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TikTok has pretty much taken over the world at this point. While your students have been stuck at home due to the COVID-19 pandemic, they’ve likely spent a great deal of time scrolling on their FYP (for you page), learning the newest dances, discovering trends and even creating content of their own.

Pre-pandemic, it’s possible that teachers saw mobile devices as a distraction, taking students away from classroom content and discussions. However, rather than discouraging what could be a creative outlet, what if we switched up the narrative and met students where they are? Right now, that’s on TikTok.

Some teachers have already hopped onto the trend. It’s worth a shot.

Last summer we spoke with Ty Cook and Brooke Rogers about how teachers are fostering a community and feeding into student trends to create connections through TikTok.

Since then, the trend has only grown, bringing all sorts of ideas and perspectives to light.

Here is how teachers are transforming the ever-popular mobile video platform, TikTok, from a nuisance to the ultimate learning tool.

Using TikTok for creative lessons

Think of it as a classroom extension. Only this time, rather than a few extra desks and chairs, you’ve got the whole world in your hands.

Using TikTok, many teachers have begun creating condensed versions of their classroom lessons. Whether they are teaching science, English, math or even physical education, this gives students the ability to refer back to lessons they may have missed in class or if they require a refresher.

@mrs.b.tvHow does that even fit in you!? 👀 ##learnontiktok ##tiktokpartner ##humanbody ##sciencefacts♬ original sound - Mrs. Nancy Bullard

The platform initially only allowed up to 60 seconds for each video created, forcing teachers to stick to the main ideas to get their point across. Now, TikTok has implemented a 3-minute video feature for creatives. Thus, allowing teachers to pack in even more content within their digital micro-lessons.

There are tons of ways you can go about this. Some teachers choose to recreate condensed versions of their lessons for students to refer back to. Others use the platform as an extension to the day’s lesson, encouraging students to engage in learning outside of school.

It's even possible to create a TikTok to remind students of important dates, upcoming deadlines, or to share tips concerning productivity or course content.

Whatever format you decide to create your lessons in, your students are more likely to engage with your content given that it’s being provided in one of their favorite forms of mobile entertainment.

Just wait and see the kind of classroom engagement you can encourage.

Using TikTok to increase student engagement

There’s nothing teachers love more than an engaged classroom. Luckily, TikTok is incredibly interactive, offering countless ways to grab students' attention and get them excited about classroom content.

There are multiple ways you can go about this via TikTok.

First, through the comment section. Easily encourage students to comment on any questions they have on your videos. Through the respond to comment feature, you can then create a video response to their question or concern and share it directly with your following.

@iamthatenglishteacherReply to @mandamag253 #English #ESL #spelling #vocaulary #teachersofTikTok #englishasasecondlanguage #Lost #middleschoolteacher #Loss #Lose♬ original sound - MsJames

In doing this, each student benefits from the information being provided and you're providing personalized responses to meet your learners' needs.

As we know, some students may not feel as comfortable raising their hand in class as other students, and that’s okay! This feature provides students who may feel more comfortable typing their questions a way to engage in classroom discussions. Who knows, after doing so, they may even foster the courage to begin speaking up in a classroom setting.

Another way to encourage student engagement is through the duet function. On TikTok, users are able to make video responses with the videos you post. For example, say you create a TikTok with some practice math or French questions, finishing off by asking students to “duet me to answer these questions" or "duet me to practice your French". Your students can then create videos following along with your video and showing their work. If they aren't comfortable posting on the app, they can save it to their device and send it to you directly or show it to you in class the next day.

Using TikTok as a creative assignment

It’s no secret that TikTok fosters creativity amongst today’s youth - and they are excited about it.

Why not hone in on this excitement and allow students to blend their love of TikTok with their classroom assignments? For example, perhaps you're teaching literacy and you're having students write a summary of a week’s chapter in the novel they're reading in order to highlight the main points. Some students are excellent writers, but others prefer oral communication. As a means of differentiating, you could offer TikTok as a potential format for the assignment. In this form, students who may excel in oral communication, or those who are excited about multimedia, can create their summary via the app. It encourages students to flex their creative skills while being concise and to the point.

