P21 Website

www.p21.org

I am pleasantly surprised by the amount of information posted on the p21 website.  It is extremely detailed and well thought-out.  There is a plethora of resources available for all of the stakeholders in such a large educational platform trying to promote change.  This information and data is very helpful.  The website also clearly defines what they desire and show example of classroom and school models. 

As I was observing their proposed content change in schools, I agreed with most of it, but I was concerned about the drastic changes they proposed.  I tried access the schools in my state but I was given an error stating “I did not have permission to view the content.”  This may mean it was blocked by the site or by my district.  This was intriguing.  Many of the suggestions proposed are slowly being integrated in my district.  For example, we have just received approval for a waiver from the current state assessments.  We are also seeking testing that is aligned with these ideals. 

I know that the website promotes the 3Rs, but with all of the other components, I am skeptical whether or not the 3Rs would still be as prominent as they suggest.  Moreover, I did not see much of a focus on actual art programs.  I feel as though this is an extreme version.  Most schools and districts are promoting STEM and CATE programs.  I think this is safer.  Just my opinion though.  I am afraid that too much of a drastic change could have poor implications for students; however, their reasoning appears to be valid and well researched. 

What are your thoughts?  It is too extreme?

This is the kink to what I thought was bit too extreme for organizing content:

http://www.p21.org/storage/documents/1.__p21_framework_2-pager.pdf

My Reasoning

A quick introduction of myself:  my name is A.J. and I am the adviser of my school’s daily news broadcast: Wave TV.  My students direct and produce the show for our student body of about 2800 and then post it to the internet for the community.  My course is considered a CATE class (Career and Technology Education) and the class is called Media Technology 1 and 2.  I am sure you can imagine the huge impact technology has in my classroom. 

Keeping the large amount of technology I already use, I am nervous to incorporate a blog into my classroom for my students.  We are already using Google Docs and Google Drive to share information through my program.  I know it would be easy for my students to use their Gmail accounts to start a Blogspot, but I am not completely sure of the impact it would make in my classroom.  My students do not have any issue communicating using social media and email. I use the Remind101 text program to give my students announcements and reminders.  All of these items are easily attainable from a smart phone.   The only reason I would possibly consider using a blog in my class is to eliminate all paper from my classroom; for example, my students could complete their package outlines using Google Docs and then they can post their personal evaluations and reflections to their blog instead of the paper form we currently use.  Moreover, our show uses Twitter and Facebook as our main place to post updates and links to our shows.  We post our actual shows on Schooltube.  Creating a blog for the show would be overkill.  What do you think?  We are using technology that is new and progressive and I am unsure if a blog would impact student learning.  Many of my students have a Tumblr, but it is not designated as “school appropriate” at the moment. 

 

At the moment, I would like to use the blog to communicate to other CATE teachers .  This would mean that students would not use the blog to communicate with each other (as I explained above.)  Teachers would be able to share ideas and post examples of student work.  I am currently a member of a listserv where I experience something similar via email.  Therefore, if I use this blog as a place to post about my experiences in my classroom and ask for suggestions and comments it would still impact student learning.  Mainly because the sole source of information about new technology and equipment comes from other teachers in the area.  I would still be able to showcase their work by posting links and pictures of what is going on in the classroom. 

Why a Blog?

Honestly, I started this blog initially to fulfill a course requirement for a class I am in, just to jump through another hoop; however, it is going to be more than that.  This is my chance to really engage the community of Summerville High School and explain what it is like behind the scenes of their award winning news broadcast.  What are common obstacles we face, the amount of work students spend on producing the show, and a way to communicate beyond the daily news show.  It should be fun.