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"Preparing students for successful careers is a major part of every educator's job, but most preservice and professional development programmes don't cover the skills employers are currently seeking - things like 'emergent' leadership, adaptability, humility and ownership." Illustration above by Linda Tieu.
Beth Dichter's insight:
We so often hear of the 21st century skills our learners need? Common Core tells us that learners need to be critical thinkers/problem solvers, communicators, collaborators and creators. What skills are employers looking for? More than just the four Cs. This post by InformEd provides background based on what employers say they need as well as 30 tips to teach soft skills. Four tips (quoted) are below. * Demonstrate alternate paths to content mastery. * Start grading students on how well they listen to their peers. * Assign group exercises that give people the opportunity to speak, listen, write, organize and lead. * Design opportunities for students to build and demonstrate resilience. There are many more tips in this post. Click through to learn more. 
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"Some call today’s students “digital natives.” Others call them the “distracted generation.” Whichever term you prefer, it’s clear they’re both far more than labels: they capture the core conflict many of us involved in education — educators, parents, and even students — feel about the use of technology in the classroom."
Beth Dichter's insight:
Digital devices are in our classrooms. Some may find this a blessing and others a curse. This post states: "The question is not, “Should we allow digital devices in the classroom?”, it’s “Now that they’re here, how can we prevent digital devices from becoming a distraction?” Seven suggestions are provided. Each is thoughtful and six provides links to additional information. What are the suggestions? * Destroy the Multitasking Myth * Rethink Smartphone Bans * Write How They Read * Use Their Unique Distraction Styles to Spark Learning * Don't Post Everything Online * Create Opportunities for Curiosity Outside the Digital Space * Teach Grit Take the time to explore some of the links. For example, in the Destroying the multitasking myth you might want to view the video The Monkey Business Illusion. In fact, you may want to share this with your students.
Lúcio Botelho's curator insight,
November 23, 2014 10:15 AM
We have to evolve to use technology in our classrooms
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"David Dockterman would like to see more productive failure. But as a lecturer at Harvard’s GSE, Dockterman sees students afraid to blemish a polished transcript. As Scholastic’s chief architect of learning sciences, he sees K-12 students all too familiar with failure and schools that don’t know how to support productive struggle."
Beth Dichter's insight:
The concept of growth mindset is often discussed in schools. Research shows that a students' mindset plays a role in how well they do at school. This post provides "4 belief statements that underlie student performance." Each statement is listed below, but click through to the post to learn more about the meaning behind the statement. 1. “I belong in this academic community.” 2. “My ability and competency grow with effort.” 3. “I can succeed.” 4. “This work has value for me.” There are a number of links in the article and you may want to read the article located in EdWeek (published in Sept. 2013). This article looks at how our language as teachers impacts each student. Our words are important and we may not be aware of the words we use are impacting our students. Also consider scrolling down and reading the comment by Tom Vander Ark. He discusses two areas that are forgotten in the discussion of mindset (and he includes grit here also) - the ability to transfer knowledge between content areas (an important component in Common Core) and "domain knowledge and skill." He provides suggestions on what we might try in our classrooms.
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Education circles are abuzz with a new concept: that resilience and persistence are just as important as intelligence to predicting student success and achievement. But can "grit" actually be taught?
Beth Dichter's insight:
Grit, persistence, determination, growth mindset...there are many buzzwords in education today that focus on similar ideas. This post is actually from NPR. (You could hear the interview on their website. The link is at the end of this post.) It explores the concept of grit and how the term has come to enter the field of education. Do you think grit "a better predictor of success than IQ or other measures"? Can "grit" be taught? Can you develop a school around the concept of grit? Will teaching students about growth mindset change make a difference in their education? These and many other ideas are addressed in this post. To go to NRP to hear the article: http://www.npr.org/2014/03/17/290089998/does-teaching-kids-to-get-gritty-help-them-get-ahead
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Increasingly, educators are looking to research about how kids learn to influence teaching practices and tools.
Beth Dichter's insight:
This post looks at five trends that have made their way into the classroom. Learn more about: * Brain-based learning * Game-based learning * Power of perseverance * Questioning homework * Cultivating creativity In each of the five areas there are links to a number of resources. Gather together some of these great resources and share them with others in your school!
