"But Out's"

Teaching in the 21st Century is constantly evolving to keep up with the demands of this "Brave New World".   Notice I said teaching...Unfortunately, the education system is a ship much slower to get turned in the right direction; therefore, it falls to the teachers who are on the front lines to make the needed changes to prepare our students for what they will be faced with, in an institution of higher learning or in the modern workplace.

I know that I will have to make my teaching more global in nature.  I will have to make connections with other forms of the arts and other subject areas, in order to make learning most impactful for my students.  Students have to understand "Why".  Sometimes I don't fully give them the "Why".  I may assign a project or a musical passage and I need them to understand what that means to them.  I need them to understand what we do is meaningful.  I have great students who listen and try, but I need to equip them better with real world connections.

Access to technology is a necessity as we prepare our students for the world they will be entering upon graduation.  I want to make the use of technology in my room more streamline with my educational objectives.  Sometimes I have used certain technologies because they were there, but not because there was a strategic advantage in using it.  I have learned from the training this past 5 days that it is about the content not about the bells and whistles that I put on it.  I want to use my access to different technologies this years to enhance student learning and create an environment where the students take control of their learning, by using Higher Order Thinking Skills(HOTS) in order to solve problems.  

Lastly, I want to create an even more collaborative environment for my students.  I want them to know that it is of the utmost importance that they learn to team and use each other's strengths to prepare a product.  I want to help them see that we can accomplish so much more when we learn to work as a unit.

It is going to be an exciting year!