21st Century Skills:Common Core

Common Core Standard 6.W.6 states:Use technology, including the internet, to produce and publish writing as well as to interact with others, and demonstrate sufficient command of keyboarding skills to type a minimum of three pages in a single sitting.

Depending on the background of your students, meeting this standard can be trying at times. However, I believe it is one standard that truly translates into real world, work place knowledge.Over the last two months, I’ve worked diligently to bring my own students up to speed.

·         Blogging: A blog excites students because they love to see their writing published online. It also helps to reinforce the fifth stage of the writing process, which is to publish. It makes the writing process tangible and real. My students type one essay a week in Microsoft Word, and then they publish it to their classroom blog. At first, it took almost the entire class period to type one essay and post. Now, only a couple of months later, many of them finish in thirty minutes or less.

·         Prezi: Prezi is an internet based program that allows students to upload power point presentations, and quickly add in videos, images, and cool graphics. I have my students create a simple power point first with all of their content. Once they have finished, they can upload their power point into their Prezi. Then, they can choose a cool template, upload video, music, and images quickly and easily. They absolutely love it, and the best part is that they can work on it at home as well, if they have internet access, without having to save it to a flash drive.

Students love using technology, and it is vitally important for all students. My only warning to teachers is before attempting these types of projects is to first: plan out every step ahead of time according to your students’ skill level, and to make sure that you get plenty of sleep the night before. Patience is required!