Partnership for 21st Century Skills

The website, Partnership for 21st Century Skills is impressive.  I looked at some of the Guides and I was impressed with the 21st Century Skills Implementation Guide.  This Implementation Guide gives recommendations to our leaders on what is needed in our schools including core subject mastery.  In reading this I could see many of the trends that my school is implementing.  Looking at Summative Assessments, becoming Standards Based, Performance Based, Rubrics....  All of these terms have been used in our school to implement our 21st Century Grading Policy.
With the future in mind, I think that becoming a contemporary educator can only help advance our students to a higher level, to become more productive members of the school community and to become productive members of society and in the workplace.

How would I use a blog in my classroom?

With  the ever increasing pressure from our districts and from the government for better test scores, it has become imperative that we use any means possible to help our students close the gap in testing.  One way we can do this is to incorporate technology in the classroom.  Blogs can be an important form of technology. As an art educator on the high school level, I can showcase my student's artwork along with the skills they have acheived in writing critiques, their explanations about the meaning and importance of their work.  It can also be used to post state standards and the relationship of the artwork to other subjects such as math and reading.  Students can share ideas for improvement or kudos for excellence.  Students within the class or students who are taking the same course but at a different time can post responses and opinions of the work that is presented on the site.  One thing I would do also is not to force a student to post their artwork in the blog.  Sometimes art is a very personal thing and I would respect that with my student.

Posting on a blog is a good tool for students to learn about the larger picture beyond the school community especially if the blog is opened up to other sources.  The next Picasso may be discovered.