This idea will work for practically any classroom subject. Why not have your students take the role of teacher and create a short-form lesson? Or perhaps have them take inspiration from current trends and songs and adapt them to their classroom learning? You’ll be enlightened by what your students can come up with when they can blend education with applications they are excited about.

Combatting potential issues on TikTok

With any form of digital communication, such as TikTok, users run the risk of various issues. Before deciding to use the platform for all of the great features it has to offer, it is important to take note of these issues to decide if using the platform is a good fit for your classroom.

Harmful behavior and cyberbullying

Cyberbullying is a persistent issue on social media that we’ve been seeing for years. Being that TikTok is an open forum, we need to ensure we are doing everything in our power to prevent these harmful behaviors.

Luckily, Tiktok has implemented features to prevent cyberbullying like the ability to filter your comment section and hide any comments that include harmful language or behaviors and a notification that urges commenters to reconsider what they are posting if they attempt to post anything that isn't appropriate.

While these are great steps forward, it remains important to have a conversation with your students about the weight and significance that language can hold and the consequences that come with misbehavior. We want to ensure that using TikTok in the classroom only encourages students to engage, and doesn't steer them away.

Ensuring student safety on TikTok

User Privacy

User privacy is important to consider. Every student and every parent has personal comfort levels that need to be taken into consideration when using any form of social media, like TikTok.

Before deciding to use TikTok in your classroom in any capacity, you must have a conversation with your school administration to discuss any rules your institution may have and to get their permission to use the application.

It’s also a great idea to give notice to your student’s caregivers, asking them to get permission from their parent or guardian to ensure that consent is provided in all capacities.

TikTok has also addressed user privacy with a variety of features outlined below.

Private accounts and friend lists

On TikTok, you can make your account private. In this way, any account that attempts to follow you or your students on TikTok must put in a request and be accepted by the account owner. This is highly recommended.

In doing this,  you can ensure that only your students can interact and view each other's content.

By making your account private, it does mean you're unable to create TikTok content catered towards a wider audience. If that is your overarching goal, we recommend you read #teachersoftiktok: How to effectively use TikTok in your classroom.

Comment restrictions

In TikTok, you are able to tighten restrictions on comments for youth users. Accounts are able to restrict comments to just friends, or even prevent all any comments from being added.

Duet and stitch settings

This same feature goes for dueting and stitching videos. You can change your settings so that only older students, above the age of 16, can duet and stitch videos. Alternatively, you can restrict duet and stitch to just friends - keeping it within your classroom.

Not posting, just saving

If students are not comfortable posting at all, that’s perfectly okay. Any TikTok viewed or created within TikTok is available for download, even before posting.

If a student plans to make a TikTok, they can download the video after editing and save it to their device without posting. From there, students can share it with you in person, by email, or by uploading it to your online class environment, such as a digital portfolio.

For students who are not comfortable downloading the application at all, that’s no problem. You can download each one of your TikTok lessons and then share them directly with your classroom by providing links or video files.

TikTok as an edtech tool: Yay or nay?

In implementing any new edtech tool, there are different points to consider.

While many teachers across the world are using TikTok as a way to engage with other educators and turn what could be a distraction into a powerful learning tool, you may have a different opinion, and that’s okay.

So teachers, what are your thoughts?

Are you eager to meet students where they are and turn TikTok into a classroom engagement super-app, or is it still not for you?

In whatever capacity you decide to use it, remember to have fun, be creative and stay safe.

It’s time we meet students where they are and use their interests and excitement to the classroom’s advantage.

What 21st-Century Life Skills should Students have Before Leaving High School?

