I recently had the opportunity to be interviewed by TeachersCount.org It was a great chance to talk about 21CL (that is century learning) and teaching at-risk preschoolers. Here is a brief excerpt:
What does that term “21st Century Learning” mean within the context of your work?
In the context of my work as a preschool teacher, 21st century learning has a lot less to do with technology and a lot more to do with people and relationships. Exposure to the potential of the internet and technology are the foundation to preparing my students, many of whom do not have computers at home. In my classroom I use streaming video, digital music, digital recording, blogs and search engines to show kids how technology can help us access information outside of our immediate surroundings. When one of my students became homebound because of leukemia I used technology to build our classroom community.
As I was sitting with the child’s mother at her home discussing the family’s access to technology, her mother mentioned how her oldest daughter was upstairs using her laptop online, it came to me what I needed to do. Her daughter needed her own blog. I knew she would feel more connected to the life of our class if she could see and talk to us each day. Her mother is tech savvy enough to do the posts at home. She named the blog, “Missing School.” Each morning now we check to see what our friend has to say. We have posted video of our class singing our favorite songs, posted some wishes from the class, and she has told us what she is learning at home.
Preparing students for the future means developing the modes of thought that enable students to engage with their world proactively.
