Honestly 21st century teaching has become synonymous with being in touch with student needs. And that’s not always academic. Take now for example... or last spring... or two years ago in the fall. We are getting ROCKED in this area. And we aren’t the only ones, nationally or globally.
There is an effect. This is NOT business as usual. The 4 C’s are exceptionally useful. It’s common sense put in writing. I might argue that connecting with students is our needed 5th C. Our *best* students don’t want to show their faces. Our *top* students don’t want to talk in class. Our *incredible* minds are afraid of being wrong in this virtual environment. There is quite a bit of nurturing to just get kids to do work. Again, it’s not business as usual. For me, the shift has been probably easier than that of (some of) my English-teaching colleagues. Making our skills apply to real-world issues is more naturally part of the AP curriculum. It’s mostly non fiction— which makes this natural. We can use our skills to solve problems and create debates that use the tools of the class. That can be a little more difficult when reading, say, Lord of the Flies. But that means creating access and equity in ways we haven’t. Curriculum should be designed to allow students to explore and play and learn— with guidance. It is, after all, THEIR assent into adulthood that we are nourishing. Let them make mistakes and get guidance. Traditionally, lecture notes and tests on content that may not be skill based have pushed young people into adulthood with maybe a little grit, but little in the way of being able to know how we learn best. Can we please just focus on skills and let kids access the right tools for the job? Let them play and explore a little? Isn’t that how we learn *anything*?? Have I hijacked this post into a rant about a fifth C? You betcha. I am doing breakout rooms right now as I type this and its clearly a thing. I feel much better about teaching virtually than I did. We are learning. But we need a little connecting (or compassion) with our kids right now too. And that’s something I need to get more intentional with. I care. I just don’t know how to leverage that into improved connectedness in Zoom yet.
1 Comment
Erica Gysbers
9/30/2020 10:05:08 pm
Jason- I am so interested in your class. I am curious because my students are literally the lowest in the district and yours are some of the highest in the district. This week I was really thinking about critical thinking. In ELD, we are constantly trying to provide critical thinking opportunities despite language proficiency, or at least we are supposed to. I wonder, can my kids eventually be in your class? I am going to do my best. How can we make that happen? Could they do the work with lower English skills? Thank you for your work.
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