During the second season of the Competentencies without a Classroom podcast, SpacesEDU interviewed 21 leading educators, teachers and education consultants on what life skills they wished they had been taught, or taught more of, before leaving high school. The answers we received were pretty interesting!

When asked about what 21st-century life skills they would ensure students in high schools today would be taught before leaving school, here were some of the answers.

Financial Literacy as a 21st-Century Skill for Students

How do I do my taxes? What about a 401K or Roth IRA account? How do I invest? What do I need to know to save up for or buy a home? How does cryptocurrency work? What are stocks? Bonds? Options?

Students leaving high school do not often have the answers to these questions. However, among the 21 educators who we interviewed for the podcast, a significant number of them suggested that financial literacy is required to succeed in the 21st-century.

It's been theorized that students' interest in learning about money is limited because they themselves do not have or are not earning significant amounts of money on their own. However many students often express frustration or bewilderment after graduation when they are then tasked with learning about taxes or savings after high school.

Time Management as a 21st-Century Skill for Students

Oftentimes, a student's time management skills are dictated by the schedules of their classes, parents and extracurricular activities. Some students may find that their time management skills might not be where they need to be once they hit college or start their careers after school. The newfound freedom associated with college life or their first full-time job may have young people now tasked with managing a lot more responsibility, and more choice in their schedules. Learning to prioritize responsibilities, break down significant tasks into smaller tasks and managing competing interests will help to prevent burnout and ensure the most important duties are taken care of.

Collaboration and Teamwork as a 21st-Century Skill for Students

Upon graduating from high school and entering college or the workplace, students will find out very quickly that their ability to collaborate with others in order to complete major projects and achieve significant goals is critical.

Collaboration and teamwork is a skill set that requires students to learn how to work with personalities that may be very dissimilar to their own. Coworkers' personalities may not synchronize perfectly with their own. The ability to learn to maximize a team's strengths, learn to be a team player and also be a team leader are critical for success in the 21st-century, and so many educators agree that teamwork and collaboration is a critical 21st-century life skill for students to learn.

 

Self-Assessment and Reflection as a 21st-Century Skill for Students

Another reoccurring theme among the 21 educators that we interviewed was self-reflection and self-assessment. Student portfolios are oftentimes a tool that students and teachers alike will utilize in the classroom in order to document their self-reflection, their work and their learning. Self-reflection allows students to record the process, progress and product or results of everything they've learned.

Ultimately, self-reflection allows for students to showcase the thought-processes behind their problem solving or classwork, enables reflection of the student's emotional processes and helps students to reflect on what they would do differently so that they can improve upon their work and skill set the next time they tackle a similar challenge.

 

What 21st-century life skill do you think is most important to learn for high school students?

Do you agree with the answers of the teachers we interviewed? What 21st-century life skill do you think is most important for students to learn today as they leave high school? Why?

And how would you change the curriculum to teach these life skills?

Tweet at @Spaces_edu and share your thoughts!

We’re back with a bonus #21for21 episode of Competencies without a Classroom! In this episode, we chat with Amber Harper, author of Hacking Teacher Burnout, host of The Burned-In Teacher podcast, and creator of burnedinteacher.com.

Amber created burnedinteacher.com back in 2016 when she found herself tired of “riding the rollercoaster of burnout”. She created this wonderful resource to offer support strategies and steps teachers can take when they’re struggling and don’t want to settle for burnout.

What can you borrow from Amber for your classroom to help teach 21st-century skills?

Back in 2015, when Amber taught first grade she had a lot of big emotions and big behaviours in her class. She decided that rather than focusing merely on curriculum, she would spend time communicating with her students. In doing so, she could help them communicate what they were feeling.

Each morning her class would start with a mindfulness GoNoodle, take deep breaths, and have some quiet time together. Then, Amber would give each student the opportunity to say hi to the class, tell everyone how they are feeling/why, and share something they were excited about (if they were comfortable doing so).

This changed the culture of her class, creating a safe space for her students where they were able to have conversations that weren't about curriculum, but about their feelings and experiences.

