During the quarter for the Digital Education Leadership program at Seattle Pacific University, the focus has been to develop coaching skills, to understand the role of a peer coach, to define effective learning, and to incorporate 21st century learning. And now module four probes further into coaches collaborating with peers to improve learning activities (Wicks … Read More
This week I explore the first and sixth ISTE Coaching Standards through the Digital Education Leadership program at Seattle Pacific University. Through my studies, the terms “21st century skills” and “21st century learners” continue to pop up. These phrases have been used in abundance over the last decade, but what do they really mean? And how do I, as a school librarian, help incorporate them into the classroom? In an effort to succinctly articulate my musings, my question this week is as follows:
What are 21st century skills and how can they be incorporated into the classroom in a meaningful way that enhances the curriculum?
Before I can explore the implementation of 21st century skills, I needed to pause and illustrate what a 21st century learner might look like:
The National Council of Teachers of English define a 21st century learner as someone who is able to:
This week I continue my exploration of the first and second ISTE Coaching Standards through the Digital Education Leadership program at Seattle Pacific University. As I delve into these standards, I also hone my skills as a peer coach, merging my studies with my new role as Technology Integration Specialist. These opportunities of real-time implementation of my education has me wondering why more graduate (and even undergraduate) programs don’t follow a similar model, with students catering their learning to fit their “real lives.” I am so very thankful that my homework is directly connected to the responsibilities of my job. This week, for example, I was introduced to a variety of communication tools to make the peer coaching experience equally effective for both the coach and the collaborating teacher. My classmates and I devoted time to hold mock coaching meetings to practice these new skills, an exercise that initially felt silly, but proved to be a great confidence builder.
While this activity was designed to train peer coaches, the communication skills are useful in all collaborative relationships (they were a great reminder for all areas of my life). Les Foltos, Director of Educational Innovation at Peer-Ed and author of … Read More
Setting Collaborative Norms for Peer Coaching As an educator and a peer coach-in-training, I am investigating the world of peer coaching and its positive effect on improving teaching and learning in our schools. In last week’s post, I explored the roles and responsibilities of peer coaching by examining one key aspect of coaching: successful coaching … Read More
A Key Ingredient for Peer Coaching- Building Trust A new quarter has begun in the second year of the graduate course, Digital Education Leadership program at Seattle Pacific University. Throughout the course, our cohort will focus on the ISTE Coaching Standards . The ultimate goal for this course is to create a coaching plan … Read More
Action Plan Feedback This quarter, I have been working to develop an action plan centered around how the policy of Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) fits into my ideal learning environment. Recently, my class came together for a face-to-face session to review emerging plans. We engaged in a practice known as a Tuning Protocol to receive feedback. Just as student learning […]
