Ten Things Everyone Needs to Learn

I found an interesting article in Education World that really doesn't include any technology but I it got me thinking. It talks about the things that people need to learn in "order to be successful, either in business or life." So, how can we as educators help teach these things and what technology could we use to teach them?

1. HOW TO PREDICT CONSEQUENCES -- "It is essentially the ability to create a mental model imaging the sequence of events that would follow, "what would likely happen if...?"

I think that this is something that you have to grow into learning. Of course we can reinforce this and model this kind of thinking in our classroom but it is an internal skill that people in general do when they are "thinking" about their behavior. The problem is that many people do impulsive things. This means that they didn't think about consequences for their behavior. At my school, my Principal's motto is (like Dr. Phil) "You choose the Behavior, You choose the Consequence."

2. HOW TO READ -- "Oddly, by this I do not mean 'literacy' in the traditional sense, but rather, how to look at some text and to understand, in a deep way, what is being asserted"

This is where I think writing blogs would be extremely helpful. A blog would be a useful tool for students and teachers to show their "understanding" of what they read by summarizing and commenting about the text, while linking to background knowledge. This is a lot like what we are doing with our blogs. We are reading with a purpose and showing our understandings of what we read in our blogs, just like we would ask our students to do.

3. HOW TO DISTINGUISH TRUTH FROM FICTION -- "The first thing to learn is to actually question what you are told, what you read, and what you see on television. Do not simply accept what you are told. Always ask, how can you know that this is true? What evidence would lead you to believe that it is false?"

This is one of the hardest skills that I teach kids because they still have their imaginations working and can see how things that are fictional could possibly happen. I think that if we started having our kids question truth and fiction in real life situations that it might help them understand things better. Student's could create a Truth or Fiction discussion, where they can post a question or bit of information that they heard out in the real world and then in a safe environment they would be able to work on this skill.

4. HOW TO EMPATHIZE -- "This is best done by imagining that you are the other person, and then placing yourself into a situation."

This is a skill that we could work on when creating our rules for our blogs and discussions. We would want to be sure that we said things to others that wouldn't make you feel bad if they were said to you.

5. HOW TO BE CREATIVE -- "Genuine creativity is almost always a response to something."

Think of how creative your students can be while involved in a discussion, writing a blog about something you learn or read today or even working on a class wiki. This three tools really hits most learning modalities. There is so much that you can do using these tools to show your creativity and luckily for me, and you, it doesn't mean I have to be able draw something. *smile* Creativity is often linked to Art and Music but lets start letting kids be use technology more to express their creativity. I found a website called Creativity Workshop. "We believe that creativity is best served in a playful, nurturing, and non-competitive environment where freedom and focus go hand in hand." Isn't that the environment that we want our discussion and blogs to have.

6. HOW TO COMMUNICATE CLEARLY -- "Communicating clearly is most of all a matter of knowing what you want to say, and then employing some simple tools in order to say it."

Having students write daily or weekly blogs would allow them to practice writing with a purpose and an audience, other than just you (the teacher). This gives students a little some more to work towards and to be sure that they are writing what they mean. They start to take ownership of their words and thus communicating clearly.

7. HOW TO LEARN -- "When you learn, you are trying to create patterns of connectivity in your brain. You are trying to connect neurons together, and to strengthen that connection. This is accomplished by repeating sets of behaviours or experiences. Learning is a matter of practice and repetition."

Most teachers are aware of their students different learning modalities. "Most people have one predominant modality, but some have a balance between two or even all three. Many students are aware of their preference, which helps them approach their own learning more efficiently." My thought is that we need to share the modalities with the kids. Although "many students" are aware of their preference not all of them are. Wouldn't be nice if all the kids in your classroom knew their own predominant learning modality? I've never thought before to teach my kids about these modalities and ask them which way they learn best. Another thought for this up coming year.

8. HOW TO STAY HEALTHY -- "As a matter of practical consideration, the maintenance of your health involves two major components: minimizing exposure to disease or toxins, and maintenance of the physical body."

This is where I want to put Internet Safety. Students are hearing about how to stay healthy and safe from our DARE officer at school but Internet safety isn't pushed. I have come across a program that can help keep our kids Healthy on the Internet. It's called iKeepSafe. "The website uses an animated icon/mascot named Faux Paw the Techno Cat to teach children the importance of protecting personal information and avoiding inappropriate places on the Internet." This is when we would create a list of do's and dont's for the Internet. There are even videos for parents. There is a Welcome video, one on Social Networking Sites and Cyber-Bullies. This informs parents about the sites that their kids might be using and how to help keep them safe. This is going to be a big teaching area for me this year.

9. HOW TO VALUE YOURSELF -- "You can have all the knowledge and skills in the world, but they are meaningless if you do not feel personally empowered to use them."

It is amazing to me the amount of students, in my 4th grade class that lack confidence. They do no believe in themselves enough to trust what they know to be right. Some of this we can help them realize but they have to realize this on their own. The article suggests doing this to help you value yourself. "Tell yourself that you are smart, you are cool, you are strong, you are good, and whatever else you want to be. Say it out loud, in the morning -- hidden in the noise of the shower, if need be, but say it. Then, practice these attributes." I think having kids actively involved in their education will help build their value of self. Just knowing that the teacher/principal/anyone who reads their blog is really going to listen to what you have to say makes them feel important/valuable.

10. HOW TO LIVE MEANINGFULLY -- "Living meaningfully is actually a combination of several things. It is, in one sense, your dedication to some purpose or goal. But it is also your sense of appreciation and dedication to the here and now. And finally, it is the realization that your place in the world, your meaningfulness, is something you must create for yourself."

Setting goals, sticking to them, achieving their goals and then making new goals.....these are skills that most kids don't have. The teacher across the hall has a poster that says "Don't wish for it, Work for it!" I walked past it every day and I started to live by that motto. I challenged my kids often to stop wishing for it but to work for it. This year I want to be a better model of this motto. I want to help my students set goals, stick to them, achieve their goals and make new ones. To me this is how to teach how to live meaningfully. Students have got to see how your doing it before they want to try to do it themselves. I'm going to try to be a better role model to my kids. Letting them see the human side of me allows them to feel empathy for me and allows them to open up to me more in their blogs and discussions.

I am so glad that I found this article that had nothing to do with technology. I have found out that I am learning "how to read" more and more. Looking for the deeper understand of how technology and education can be made better. This class has made me think about my own practices and how I can make them better with just a few Web 2.0 tools.

Issue: Integrating Technology into education and every day life.

J