Amber was able to get to know her students as humans, rather than just students. She taught her students that if they were feeling a certain way, the class was a team that could come together and help them through those big emotions.

Amber’s students were able to practice vulnerability in a safe space as well as self-actualization and self-regulation in the process.

Reflection Prompts for Your Students

Use the prompts below to have your students reflect on what they heard in the episode and consider how Amber’s advice can be applied to them.

  1. Drawing on Amber's mission to help those experiencing burnout - have you ever felt feelings of burnout in your life as a student? What strategies and steps did you employ to help yourself get through it? What was the biggest takeaway you took from that experience?
  2. If Amber was given a billboard and could write anything on it, she would write 'If you don’t change it, you choose it', referring to outlooks, perspectives, and realities you frame for yourself. From personal experience, what do you take away from this statement? How might it apply to you as a student?
  3. If Amber was hired as superintendent and had to decide on one skill/competency students needed to showcase before graduating, she would go with communication. In your opinion, what other competencies/21st-century skills do you feel go hand in hand with communication? Drawing from your own experiences, explain why.

Yearning for more? You’re in luck! We’ll be speaking to educators all month long about #21for21 and the development of 21st-century skills in the classroom. Join the fun and head over to futurereadyclassroom.com to sign up for episode recaps, lesson plans, and chances to win some awesome prizes.

HELPFUL LINKS

Get Involved with #21FOR21

In our 21st and final #21for21 episode of Competencies without a Classroom season two, we sit down and chat with Lizanne Foster, a humanities teacher in Surrey, British Columbia. Lizanne's overarching theme in all of her classes is teaching her students how to be a human in the world.

What can you borrow from Lizanne for your classroom to help teach 21st-century skills?

Lizanne strives to teach her students how to be a human in the real world.

She feels that it is incredibly important for her students to develop an understanding of what anger is, how to manage their anger and how to handle conflict. Stemming from the Apartheid era and her personal experiences in South Africa, she feels that there is a deep need to help both students and adults understand what goes on in our heads, when we find ourselves in conflict with another.

Lizanne teaches this through the Communication Model - context, perception, interpretation, feelings, and actions, which she has on display in her classroom.
One day when Lizanne gave a student a snap answer whilst juggling a bunch of tasks, she realized that the student was angry, She then took them through The Communication Model.

She explained what the student heard her say and then asked the student the following questions.

What do you think I meant by that and how did this make you feel?

She proceeded to explain what she meant and what she was personally thinking at the time. The point is to show students that each one of us is always in our own world. When we get angry, we make ourselves mad because we are interpreting what someone else is saying. It has nothing to do with them, but a lot to do with our past and our personal experiences.

After teaching this model, Lizanne found her students taking it upon themselves to use the model both in and out of her classroom. After each time they went through it, they felt good and knew more about both themselves and the person they were conflicted with.

The next time you or one of your students finds yourself in a state of anger, pause and ask the following question.

What story am I making up right now?

Then go through The Communication Model. As Lizanne shares, we are constantly interpreting and having our own experiences. By working through this model, students practice self-regulation, conflict resolution and identify and understand their own emotions.

Reflection Prompts for Your Students

Use the prompts below to have your students reflect on what they heard in the episode and consider how Lizanne’s advice can be applied to them.

  1. Lizanne teaches her students about The Communication Model through an interpretation exercise. Try it out with a partner, and ask each other what you see, describe what you interpret at that moment. Then, explain what your personal experience is based on what they interpret. How did this exercise make you feel? What did you take away/learn from it?
  2. If Lizanne were superintendent of her school and was tasked with determining one competency students had to display in order to graduate, she would choose self-awareness and self-regulation. What are some ways that you practice mindfulness in or out of the classroom? What benefits do you gain in doing so? How can doing these mindfulness exercises help you in times of conflict?
  3. If Lizanne had a billboard and could write anything on it, she would write ‘You are enough”. If you were given a billboard and could write a message, giving advice to your past self, what would it say and why?

