Homework+and+Items+for+Review

Prior to our December meeting please do the following:

1. Take a moment to think about which projects or initiatives currently at play in your division or department, begin to address some of the 21st century skills defined in "Listening to the Natives" or "Rigor Redefined" - the short essays we read in advance of the November meeting. Write a few notes in the workspaces for your division. You may want to note areas where you can see the need for improvement as well.

2. Sue and Pat will be posting professional education association standards in teh coming week. Please review them carefully as the vetting of these will make up the bulk of the December meeting.

3. Grace Judge, Bridget Flynn and I went to hear Chris Lehmann speak at an ADVIS conference at Springside School on Monday Nov 8. The slide presentation for the lecture (which was excellent by the way and which viewed technology like oxygen - ubiquitous, necessary, and invisible) can be found at this link:

http://www.slideshare.net/chrislehmann/beyond-tools-thoughtful-21st-c-school-reform

Youtube posts of the lecture can be found at:

http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=D5558BF343C36D89

4. Lastly, and to reiterate, as we think about 21st century skills its important to remember that the habits of mind, and of heart, that make up the core of what we teach and will teach moving forward, are not solely about using technology. We need to move beyond that conversation to a review of curriculum that allows for skill and content development alongside of collaborative work between students and faculty, many departments accross all divisions, and which has at the core increased ownership of the education process by each student.

5. Heidi Hayes Jacob, educator and author has wriiten extensively on "Essential Education". In her new book: Curriculum 21: Essential Education for a Changing World, she has edited a series of essays from prominent educators. In the introduction she asks: "Is your school's curriculum and the program preparing students for 2015 or 2020? Is it preparing them for today?"

The ASCD website has short abstracts of every chapter of this book. Please take a look at these. I am trying to find a way to buy a copy of this book for each of us. The abstract islocated here: http://www.ascd.org/publications/books/109008.aspx

The study guide for this book poses many interesting and relevant questions, some of which our group will struggle with answering in the coming months. You can find the guide at: http://www.ascd.org/publications/books/109008/chapters/A-Study-Guide-for-Curriculum-21@-Essential-Education-for-a-Changing-World.aspx

A slide show of Jacob's "New Essential Curriculum for a New Time" slideshare presentation http://www.slideshare.net/internationaled/new-essential-curriculum-for-a-new-time