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In the article, "What Are The Essential Rules Of 21st Century Learning?", the comparison between past learning strategies and strategies required to prepare current students for future endeavors, made me realize that not only is our curriculum content important, but we need to explicitly teach "soft skills" like problem-solving, collaboration, and flexibility. In my learning environment, this means that I need to facilitate learning activities that require students to utilize these skills. Authentic practice is a great way to learn the skills that can be later applied in life to different scenarios. By having students work with teammates, or partners, they can begin to develop, and practice, these critical skills.

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"7 Key Features of 21st Century Learning" explains what I think is the biggest and most important change to the educational environment today, learning through doing. As a primary school teacher, it is amazing how much more engaged students are when they get to "do" something, rather than listen to information being presented. Learning through doing opens the door for so many skills that are otherwise afterthoughts in the learning process, such as trial and error. Furthermore, this approach allows for students to utilize their preferred learning style, rather than forcing students to auditorily listen to a lecture. In my classroom, one thing I try to reinforce from day one is the idea of learning from your mistakes and keep practicing no matter how challenging a skill may be for a student. I have also been trying to leverage more technology so that students can see examples and demonstrations from experts.

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In our world, were it seems new technology is appearing every day, the article, "Features of a 21st Century Classroom", makes a point to remind teachers that implementing technology for the sake of using technology is not meaningful to the learning experience. Savvy educators should discern which technology is appropriate for their students and facilitate its use to impact student learning at a deeper level. In my current role, I can sometimes feel overwhelmed with all of the options available in the world of technology, but I have to remind myself to experiment with the tool first and see if it is a worthwhile addition to my teacher "toolbox". Many of my favorite tech tools are those which incorporate the presentation and demonstration aspect of learning. Essentially, students get to share what they have learned. The article describes this "showcasing" as one of the most in-demand skills for the future.

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In the "Essential Rules Of 21st Century Learning" article, the biggest thing that stood out to me is collaboration. I have to conduct a lot of classroom observations as a counselor as 504 and IEP evaluations are completed. This allows me to see lots of different teaching styles in action. However, the classrooms that are the most exciting to be in are those that have students up, moving, discussing, and bouncing ideas off of each other. It's always so cool to see information being synthesized as students connect the dots with each other rather than just reading off a screen and filling in notes. As the author said, that's not to say that lectures don't have their place. However, supplementing that with activities that get students out of their comfort zones and interacting with different people not only helps with the learning, but also helps to create a healthy classroom environment.

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Dietz - Features of a 21st Century Classroom

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Dietz - Features of a 21st Century Classroom

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The "Features of a 21st Century" article had one thing that stood out to me above all and that was the idea of giving students the opportunity to demonstrate and present. First and foremost, I love the idea of project-based learning. My wife is a math teacher and has taught Statistics for the last 10 years. One of her favorite units is when she lets students pick any data set that they want and figure out different ways to analyze, illustrate, and present the data. She's had students chart baseball stats, the average length of Taylor Swift songs, and the different color of cars in the student parking lot. It gives them ownership of which data to seek and then how to visually represent it. As a counselor, I hear from so many students who have extreme anxiety about giving a presentation in front of their peers. They often plead for private presentations, the ability to present to preferred peers, or the chance to record a presentation and share it electronically. We need to be encouraging our students to develop the confidence to share with peers and find that self confidence, not so they can share statistics in the future, but so they can thrive in job interviews, in work meetings, when they have new ideas, etc. They might not see it this way, but it's an essential life skill that we need to provide practice for.

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In the article "7 Key Features of 21st Century Learning," the topic that stuck with me the most in my social studies classroom was personalized learning. My content allows me to differentiate in so many ways; however, too often we, as social studies teachers, get caught up in the 20th-century approach. I teach government, and all I could think about was how deeply personalized it is. Your opinions are yours, and how you feel is also yours. My content not only allows me to let students personalize their learning, but every student's view on politics or history is shaped by their social, cultural, and environmental factors. We now have the tools and ability to personalize learning and allow students to authentically interact with the content, rather than dictating how they engage with it.

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In the article "4 Essential Rules of 21st-Century Learning," the topic of globalization in education is discussed. Education used to be very culturally responsive, at least to the communities it served. As the author states, "Communities were also much more homogenous, and so specific values and cultures needed to be transmitted and practiced to ensure the survival of those beliefs." As a teacher of social studies in an increasingly diverse community and student body, I have seen the amazing things that this blend of cultures has created, as well as the struggles for teachers and schools to adapt. I have heard my principals say in parent meetings, "We don't do that here." As a teacher, I can say that more and more educators are beginning to embrace how the mix of cultures creates more authentic conversations and opens students and people up to new ways of thinking. As the 21st century continues to make connecting easier and easier, what is the role of educators with this technology?

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The article “4 Essential Rules of 21st-Century Learning” really aligns with what we’re trying to do with the new PA STEELS standards for science. One of the big ideas from the article is that learning should be student-centered, and that’s exactly what STEELS promotes. Instead of memorizing facts, students are encouraged to explore real-world phenomena and come up with their own explanations. For example, when students investigate how environmental systems work or design solutions to problems, they’re doing the kind of hands-on, inquiry-based learning that puts them at the center of the experience.

Collaboration is another key point from the article that connects well with STEELS. Students aren’t just working on their own, they’re discussing, planning, and problem-solving together. Whether they’re analyzing data or creating models, they’re often doing it in teams, which helps build those critical communication and teamwork skills that are so important today.

The article also emphasizes making learning relevant to students’ lives, and STEELS does that by focusing on real environmental and societal issues. Topics like environmental sustainability give students a chance to explore questions that actually matter to them and their communities. Our stream study that we are currently is a great example of how students need to use real world skills to solve real world problems.

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In the article "Features of a 21st Century Classroom", the first point immediately struct a chord. The right kind of technology! The article states "While it is important to incorporate technology in the classroom, it is also equally important to first understand what are the right types of technology resources and tools based on the students’ age and educational needs." My district has been 1:1 with student iPads in the middles school for almost 10 years. While the iPads can offer some amazing opportunities for students that they would not be exposed to otherwise, forcing everything on the iPads all the time (as we most definitely do!) is not what is best for students or their education. Our iPads have Netflix, Spotify, and YouTube on them for the students. When talking about the right technology - having a TV and radio at your fingertips isn't it...