Yearning for more? You’re in luck! We’ll be speaking to educators all month long about #21for21 and the development of 21st-century skills in the classroom. Join the fun and head over to futurereadyclassroom.com to sign up for episode recaps, lesson plans, and chances to win some awesome prizes.

HELPFUL LINKS

Get Involved with #21FOR21

In our 20th #21for21 episode of Competencies without a Classroom, we sit down with Ronald Hae, a grade 11/12 accounting teacher in Oakville, Ontario. Aside from his business and accounting classes, you can find Ronald o doing standup comedy in Toronto (pre-pandemic of course) or by listening to his podcast, The Teacher Hotline!

What can you borrow from Ronald for your classroom to help teach 21st-century skills?

After speaking with several industry professionals and teachers on the show, we’ve come to realize how much Teachers wish they had learned more financial literacy back in high school.

The Ontario Government has since implemented a financial literacy initiative into the grade 10 career studies course, which is a great start. But Ronald believes that it is not where we need to be in terms of teaching this vital life skill.

This is why Ronald has begun focusing on financial literacy in his classroom, teaching the skills to his grade 11 and 12 students by creating a financial literacy assignment. Students can pick any topic they like falling under the umbrella of financial literacy. They then become the expert. At any point in the school year, they present the topic to their classmates, followed by some questions and answers. They are free to present in any format they please.

Students are craving this knowledge, they want to know how to begin getting prepared for life after high school. So Ronald took it upon himself to take matters into his own hands and focus on what the students are interested in and motivated to learn about.

In doing so, students learn valuable life skills that will set them up for success, while working on their communication, critical thinking, and research abilities in the process.

Reflection Prompts for Your Students

Use the prompts below to have your students reflect on what they heard in the episode and consider how Ronald’s advice can be applied to them.

  1. Ronald strongly believes that financial literacy education is a life skill that is lacking in education. What is a life skill that you wish you were taught more of in school? Why?
  2. When asked about his favourite class back in high school, Ronald decides on his drama class because he learned how to be vulnerable in a safe space. How do skills like confidence and being vulnerable go hand in hand? Think of a time in which you had to go out of your comfort zone in school. How did you benefit from this experience? What did you learn/walk away with?
  3. If you were in Ronald’s class and had to decide on one financial literacy topic to present, what would you choose and why?

Yearning for more? You’re in luck! We’ll be speaking to educators all month long about #21for21 and the development of 21st-century skills in the classroom. Join the fun and head over to futurereadyclassroom.com to sign up for episode recaps, lesson plans, and chances to win some awesome prizes.

HELPFUL LINKS

Get Involved with #21FOR21

In our 19th #21for21 episode of Competencies without a Classroom, we interview the host of the EdTechBites Podcast - Gabriel Carillo. Gabriel has worn many hats in education over the years. He currently works as an instructional technology specialist in San Antonio, Texas. he dedicates his life to helping the individuals who help our students and is passionate about making the necessary culture shifts within classrooms, one classroom at a time.

What can you borrow from Gabriel for your classroom to help teach 21st-century skills?

Gabriel is a big believer in the phrase - less is more.

What does that look like in the classroom? It means less work, but more thinking involved. Let's break this down.

When Gabriel was a fifth-grade teacher, he ran his classroom using the station model. He found planning for 3-4 different groups to be daunting. He set a goal to make his life easier, keeping his students in mind. By employing the less is more tactic, he stopped assigning 10-15 problems for his students in 3-4 groups to take home/work through and instead, assigned them three.

He realized that it is far more important for educators to see and hear students talk through and show the critical thinking and problem-solving skills they employed to work through a problem, rather than just giving the answer.

He instructed his students to take these few problems, dissect them/explain their thinking, and explain how they got the answer. At times, he even gave a problem with an incorrect answer and asked his students to explain their thought process in determining why the answer is incorrect.

