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Communicator.21- March 2017
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This year continues with energy and excitement at P21! On February 28th, we honored our 2016-2017 Exemplar cohort in Washington, DC for the first ever
#P21OnTheHill event. As part of the day P21 and the 21st Century Skills Caucus held a Congressional Briefing on "
Closing the Skills Gap: Stories from the Field" where co-chairs,
Congressman Dave Loebsack and Congressman Ryan Costello, offered opening remarks. If you missed the event you can learn more about what makes each of our 2016-2017 Exemplars unique at
P21.org/2016Exemplars
.
Mark your calendars. P21 has another "first ever" coming up, the
Skills For Today Week, a social media campaign will be held April 24- 28, 2017, and we need your help to make it a success! Each day will be themed to emphasize how 21st century learning and the 4Cs can empower students to gain the skills they need to be successful in college, career, and life. Learn more at
SkillsForToday.org.
I hope to see many of you on
April 3rd in Chicago at our
Symposium on Global Competencies, brought to you in partnership with CoSN and UNESCO. This event will bring together global thought leaders to discuss the new skills students need to be successful in our ever-changing world. I will be part of a panel discussion titled "
Why Global Competence Matters for College and Career Success," and look forward to a robust and thoughtful discussion.
Learn more
here
.
Thank you for all you do,
Dave Ross
Chief Executive Officer, P21
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We've shaken things up in Foundations of Medicine 1 by throwing students directly into a two-week client project to begin the semester. Previous projects typically lasted most of the semester and involved more student-driven research and service rather than a client-based task. This two-week sprint has the students working hard to deliver what their client has asked of them, and it is a competition, with multiple student groups working on each project. The client will choose their favorite deliverable as the winner. Students have already exceeded expectations by collaborating with other students, leading meetings with clients, and project managing Basecamp, an online tool.
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Creating a space that is conducive to allowing exploration and
21st Century Learning to
happen was the focus of the
INTEGRIS You & I Giving Campaign
this year at Stanley Hupfeld Academy. This new space was revealed to staff during science standards training in early January. It provides materials, space and comfortable stations for explorations. The success can be measured by the amount of science exploration and Project Based Learning that has occurred over the last month. This was made possible through a partnership with INTEGRIS employees. INTEGRIS Health is the corporate sponsor and holds the charter for Stanley Hupfeld Academy.
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When I was growing up in Central Maine, my parents owned several businesses-some did well, some did not. The beauty salon thrived, as did the sandwich business. The tanning salon brought our family to the brink of bankruptcy, but the ceiling cleaning business, the last of my parents' entrepreneurial adventures, was extremely successful.
Over the years, my father's friends, always curious about his business ventures, would ask questions like, "Harry, what ever happened with that tanning business, anyway?" My dad would smile, shake his head and say, "Hey, I don't know--everyone got tanned and we got burned!"
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At
Vance Middle School, students and teachers are using a 3-D printer, the
MakerBot Replicator, in the math classroom. Students use AutoDesk Inventor, a professional CAD software, to design their products. In math class,
through PBL,
students master skills geometry and proportional reasoning units. They have designed and printed their dream school floor plans, games pieces for their student-created games, and manipulatives using the MakerBot.
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Students at Roosevelt Elementary have taken on a whole school design challenge called, "Clean Up Your Act." Using what we call Big IDEA Thinking, students use the Question Formulation Technique (QFT) to Inquire about environmental issues, Design a plan for the team, Engineer solutions and finally create an Action through a presentation. Students presented their work on topics like solving the crisis of "The Great Pacific Garbage Patch".
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Each day in the "Skills for Today" week will illustrate essential elements of 21st century learning that span from early learning to career-and in school and learning environments beyond school. Learn more at SkillsForToday.org.
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Downey USD administration heard and responded to elementary teachers' request for increased professional learning community (PLC) time. The STEAM team was born to ensure a high quality instructional block for students, while teachers examine student data and make instructional decisions.
The "STEAM 15 Team" launched their 90 minute instructional blocks in the fall of 2015, taking STEAM to the 13 District elementary schools every other week. The team instruct using PLTW modules while integrating the arts and design challenges.
The STEAM team also provide PLTW training to District teachers, create and organize Elementary STEAM Parent Nights, and collaborate and communicate with teachers regarding the curriculum and student achievement.
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Feaster Charter has partnered with the Fleet Science Center in Balboa Park to provide girls on campus with an after school science enrichment program. The SciTech program is hosted by an instructor from the Fleet Science Center, Andrea Franco, in conjunction with a teacher at Feaster, Heather Walker. This program exists to give girls the opportunity to explore engineering, science, and technology concepts that will help make them more aware of global issues and the environmental impact of humans. Most recently, the girls teamed up and participated in a competition where they had to design a device to help clean the ocean. This program is a yearlong commitment for the girls and will help them make a positive impact on the world.
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Join P21, and other K-12 tech leaders and instruction leaders to discuss personalized learning, successful PD models, digital citizenship, th
e latest tools for core curricula, coding, robotics, and much more. Attendees also get to try out the latest tools in the interactive "playgrounds."
Click here to
register now.
Tech & Learning Live conferences stem from this premise, bringing together both sides of the conversation for a unique full day of professional learning and networking.
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2017 is a monumental year for VIF International Education, one in which we will celebrate 30 years of bringing global education to classrooms across the U.S. and around the world.
The name VIF has served us well for 30 years, and while it will always hold a special place in the hearts of our staff, our teachers and partners, our name should more accurately reflect our current programs and services, today and in the years to come
.
