21st Century Classrooms vs 20th Century Classrooms

I know there is much debate over Common Core.  I'm not here to discuss the details behind CCSS and the politics.  All I know is that our world is not the same as it was when I went to school.  As a matter of fact, it is rapidly changing daily.  Are our students prepared for these changes? Are our classrooms preparing students to be successful in the 21st century?  What are the 21st Century skills that our students need to be successful today? Click the link to see a list of 21st Century Skills.

Now click here to see a comparison of 20th Century Classrooms vs 21st Century Classrooms.  Which one are you? 

Comment below and let me know.  What are you doing to transition your classroom into the 21st Century? What do you need to make it possible? 

Common Core Elementary Math Progressions

First of all, a friend of mine directed to me a great resource on the common core which had math vocabulary lists for all grade levels.  This site is from a school district in Utah.  I had some concerns about one or two of the terms used on the third grade list because I couldn't find them in the standards documents.  The elementary math coordinator from their district told me that the majority of the words are common core. Actually, she believes they all are, but some did come from their math series Houghton Mifflin Go Math.  Honestly though, the site was great.  Here is the link. While looking through that site, I stumbled across a blog titled Tools for the Common Core State Standards.  It's author is Bill McCallum.  He wrote the article The Structure is the Standards.  This article is a must read for Common Core. So much great information, so little time!  Okay, now the reason I started this post in the first place.  On that same vocabulary search I found a site from the University of Arizona that published some draft papers that describe the progression of the mathematics through each of the strands.  The papers are labeled by grade level are very easy to read.  What I loved most about the papers though is the one or two paragraphs at the end of each one that explains how the math at the lower grades is setting the foundation for the math in the grades beyond.  It is very specific too.  Want to know why it's important to compose and decompose shapes? Read the Geometry paper.  Want to know why it's important to know algebra at the lower grades? Read the K-5 Operations and Algebraic Thinking page.  Here is an example excerpt from the geometry:

Where the Geometry Progression is Heading

Composition and decomposition of shapes is used throughout geometry from Grade 6 to high school and beyond. Compositions and decompositions of regions continues to be important for solving a wide variety of area problems, including justifications of formulas and solving real world problems that involve complex shapes. Decompositions are often indicated in geometric diagrams by an auxiliary line, and using the strategy of drawing an auxiliary line to solve a problem are part of looking for and making use of structure
(MP7). Recognizing the significance of an existing line in a figure is also part of looking for and making use of structure. This may involve identifying the length of an associated line segment, which in turn may rely on students’ abilities to identify relationships of line segments and angles in the figure. These abilities become more sophisticated as students gain more experience in geometry. In Grade 7, this experience includes making scale drawings of geometric figures and solving problems involving angle measure, surface area,
and volume (which builds on understandings described in the Geometric Measurement Progression as well as the ability to compose and decompose figures)   6/23/2012, comment at commoncoretools.wordpress.com.

Just for those teachers who sometimes ask, "Why do I need to teach this?" These papers answer the question.

Common Core: Why Change?

I laughed so hard watching this video during our opening staff meeting this morning.  As I listened to my executive director talk about the hidden meaning of the video as it pertained to us and education I drew my own comparison to common core and the changes we face.  I love the common core shifts and I believe for some it will be like this broken escalator.  We are used to one way of doing things.  We were taught one way and so we teach that way and when we are stuck we are now faced with the decision of moving on our own despite the challenge or remain where we are and go nowhere.  It also made me think of how we teach certain subjects--math in particular.  Many teachers resist the idea of giving kids the opportunity to use multiple strategies.  There is a fixation with the standard algorithm.  Amazingly enough, there are other ways to solve problems.  Just like in this video, we need to know more than one way out of a situation.  We need to know how to solve problems on our own and how to collaborate with others as well.  When we learn how to solve a problem using only one method, we don't learn the skills necessary to make application to other situations and solve more complex problems.  That's my thought for the day.  I felt the need to share.  I'd love to hear your thoughts and opinions.