Today’s employers are not worried about whether or not you can do something. Rather, they are more concerned with how you work with a group, think critically and problem solve.

By thinking around less is more, and scaling back what he asked his students to take home, more emphasis was placed on the thinking involved, than the answer itself.

In doing so, Gabriel’s students were able to showcase their thought process and understanding, while practicing skills like communication, collaboration, problem-solving and critical thinking.

Reflection Prompts for Your Students

Use the prompts below to have your students reflect on what they heard in the episode and consider how Gabriel’s advice can be applied to them.

  1. In this episode, Gabriel speaks on the value of showcasing your thought process in determining an answer to a problem. In your own words, how do skills like communication, collaboration, problem-solving and critical thinking play a role in the process?
  2. If Gabriel was Superintendent and had to decide on one skill his students had to show evidence of in order to graduate, he would choose problem-solving. Describe a situation in which you were confronted with a roadblock in the way of completing a goal. How were you able to work around this roadblock and finish the task at hand? What 21st-century skills came into play?
  3. Gabriel’s favourite high school class was his communication elective, where he learned skills like public speaking and speech crafting. Why is communication such an important skill to learn and how does it play a role in our everyday lives? Identify 1-3 ways you practice communication and critical thinking in or out of the classroom.

 

Yearning for more? You’re in luck! We’ll be speaking to educators all month long about #21for21 and the development of 21st-century skills in the classroom. Join the fun and head over to futurereadyclassroom.com to sign up for episode recaps, lesson plans, and chances to win some awesome prizes.

HELPFUL LINKS

Get Involved with #21FOR21

In our 18th #21for21 episode of Competencies without a Classroom, we had the pleasure of chatting with the host of The #EduDuctTape Podcast, Jake Miller. Jake has been teaching in Ohio schools for around 19 years ranging from grades 4-9. He has spent time teaching math, stem, as a tech coach and is currently teaching an 8th-grade science class.

What can you borrow from Jake for your classroom to help teach 21st-century skills?

When Jake was teaching a new quarterly stem class, he came up with an idea that was revolutionary for both him and his students.

Within the class, he had noticed that his students were showcasing a lot of behaviour problems. In reflecting and assessing why this may be happening, he realized that some students were fast processors, while others were slow processors. Those who were in the middle weren't showcasing any problems.

The issue? He was trying to teach every kid at the same pace. In reality, every learner works and learns at different speeds, and that’s okay!

So Jake turned his class into a student-paced course, making all of the content available digitally and allowing his students to work through ordered lessons and activities at their own pace.

In doing so, students were able to take ownership of their learning process, assessing their flow and growth in the classroom. They were in control.

Students in Jake’s stem class worked on 21st-century skills like self-awareness and self-actualization. They were also to incorporate high levels of reflection throughout their learning process on their progress, how they were doing and what they needed to do.

Making this change helped Jake realize his passion for technology within the classroom.

Reflection Prompts for Your Students

Use the prompts below to have your students reflect on what they heard in the episode and consider how Jake’s advice can be applied to them.

  1. This year more than ever, students have had to take ownership and show resilience in finding new ways to better their learning process from home. Think about how you have grown this year in the (virtual) classroom. How were you able to assess and modify your flow of learning from home? What challenges have you come across and what did you learn from them?
  2. If Jake had a billboard that everyone was to see, he would put the equation - Event plus response equals outcome (Jack Canfield) alluding to the ways we problem-solve when handling personal problems. Describe a situation in which you were faced with an issue and had to take ownership and focus on what you could control. What did you learn from this experience?
  3. Jake speaks on the use of digital portfolios as a place to showcase work from beginning to end. What elements do you consider when deciding to put something in your personal portfolio? How can your portfolio be used to show growth in your learning?

Yearning for more? You’re in luck! We’ll be speaking to educators all month long about #21for21 and the development of 21st-century skills in the classroom. Join the fun and head over to futurereadyclassroom.com to sign up for episode recaps, lesson plans, and chances to win some awesome prizes.

