21st Century Skills

We have been weaving into our vernacular and daily thinking 21st Century Skills the past few months, and I wanted to give you a brief update.  Our two main areas of focus this year (though we touch on the others) are Systems Thinking and Critical Thinking.

Systems Thinking is a way to look at things around us as a whole unit with many parts.  We use the word Interdependence a lot when talking about this.  We think about all the parts that make up the whole and what happens when a part fails.  Sometimes this causes the system to fail, sometimes it makes it weaker, sometimes other parts take over and have to be resilient.  Ask your kiddos about this!

Critical Thinking is another tool that is woven into all areas.  We are really looking at text, point of views, arguments, and problems with a critical eye to analyze each to develop stronger thinking skills.

With both of these broad concepts, students annotated the definitions to create personal meaning for themselves.  We also create a few "I can" anchor charts to serve as a checklist in kid-friendly terms.  I must say, I'm very impressed with their thinking and application.