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"Due to the interest of my post The Other 21st Skills, I decided to discuss individually each of the skills or dispositions I proposed that are in addition to the seven survival skills as identified by Tony Wagner. This post focuses on grit."
Beth Dichter's insight:
Are you interested in learning more about how grit is a 21st century skill? Jackie Gerstein provides an in-depth look at grit in this post. You will find an image with a great definition, a TED Talk by Angela Duckworth on grit, as well as a link to a quiz that allows you to measure your grit level compared to others, and a list of some of the "characteristics or dispositions of Grit." Perhaps you are asking yourself how can I work grit into my classroom? For example, project based learing, or having students work on independent study projects (think passion-driven) provide opportunities for students to use some of the dispositions discussed, such as tenacity, self-control, self-discipling and long-term goal oriented. As always, there is a robust list of additional resources.
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"In psychology, intelligence is not the primary predictor of success. It is the ability to persevere in hardship, persist and learn after failure, and have a resilient spirit in the face of obstacles. Intelligence is a gift that can be developed and nurtured, but continuing on a difficult path when the gratification is far away? That is an invaluable skill for all of us to learn."
Beth Dichter's insight:
Grit seems to be getting a lot of press these days, and this post provides 16 suggestions on what we might do in our classrooms to help students " resilient spirit". You may already be using some of the ideas provided in the post but there will probably be a few new ones you might like to incorporate. Five ideas are listed below. Click through to the post to read all sixteen (and to see additional information on each). * Give an assignment that isn't meant to have a perfect ending * Use educational simulation games * Offer positive distractors to help during difficult tasks * Avoid the "all or nothing" disease
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"Free, unstructured playtime gives kids a chance to discover their interests and tap into their creativity. It’s a crucial element for building resilience in children, an attribute they’ll need in order to become happy, productive adults."
Beth Dichter's insight:
This post explores what children need to succeed, and begins by defining success as a " child is one who finds something he loves to do, is generous, empathetic and compassionate, committed to repairing the world, shows grit and the ability to collaborate, creativity and can take constructive criticism." Later in the post the 7 C's of Resilience are introduce as a "road map for helping students to find their inner grit" The seven C's are: * Competence * Confidence * Connection * Character * Contribution * Coping * Control Additional information on the 7 C's is in the online as well as a discussion on the discussion of how creativity "plays an integral part of developing these seven skill sets."
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When it comes to high achievement, grit may be as essential as intelligence. A look at a research study on grit, defined as "sticking with things over the very long term until you master them." Her "esearch suggests that when it comes to high achievement, grit may be as essential as intelligence. That’s a significant finding because for a long time, intelligence was considered the key to success." This post provides links to a variety of articles and a look at some recent reseach. It also suggest that "grit is something that people can probably learn."
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I've posted about The Other 21st Skills and Attributes. This post provides links and resources about these skills as well as an educator self-assessment. This assessment contains questions to ass...
Beth Dichter's insight:
Jackie Gerstein has written quite a number of posts that look at The Other 21st Century Skills and Attributes. This post provides an infographic that includes two or three questions that you should ask yourself to see if you are 'facilitating these skills and attributes in the learning environment. Gerstein also includes links to previous posts where she discusses the specific skills and attributes in more detail.
David Baker's curator insight,
February 17, 2015 10:54 AM
The power of the Infographic is that it references both teacher and student actions and habits. I have shared it with my teachers. This might become a solid self-assessment tool for coaching conversations with teachers. 
Kristen McDaniel's curator insight,
April 3, 2015 12:05 PM
Interesting graphic with some great ideas on interpreting 21st century skills as they pertain to teaching
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Researchers hope that being able to accurately measure how well students resist digital temptations will help them learn about how "academic diligence" features in later life success.
Beth Dichter's insight:
In the 1960s Stanford psychologist Walter Mischel and colleagues created an experiment, the "marshmellow test" to measure self-control in preschoolers. Would they eat one mini--marshmellow right away or would they wait 15 minutes to eat two mini-marshmellows? Fast forward about 50 years and researchers have come up with a new "test that challenges the willpower of schoolkids to resist the brain-candy of today’s digital distractions — the YouTube videos, Instagram and mobile gaming apps like Angry Birds." Why try to measure self-control. Researchers hope that it "will advance their studies of ways to improve academic perseverance in students." Learn more about the original "marshmellow test" and this new test in the thought-provoking post. Additional areas that are discussed include: * Road-testing the test * Staying on task * Different takes on willpower and grit * A debate over drudgery
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What is grit? Learn more about grit and how important it is help you thrive in the 21st century in this infographic.