HELPFUL LINKS

Get Involved with #21FOR21

In our 17th #21for21 episode of Competencies without a Classroom, we speak with the educator behind the podcast, blog, and youtube channel EdTech Classroom, Maddie. When she’s not shining on the internet, she spends her days as a K-5 stem teacher and ed-tech coach in Los Angeles, California.

What can you borrow from Maddie for your classroom to help teach 21st-century skills?

In Maddie’s classroom, she tries her best to focus student learning around developing an authentic learning experience through project-based learning.

How you may ask? Through finding ways to embed student interest into classroom learning and developing a student-centred curriculum. One of Maddie’s main classroom focus points is the idea that technology can be used as a force for good.

Through conversation, she learned that her students are interested in learning about ways they can help the environment. In learning this, Maddie decided to find a way to incorporate the 17 UN global goals, set out to achieve a more sustainable future by the year 2030. Together, she asked her students which goals were important to them, and how they, along with the use of technology, can achieve these goals.

One example of putting this into action was through a coding project in Maddie’s fourth-grade classroom, where she asked students to solve a real-world issue through the use of code and lego robots. Rather than teaching the students how to do code before they did the project, students learned by doing the project itself.

Her students were able to flex their creative problem-solving muscles, communication, problem-solving and collaboration skills, all while learning to solve real-world problems.

Whether you are in a STEM class like Maddie’s or not, the idea is to find ways to peak student interest by embedding what they care about and what excites them right into the curriculum.

Reflection Prompts for Your Students

Use the prompts below to have your students reflect on what they heard in the episode and consider how Maddie’s advice can be applied to them.

  1. If Maddie were given a billboard and could write anything on it, she would write “Put your phone down”, alluding to the importance of disconnecting from technology and focusing on the task at hand. What are some ways you try to limit your daily screen time? Additionally, how can you use technology to enhance your learning rather than using it as a distraction?
  2. If Maddie had a magic wand and could change anything about the education system, she would provide students with more opportunities to engage in real-world learning. Take a look at the UN Global Goals Maddie looks at with her students, which of the 17 goals do you feel most passionate about? How could technology play a role in solving that goal?
  3. Maddie speaks on the importance of creative problem-solving. Describe a time in which you were faced with a problem, in or out of the classroom, and had to think outside of the box to come up with a creative solution. What was that process like? If you had to do it again, what would you do differently?

Yearning for more? You’re in luck! We’ll be speaking to educators all month long about #21for21 and the development of 21st-century skills in the classroom. Join the fun and head over to futurereadyclassroom.com to sign up for episode recaps, lesson plans, and chances to win some awesome prizes.

HELPFUL LINKS

Get Involved with #21FOR21

In our 16th #21for21 episode of Competencies without a Classroom, we speak with Johanna Brown, a chemistry and computer science teacher in rural Washington. Along with teaching, she also does coaching for both the Science bowl and knowledge bowl. Johanna is changing the education game as a believer in the #ungrading movement.

What can you borrow from Johanna for your classroom to help teach 21st-century skills?

Johanna is not grading in her classroom. Rather, by not assigning grades she has been able to develop systems of providing feedback and teaching her students how to properly self-assess.

In her eyes, if students can more accurately assess their understanding and think about personal next steps from a young age - it will carry through and benefit them in their future professional lives.

Through this, the emotional weight is taken off of what would have been an assigned grade, and instead, students can work on applying feedback, as well as giving it to both themselves and their peers - removing the competitive nature of classroom learning.

While removing grades can be a shock at first, as it is what many educators are used to - Johanna describes it as quite like being a vegetarian. If you want to test out the upgrading model, you don't have to do it all at once.

