The feature below, from GOOD magazine- http://www.good.is/
Pretty cool just to see profiles of 30 companies from all across the world of work,
http://www.good.is/post/30-places-we-want-to-work/
however the longer I studied the list, I started thinking about what kind of people start these companies... what in their background (school, home, community, life experience) caused them to think and act in a way resulting in a company labeled as a "place we want to work"? Below the description of each company is a legend explaining how that company made it on the list of 30. The criteria used to select the companies is an interesting commentary on what the world of work looks like today and how it will likely evolve for us and more importantly for the young people we teach.
SO, here's a question for the COMMENT SECTION... how do we (how do our schools) prepare students, not just to work in companies like these, BUT how do we prepare them to do the TYPES of work described and MAYBE MOST IMPORTANTLY, how do we prepare them to be the FOUNDERS and ORGANIZERS of companies... ESPECIALLY our kids who will graduate and remain in ARKANSAS?
That's a good question. I wonder about that every week when I prepare my lesson plans. I try to make them "relevant" to the world now and the future. Unfortuantely, I don't feel that I have found the answer, yet. I haven't given up though. P.S. Love the technology angle in the last F19 meeting. I'm trying to stay motivated but it was hard to stay that way back in the "technologically challenged"" school that I'm at.
ReplyDeleteGlad you enjoyed working on your PLN. You're exactly right- we get excited about all the great resources and tools available to share with our students and co-workers only to see that we're blocked or we don't have the equipment, etc. Hang in there, get your co-workers, students and the adults in their lives excited about the possibilities and hopefully the "noise" will force, or maybe to say it in a nicer way, encourage your school to get with the program :)
ReplyDeleteI had my 3rd graders create a Halloween inspired story but in collaborative groups versus on their own. I had them line up by the the letters in their names, then numbered them off from there-true Amanda Linn style-and then gave them picture prompts for their story and set them working on one story as a group. I had the teams assign a writer and time keeper and distributed talking sticks to ensure everyone got a turn. It was great to see them work as a team towards a united goal. Some did not agree or wanted to tell on their fellow team-mates for laziness and I simply said, "What can you do to make it better?" I get to read the rough drafts this weekend. So I guess to answer the question, we worked on Collaboration to prepare them for the future workplace.
ReplyDeleteWith our students growing up in a world where most of their socializing takes place over the internet, or through texting, I feel that the most important thing that I can do as a kindergarten teacher is to teach them how to work together and to teach them social skills. I too love the PLN that we worked on in Forum 19! When I got back to school, I had an email from my principal wanting to know what websites we needed that were blocked. Therefore, I am hoping that I will now have access to all the cool resources we were introduced to! Rhonda Wagoner
ReplyDeleteWe were discussing the same thing today. The students we are teaching now will one day be taking care of us and making decisions about our future (health care plans, etc.). How do we get them to see past their own social life toward the future? I don't want to look back in 20 years and still see my students in the same town, on the same corner, without a job, and no prospect of getting out. I want them to think outside the box and believe they can do anything. They all see themselves as being the next American Idol or Kobe Bryant. How do I open their eyes to the relevancy between a quality education and a prosperous future in a REAL job?
ReplyDeleteOkay so this is wayyy off in left field but...
ReplyDeleteI have been thinking of how to spend quality time fosuing on 21st century skills in my classroom, which caused me to WONDER...
Are some of SLEs outdated? (I am thinking cursive handwriting, telling time on a analog clock...)
Could those SLEs be replaced by ones that are more current and relevant to this technological age?
Erica, I TOTALLY AGREE.. It seems to me that maybe even having some technology standards would help promote the use of it a little more.
ReplyDeleteI, like many of us, work in a mostly rural district, without a lot of promising options. I've been trying to figure out for years how to encourage my elementary students to "spread their wings" and want to advance their situations. It's been really hard to encourage a child to become a professional when most of them only know about factory work, farm work, convenience clerks, you see the trend. I try to talk with them every chance I get about all the wonderful things that they could do when they grow up, but it seems that I hit a brick wall more than not.
ReplyDelete