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Classrooms for Success in the 21st Century! |
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Schools are continually challenged to provide the best education for today's youth. "What worked for us" isn't necessarily good enough for our children because society is continually changing. We call our vision for the future the "learner-active, technology-infused classroom" Please know that this is no movement, no fad, no package. No company sells "how to" materials for this. It is simply a name attached to the work we're doing. Many people hear as name or "buzz word" and develop concerns. Rightly so! Many educational fads have come and gone, leaving behind large expenditures and little or no substantive change. What we are simply doing is thinking about the kinds of skills students need in order to achieve success in today's world. Our work is based on ten principles which research tells us are present in successful classrooms: 1. Students learn best from a "felt-need." This occurs when students are presented with meaningful, higher-order, open-ended activities that create the context for learning and build a "felt-need" to learn lower-order skills. 2. Students should achieve at high levels of academic achievement utilizing the teacher, peers, and other resources to meet with success. 3. Students should be presented with higher-order, open-ended problem-solving activities. 4. Students should take responsibility for learning, including setting goals, scheduling time, utilizing resources, and making other important decisions. 5. Learning should be connected across disciplines and to students' lives. 6. Students should engage in collaborative problem-solving on open-ended problems with peers, working independently on subtasks. 7. Students should follow an individual learning path so that they can reach their full potential. 8. Students should have strong, consistent relationships with adults in the school community. 9. Students should use technology as a classroom tool and a resource to support learning; it should not be seen as a goal unto itself. 10. Students understand their role as contributors to a global society and make strides to contribute to the betterment of their world.
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