he meant. I agree we need a revolution in education, and I think there are already many teachers out their starting to make that shift. It starts with us asking why?

I just started teaching mind mapping to my students this week and have been amazed by their engagement and enjoyment, turning thinking and learning into mini artworks. I am using Mind Maps for Kids by Tony Buzan. I have found the simple structure, colour and images allow for creative thought and rich brainstorming.

So finding this presentation is a bonus, I can share it with my students as a model. As well as showing them real life examples of how I and other adults are really using them too. Of course as Derek mentioned it makes a great discussion piece at staff meeting.

Blog Action Day

Blog Action Day is an annual blogging day to inspire discussion and action on a global scale. The topic for this year is water. You may wonder "why water?" As I am practicing creating infographics in order to teach my students, I decided to use the opening paragraph of the Blog Action Day website to create a visualization of why water is such an important issue.

Charity Water is a link worth investigating that provides more facts (an infographics) about the water issues and statistics around the world.

Netsafe's LGP initiative

NetSafe has been a favourite primary school safety guide and programme of mine since I began teaching. I have used Hector the Dolphin every year to teach internet safety to my students. 


NetSafe has just launched their new Learn: Guide: Protect collaborative website. I found it quick and easy to sign up and within minutes started creating new Bits and Remix other Bits to put together a Collection of Bits that I would use to teach Cyberbullying next term.

A Bit is any website link, video or other media related to internet safety. It is like a post on a blog. This is an example of a Bit I made about a website I wanted to add. You can see how many Views and Recommendations a Bit has had, plus you can Recommend and Comment on any Bit yourself.

A Collection is a grouping of Bit's that may be ordered for teaching purposes like my Cyberbullying Unit here. Or just as a bookmark type collection, either way useful for other teachers looking for similar things. 

NetSafe have built a fantastic framework to support internet safety through the feedback and collaboration with the education community. The site design is clean and refreshing and surprisingly simple to use. I did find the Classifications slightly daunting and may have categorized a bit incorrectly ('bit' humour always seems to come up when discussing this site.)



Their Twitter and Facebook widgets were not working for me but you can follow them on 
Twitter @netsafenz