Beth Dichter's insight:
Check out this infographic that explores just what grit is and why it helps students in school (and all of us inthe 21st century). Sections include: * What Is Grit * Why Do We Need It * Grit Can Make A Difference * How Can You Get Grit You will also find a list of references at the end of the infographic.
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Can you predict academic success or whether a child will graduate? You can, but not how you might think.
Beth Dichter's insight:
Vicki Davis has a great post that provides a wealth of resources on grit and ways you might incorporate the teaching of grit into your classroom. Sections include: * Why Grit is so Imporant? This last section provides 10 ideas on how you can teach grit in your classroom with many resources including videos, books, a grit test and more. Do you teach grit in your classroom? Is this something you think your students need to be better prepared? If you are looking for some great resources and to educate yourself about grit click through to the post.
Lori Wilk's curator insight,
February 2, 2014 10:35 AM
The ability bounce back and move forward when life hits hard is so important to our success.This article shares the importance of resilience and we should teach this skills to others.
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"Character is at least as important as intellect."
Beth Dichter's insight:
Angela Duckworth left the classroom to study grit..." the relentless work ethic of sustaining your commitments toward a long-term goal — impact success." This post not only provides some background to her work it has a short (under 4 minutes) video where she discusses why she chose to research self-control and grit. Duckworth began by studying a group of 8th graders and found " students’ self-discipline scores were far better predictors of their academic performance than their IQ scores." Over time she and a colleague developed a Grit Test. Learn more about her work and find a link to the Grit Test by clicking through to the post (last paragraph).
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Many have attempted to identify the skills important for a learner today in this era of the 21st century (I know it is an overused phrase). I have an affinity towards the skills identified by Tony...
Beth Dichter's insight:
We hear the words 21st century skills and as educators we know how the Common Core is defining those skills, but what are others saying? This post explores a range of ideas that have been put forth as 21st century skills. * Grit * Resilience * Hope and Optimism * Vision and the Future * Self-Regulation * Empathy and Global Stewardship You will find many great resources in this post.
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"The U.S Department of Education’s Office of Educational Technology (OET) posted a report for public comment: Promoting Grit, Tenacity, and Perseverance: Critical Factors for Success in the 21st Century. The report examines factors that can promote students’ capacity to strive for and succeed at fulfilling long-term and higher-order goals and persist in the face of challenges and setbacks they will encounter throughout schooling and life. The report aims to identify critical themes, questions, conclusions, and recommendations around theory, measurement, and the design of learning environments, with an eye toward identifying potential new roles for technology."
Beth Dichter's insight:
This is a draft report. It does recommend a number of ways tha technology may play a role. Key ideas discussed in the report include (copied from the original post): 1. permit greater sophistication of assessment and adaptation to individual learning needs; 2. integrate different documents, textbook and multimedia materials, devices, and sources of information to provide supports to help students stay organized, manage time, and feel confident; and 3. enable students and teachers to utilize an unprecedented wealth of online and digital resources. This post from Getting Smart includes some additional information and suggests that you check out page 50 of the report where they provide a summary table that "compares types of programs (school readiness, reform models, informal learning, and digital environments) with grade level appropriateness, setting, focus, and evidence." There is also a link to the report which you may download as a pdf.
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Thinking..is there enough thinking by students, teachers, administrators and policy makers in education? Grant Wiggins states "We know more but are oddly increasingly? - thoughtless. Why?" The post makes it clear that how we understand definitions of a number of terms is critical. After a discussion on words thoughtful and thoughtless the post is split into the following sections: * What is Thoughtfulness? * A Common Thoughtless Comment * Thinking About Our Continued Thoughtlessness This article was the first of three posts. The second post can be found at http://grantwiggins.wordpress.com/2012/09/14/thoughtlessness-part-2/. The third post in the series may be accessed at Wiggins website. It is called Grit, character and academic success: thoughtlessness, part 3.
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Thx Beth Dichter