I thought the article, "Habits of Mind" was very interesting and informative, but I do not consider these habits of mind "new" or "innovative" or something that researchers and educators should consider "21st century" because these habits of mind seem to me what educators have been employing for centuries-not just the last ten years. I suspect these habits of mind are also considered "best practices", which is another term which is new and modern but does not accurately depict the history of education or the fact that good teachers have known for years the best way to help children learn and succeed.
The fact that Einstein, Aristotle, and Plato were quoted as supporting these habits of mind testifies to the fact that educators have employed many of these teaching methods, and have considered them critical to the philosophy of their teaching, for centuries.
I am very grateful that thirty two years ago when I began my own education, my teachers taught me and my peers persistence, the importance of accuracy and striving for excellence, and all the other sixteen habits of mind. When the term "21st Century teaching" becomes "22nd Century teaching", I am sure these habits of mind will still be around.
This weekend, I learned what the etymology of the word, "student" is. The word came into English from a Latin verb that meant "to strive after", "be eager for" and "yearn for". How interesting and beautiful is that! If we are teaching our students how to strive and yearn for knowledge, to be eager for that knowledge, in a way that supports their growth as people who must collaborate, communicate, and think creatively in this day and age, then we are doing what good teachers have always done.
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Laura,
ReplyDeleteYou said it beautifully! But, that is why I also truly enjoyed the article - it was reaffirming and great "ammunition" when others are questioning the palpable excitement in the classroom - know what I mean? I am somewhat kidding - but,I just mean that learning should look like involvement and sound a bit crazy at times and doesn't always need to fit the tidiness of scores and graded work projects. Anyway, we as educators understand these 21st century skills, and always have, but we change the jargon all the time. Why? Is it to make it "new" and "exciting" - is it so that maybe people will sit up and take notice once again? When I was a teacher-in-training we read Dewey and Montessori and they both emphasized these skills and went on to help us learn how to integrate the teaching of them as we covered the content/cognitive areas. Now we are learning about quadrant-based learning, which again, is not new, only in that we need to learn how to fit technology into it. So, how do we? I think one of the best units I ever taught was in a third and fourth grade classroom in a rural three room schoolhouse in the middle of Vermont. The kids were divided into groups and they picked a local Inn to learn about. They interviewed the inn keepers, learned about the costs of running the inns, took photos of the inn, made a model of the inn, found out what was involved in servicing the guests, wrote up an advertisement of some sort, and then the class presented a slide show and talked about the Inns in their town to their parents. It was so relevant to the kids and they "worked on" the 16 habits of the mind without even knowing it. I can now envision how they could incorporate things like blogs and such into this unit.
What I want to learn more about is how to incorporate creative projects into my teaching today. How do I use technology to help with that? I want to collaborate with other teachers about how to make learning come alive and how to incorporate both technology and all the 21st century skills into the everyday tasks we must teach.
I am currently working on a method/way to assess students in some of these areas of 21st century skills and the habits of the mind. Along with portfolio work and sharing it on the web,I am thinking about an assessment rubric, of a sort, for students, to go along with the other information that we may already be "grading" them on. I want this so that they can become more aware of themselves as a collaborative learner and so that they will realize the value and importance in these types of habits/skills of the mind - and of themselves! Anyone have any ideas?
Also, I was inspired by the KIWI classroom because I get so frustrated with only four computers in my room - but, she made it work and so should I! I do want to emphasize that I am interested in project-based ideas and am weary of just using the internet-technology without the creative and collaborative aspects of project-based learning.
Arna