21st Century Challenge

I was doing some back-up research about 21st Century skills and ran across this wonderful video on the Partnership for 21st Century Skills site.  The video was written by children’s book author/illustrator Peter H. Reynolds and created in collaboration with the Partnership for 21st Century Skills and FableVision.

I had 21st Century skills on the checklist I created for planning my courses.  I have spent so much of the past six years learning about 21st Century skills, that I had to think for a moment when I was asked where I got the idea to include them in my planning.  I went back and made a more detailed listing, including 21st Century literacies, so that I could be more precise in addressing this element of the courses I'm creating.

The planning tools I've created are really for my own benefit, to help me keep track of the many threads I need to weave together to produce a truly well-balanced set of courses for our high school program (no longer "alternative", we are now "accelerated"!  Cool!).  It occurred to me, though, that the tools I created will also help me answer questions when I'm asked how my courses meet state standards, and how I know students are having the kinds of learning experiences they need.  Questions are good - they make me rethink and remember what my reasoning was, how I arrived at a certain conclusion.

Only three weeks until school starts! So much to do...