Random Thoughts: 21st Century Learning for Students and Teachers

So my Master's class through William Woods University is taking my mind in many places I never thought I'd go. We have discussed how 21st Century schools should and likely will look in the future. Students likely won't attend designated core classes, but instead they will attend classes that have many subjects intertwined. They will be working on using math, science, and communication arts skills to solve real-world problems. They will no longer be sitting in desks in rows. Classrooms will be arranged like a lounge. There will be mobile docking stations, round tables, couches, or whatever else needs to be present to help students be more comfortable so they can settle in and learn. Physical education will also be different. Perhaps K-12 students will be allowed to choose from various physical education classes just as many college students have the ability to do. The overall school system will be a huge transformation from the teacher-directed system we have now. Students will be in control of most of their own learning and teachers will be the guides to help them through the process. 

A discussion post this week from a fellow WWU classmate got me thinking even further into transforming schools into 21st Century places of learning. She mentioned how it would be nice if administrators would create a weekly podcast to share district updates, instead of having teachers sit through informational meetings. Teachers are so busy (to say the least) and sometimes sitting through those types of meetings are tough to do. Those are the ones I often see teachers bringing papers to grade so they feel like they are actually making progress at something. This led me to think that not only does learning need to change for our students, but also our teachers. I just recently blogged about our in-service session in which teachers trained teachers. This process also needs to change. Both of my sessions consisted of me standing at the front of the classroom for part of the presentation and sharing information for teachers to use. I gave them time to work and use something they learned during both sessions and apply it to something they could take back and use in their own classroom. I now realize I should have re-structured this course a little differently. I felt like it was effective for many teachers, but I could have changed it to make it even more powerful. I'm imagining teacher-in-service sessions where teachers are sitting around round tables, or on couches, or somewhere comfortable where an idea is thrown at them and then they brainstorm ideas of ways to use it in their own classrooms. Teachers could be divided into expert groups aside from their project groups. They would meet with these various groups to get many more ideas of implementing ideas and projects into their classrooms. They could also share knowledge they may have of experts in the fields being discussed, so kids could be connected to outside experts through Skype, or other social networks. When teachers leave these sessions they would leave with several lesson plans to add to their curriculum that integrate higher-order thinking and technology use into the works. The teacher leading the session would be in charge of guiding the rest of the teachers through the process and helping to locate resources of information and also keeping things flowing along. 

Hmm..... this could really work! 

The quote below sums it all up. I told the teachers in my sessions helpful ideas and I taught them how to use them, but I don't feel like I did enough to fully involve them. Guess I have next year to try to get it right again.