Johanna recommends speaking to your students. Research shows that by speaking with your class about the strategies you are using in the classroom, they will likely be more willing to come along and be eager in doing so. Talk to them about why and what the plan is. Like being vegetarian, you don't have to do it all at once. Try it out with one unit or project, then get feedback from your class. This way you can test it out while seeing how you feel and how your students feel about it. From there, you can build off of it and see what works best in your classroom.

By removing grades-based assessment, students can work on skills like self-actualization, creativity, and collaboration.

Reflection Prompts for Your Students

Use the prompts below to have your students reflect on what they heard in the episode and consider how Johanna’s advice can be applied to them.

  1. One skill Johanna wished she had been taught back in high school is thoughtful collaboration. She believes that we need to be more thoughtful about how we create teams in school. What is your strategy for delegating work in a group setting? How can you work to ensure compromise is made while ensuring everyone's voice is heard?
  2. Self-actualization and the ability to understand your own strengths and weaknesses is an incredible skill to bring to the table. Think about your current classroom learning, what are two pieces of feedback you would give yourself? How can you come up with creative ways to implement that feedback?
  3. Think about what you are currently learning in school, what areas do you feel are your strengths? How can you use these strengths to help others/contribute both in and out of the classroom?

Yearning for more? You’re in luck! We’ll be speaking to educators all month long about #21for21 and the development of 21st-century skills in the classroom. Join the fun and head over to futurereadyclassroom.com to sign up for episode recaps, lesson plans, and chances to win some awesome prizes.

HELPFUL LINKS

Get Involved with #21FOR21

If you go after what makes you joyful and happy, it will bring more joy to your life and to everyone else’s.

In our 15th #21for21 episode of Competencies without a Classroom, we chat with Birmingham, Alabama educator Carol Mclaughlin. Carol has been teaching in classes ranging from first to fifth grade for 30 years now. While she started working in public schools, she now has the opportunity to teach at a private school in smaller classes, allowing her to really get to know and incorporate student voices into her classroom.

What can you borrow from Carol for your classroom to help teach 21st-century skills?

Carol recognizes that in a 21st-century job world, companies need students who can collaborate, think critically and be creative. Unfortunately, kids aren't given as much of an opportunity to practice these skills each day.

That is why Carol incorporates gamification into her classroom. For those who may be unaware, gamification is the process of taking the best parts we love about games and in this case, placing a layer of that into our education system. The same content is taught, but it's taught through the lens of “how can I make this more like a game?”.

In Carol's school, all classes are gamified. This gives students across all grades the opportunity to work in teams, help each other, and flex these 21-st century skill muscles, all while having fun.

In today’s episode, Carol shares an example of how multi-age teams are put together in her school to practice their grammar and language skills through a game involving ball put balls, scooters, and a whole lot of sorting. Students work as a team, helping both older and younger students work together to accomplish a goal.

Students learn to work out differences, and find value in playing the role of both the leader and the follower in a team setting - all through gamification.

Game on!

Reflection Prompts for Your Students

Use the prompts below to have your students reflect on what they heard in the episode and consider how Carol’s advice can be applied to them.

  1. If Carol was the superintendent of her school, she would ensure that students show that they are capable of collaboration in order to graduate. After all, being able to work things out is a valuable skill. Think about a time you were working on a group/team and had multiple ideas for your project. As a team, how did you decide which idea to run with?
  2. What role do you often play while working on a team - the leader, or the follower? In what ways can you improve/work on in either role? What skills do you feel are valuable and admirable in both leaders and followers in a team setting?
  3. Carol emphasizes the importance of focusing on what you can do, rather than what you can’t do. Name 1-3 skills you are proud of. How would you gamify those skills or subject areas if you were to teach them to other students?

Yearning for more? You’re in luck! We’ll be speaking to educators all month long about #21for21 and the development of 21st-century skills in the classroom. Join the fun and head over to futurereadyclassroom.com to sign up for episode recaps, lesson plans, and chances to win some awesome prizes.

HELPFUL LINKS

Get Involved with #21FOR21

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