In today’s world, jobs are much more complicated than ever before. We are trying to prepare children for the 21st Century workplace in jobs that may not have even been created as of yet.  With the constant improvements and developing technology, the world is changing at a rapid rate. In the 21st century, people need skills that go far beyond the basic knowledge that was sufficient in the past. For this reason, students must be taught critical thinking and problem solving skills along with collaboration.

      In everyday work, employees must use critical thinking to better serve customers, develop better products, and continuously improve themselves within an ever-changing global economy. We no longer need skills that regurgitate information as we have the internet that is able to do that for us. We need students to be able to think and problem solve so they know how to use the internet as a resource in order to solve a bigger picture problem. This is the type of skill needed in today’s workplace. 

      The challenge in training students how to critically think is in the amount of curriculum teachers are given. Teachers feel the need to get through all the curriculum which encourages more memorization instead of understanding the process.  Teachers need to train students how to ask good questions, examine information, create using information gathered, interpret data and debate with their peers respectfully.  A great way to teach children critical thinking skills is through inquiry based lessons. This would allow children to ponder and research answers to a question.  They use books, articles, videos and the internet to find answers to the question given by the teacher.  After gathering information, students can meet in small groups and engage in discussions related to what they learned or discovered through these activities. This allows students to synthesize their new learning, reflect on the learning experiences they had, and make connections to how this new information relates to the essential question of their  inquiry unit.

      Another important 21st Century skill is collaboration. In jobs of today, employees do not work in isolation as once did in the past, rather work is done collaboratively. For this reason, it is imperative that teachers are training students in how to work cooperatively together. 

      Working effectively in groups does not happen naturally. This takes time and scaffolding. In order to ensure that each child is a productive unit of their group, assigning jobs is a good idea. This prevents one or two students doing all the work and others riding on their coattails. The teacher should also teach students how to listen. This may seem like a simple skill, but it can be very difficult for many. Children are often self-centered and only want to share their ideas. Students should understand a good listener makes eye contact and restrains themselves from cutting off other students. Lastly, students need to learn how to keep and open mind and negotiate.

      Students also learn to use communication for a range of purposes. These purposes include to inform, instruct, motivate and persuade. This can be accomplished through writing, power point presentations, blogs, etc.

     

      As a teacher I never yell or belittle my students. I do not believe this style of teaching is good  or effective for any student. At times, the teaching profession may test your patience but a teacher must always stay calm and remember they are there for the students. The things I always try and remember to do to help motivate my students is make school as fun as I can. If lessons are engaging and hands on kids want to come to school and learn, This is a great motivator for students. 

      A time I was deflated in my schooling was when I was in the fourth grade. I had a male teacher who believed in humiliating, belittling and hurting his students. This was 1977, so I guess it was okay to treat children in this manner at that time. He would pick up students while in their chair and drop them from a foot off the ground. He would also pinch students on their shoulder and hit them on their heads with a magazine or folded up papers. 

      So one day, I admit I was completely not paying attention during a science lesson and as we were reading out of the textbook whole class (boring), he stopped and asked me what poultry was. I did not know what it was and could not answer. He yelled at me for not knowing what poultry was and told me we had just read it in the text. I was a very shy child at this age and I was completely mortified. He proceeded to come over and gave me his notorious pinch until I found it in the text and was able to tell the class what poultry was. 

     This was a horrible memory for me and I very much disliked school having this teacher.  I don’t think I felt confident again in my schooling until the next year, where I had a nurturing teacher who knew how to encourage and motivate me. Due to this event in my life, I am always mindful of what I say and how I treat my students.

      A person who inspired me in my schooling was my master teacher while in my first student teaching assignment. She was an amazing teacher who pushed me more than I thought I could handle. The two months I worked with her, was the most challenging thing that I ever went through, but also the most rewarding. 

     When I walked into her class, I felt and observed a class based on love and respect. The students respected each other, the teacher and the teacher respected each and every one of the students. The class ran like a well oiled machine with smooth transitions throughout the day. My master teacher never raised her voice and always had a calm demeanor.  This is what inspired me! This was the type of teacher I knew I wanted to be. 

     I worked hard each and every day to emulate what I saw my teacher do.  My master teacher was supportive and encouraging, yet she was not afraid to give me constructive criticism when needed. I still remember, like it was yesterday, the project that was given to me by my master teacher. We were beginning a new unit in Social Studies…Los Angeles 100 years ago.  I was to transform the entire classroom with various stations that demonstrated what life was like 100 years ago.  The stations included communication, laundry, school supplies, toys, etc. Each station had to have an appealing presentation of realia along with instructions for the kids. I worked until midnight transforming the classroom to look like it was 100 years in the past. I couldn’t believe teaching was so much work. Even though it was a long exhausting two months, I attribute my teaching success to my master teacher. I like the teacher I am today and I owe it all to her. 

Introduction

My name is Angela Stringer and was born and raised in Southern California. I have been married for 13 years and we have a 11 year old daughter a 9 year old son together. This is my 17th year of teaching with my experience ranging from kindergarten through 3rd grade. I am currently teaching 1st grade, which happens to be my favorite grade to teach! I try to create a warm, safe and loving environment where my students want to come and learn and feel safe to take risks. I like my children to explore and learn through doing. I believe children learn best when they are actively involved in hands on activities.

Each child is different and unique in their own way. The way they learn is specific to each individual student. Therefore, two hours of every day is planned for centers. With this technique, I am able to differentiate instruction to homogeneous groups of students.  They receive instruction on their specific level and I am able to use different strategies since each group is made up of 4 -5 students.

I, myself, am a very visual and sequential learner. Therefore, my teaching always has a very specific order that makes sense. I also try to stay away from a lot of "teacher talk" (lectures), instead I believe a student centered environment with a lot of "student talk" is more effective for learning. In addition, I use a plethora of visuals including graphic organizers.