We are pleased to share that
we have adopted Participate as our new company name
.
We hope you will take a look at our
new continuous learning platform
, which offers collaborative learning opportunities through education-oriented Twitter chats, classroom resource curation and professional development courses.
We look forward to continuing on this journey of collaborative educator development with you!
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Have a little leprechaun or two at home? Check out these
5 St. Patrick's Day activities to inspire creativity and help them learn basic STEM principles.
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Whoever said academics were nerdy need to think again! This year's
United States Academic Decathlon (USAD) China Finals was held in the Shangri-La Hotel in Guangzhou to attract the top scoring students across China to compete in this prestigious team academic challenge.
USAD Decathlon enables
students to learn the different literacy areas and teamwork elements through team-competition in the 10 academic subjects, including Mathematics, Science, Social Science, Music, Arts, Economics, Literature, Speech, Interview, and Essay. Decathletes alongside their parents and coaches, witnessed together one of the most spectacular multidisciplinary academic events in China. Winning teams advanced to enter USAD Finals 2017.
SKT Education Group, which is the official USAD China Executive Committee, has held the USAD China Finals successfully since 2015. SKT is an innovator for global innovative education solutions for 21st century talents. During the USAD China 2017, a simultaneous launch of the first SKT global forum to engage partners and guests took place at the Shangri-La Hotel for diverse stakeholders to share their ideas and latest information about global education. Many Chinese students
massive personal transformation in their teams following the USAD and with the help of SKT. If more Chinese students can participate in USAD China in the future, there is no reason to doubt that a new generation of talent will emerge in China and make academics COOL again!
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To Infinite Knowledge and Beyond!
Khan Academy and Pixar Animation Studios Offer Free Lessons About Storytelling
Learn more about the art of storytelling and more with Pixar in a Box, a free online tool that gives aspiring filmmakers, animators, and artists a behind-the-scenes look at how the magic comes to life. In this newest Pixar In A Box season, lessons feature behind-the-scenes interviews with award-winning filmmakers from beloved Pixar movies, including "Inside Out," "Brave" and "The Incredibles."
"To make a movie here at Pixar takes years, but it all starts with a story" - Pete Docter
Students and any aspiring filmmaker, artist, or animator can learn what goes into crafting a good story, the heart of any movie. The first of six storytelling lessons is now available at PixarInABox.org. Like all products from nonprofit Khan Academy, the storytelling lessons are free. Check out this video preview. Pixar in a Box is available in Spanish and Portuguese.
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Classroom Resource Enrichment Grants (CREGs)
To provide supplementary funding for teachers with limited classroom budgets and demonstrated need in the Arabic classroom, QFI is awarding Classroom Resource Enrichment Grants (CREGs) throughout the 2016-2017 academic year.
CREGs are intended to provide sustainable resources and materials, ideally to serve the classroom for multiple years. CREGs will be awarded quarterly throughout the academic year, and teachers are encouraged to reapply if they did not receive one the first time.
Applications are currently being accepted on a rolling basis- t
he current round of applications is due April 14, 2017.
Click
here
to learn more and apply!
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March 3rd- National Speech and Debate Education Day
The National Speech & Debate Association recently celebrated National Speech and Debate Education Day on March 3. The day was created to recognize teachers and students who are transforming tomorrow through speech and debate education. A U.S. Resolution and more than 25 local and state resolutions were passed across the country declaring National Speech and Debate Education Day. Thousands of students, teachers, coaches, parents, and alumni celebrated through special classroom activities, workshops, webinars, community events, and sharing why they love speech and debate on social media. Additionally, we facilitated students sending more than 1,500 thank you cards to their speech and debate teachers and coaches.
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Being a Good Team Member isn't Intuitive
Group and team work has become integral in classrooms - yet in the years ISA Learning has worked with educators we have not found many
easy-to-use tools, resources, or training for teachers to incorporate collaboration into their classrooms.
That's why we ISA Learning is excited launch TeamBuilders 2.0 this month! TeamBuilders 2.0 was built with educators and tested in classroom so students can develop these skills which are critical for life, school, and work. Deliberate preparation and collaboration skill-building improves classroom culture while enabling teachers to be more effective and students to be more successful.
Check out this new resource here!
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21st century skills, character, meta-learning + modernized knowledge: seminar at Harvard
As presented at SXSWedu and NAIS: for directors of curriculum and learning, department heads, high-level administrators: apply 21st century skills, character, meta-learning, embedded in modernized knowledge. Increase your differentiation as a school by updating and enhancing your curriculum - benefiting students & parents, and the needs of society and employability.
The Center for Curriculum Redesign answers: "What should students learn for the 21st century?" and works with advanced institutions worldwide. Learn more about the seminar http://4dedu.org/; visit the main site
curriculumredesign.org for free/voluntary-contribution download of our book "
Four-Dimensional Education."
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Summer Institute: From Project Based Learning to New Maker Schools
P21 Senior Fellow, Jim Bellanca, and
Deborah Esparza, co-authors of
What is it About Me You Can't Teach?
will guide school teams investigating the innovative New Maker School. Model. Starting with a MindQuest21PBL lab that ends in take home PBL units, teams will examine how six pilot schools used PBL for their whole school transformations. Teams leave with a plan for adapting the New Maker model in their districts or CMOs.
August 8-10, 2017
. Medinah Conference Center. Addison, Illinois. For more information and to register go to
www.ilc21.org
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Let us know what you think of the
Communicator.21- What content do you want to see more/less? Send your feedback to
lizzette@p21.org. Thank you for reading!
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