Blog Post #4
Jim McKenzie, in his TED talk “Future Ready Schools”, indicates today’s students are well-schooled, but poorly educated. How does this statement make you feel? What does it inspire you to do? Choose one of the 4 Cs from this video. How do you ensure this “C” is a part of your students’ education.
As I reflect on the idea that students are "well-schooled but poorly educated," I am wondering how to effectively change that narrative. With strictly following curriculums and standardized tests, there is a rush to cover all the material. Classrooms and the students in them vary each year. There isn't a one size fits all approach. I try to focus on collaboration. I have noticed the last few years that students struggle to work together and share their ideas. Whether it is through a school activity or job in the future, most students are going to have to learn how to communicate with others.
ReplyDeleteHonestly, the phrase makes me feel like garbage. It's tiring hearing the many ways we as educators "fail". I can't change how much emphasis there is on standardized testing or how many standards we have to get through in a year that it feels like some of the collaboration and critical thinking skills are secondary. I do my best while teaching 30 kids all of the reading and new social studies standards for my state, and sometimes skills that are know are important are secondary because I don't have as many resources or time to get them, and I'm constantly reminded by society, politicians, and TEDtalks about how that is a failure.
ReplyDeleteI try to work on communication in my class the most because it's a skill that will be needed in every career field and it's important in society as well. 5th graders are at this "weird" point in their life where they can come off rude without meaning to, and the social feedback from that is more valuable than anything I can give as a teacher. I also model and have students practice a lot of restorative practice conversations among each other and how to respectfully stand up for themselves.
Jim McKenzie, in his TED talk “Future Ready Schools”, indicates today’s students are well-schooled, but poorly educated. How does this statement make you feel? What does it inspire you to do? Choose one of the 4 Cs from this video. How do you ensure this “C” is a part of your students’ education.
ReplyDeleteI somewhat agree with his statement about how students are well-schooled, but poorly educated. I feel like as a teacher today we are pressured so much but upper administration to hit so many standards throughout the school year. I feel like I am constantly teaching in a hurry and if a student does not grasp a concept too bad so sad we have to keep moving on to be able to hit all of the standards. I feel as though I do not have any "extra" time throughout the school year to challenge my students to stop and think outside the box because of all of this pressure. I want to try to get away from this and allow the students to stop and think about the math problems/lessons that are being taught. This is why I chose the "c" word communication. I want to allow my students the time throughout the lesson/day to ask questions, to work with partners or small groups to collaborate more then just teach, do, repeat.
As a teacher, I feel disappointed that this is said about today’s students. I want students to gain critical thinking skills, creativity, and understanding of real life to become successful. I am inspired to show students that they have the ability to achieve all those things. I can do my best as someone in their life to motivate them. As an art teacher, my C word choice is definitely “creativity.” One of my main objectives in my classes is that students use their own creativity. It’s an important quality that all students should find, and use. To ensure creativity, I have students complete projects that require them to be different than anyone else’s. This ensures they are thinking and doing for themselves, not like others.
ReplyDeleteJim McKenzie, in his TED talk “Future Ready Schools”, indicates today’s students are well-schooled, but poorly educated. How does this statement make you feel? What does it inspire you to do? Choose one of the 4 Cs from this video. How do you ensure this “C” is a part of your students’ education.
ReplyDeleteThe statement makes me frustrated as there are teachers that are not doing their job and putting in the effort and then on the other side, there are teachers that work their butt off to make sure that students are learning and growing as learners and as a person. What inspires me to be the best teacher that I can be is that I want to make a difference in each of my students’ lives. I want them to remember me as a teacher that challenged them, but also shaped them into a learner that is able to preserve, be resilient, and be a kind human.
Communication. I want students to be able to communicate their learning with myself as the teacher, with a partner, and full group. Students need to be able to communicate with peers that they get a long with, but also they need to be able to communicate appropriately with peers they don’t get along with. In direct instruction, it is important to allow students to share their thinking and to be able to explain it full group, with a partner, or with a small group.
That “well-schooled, but poorly educated” line hits, because it feels true more often than I want to admit. Kids are chasing grades earlier and earlier, and with AI in the mix, the temptation is to take the quickest route, get the points, and move on. The problem is that the learning, the critical thinking, and the creativity get sacrificed along the way.
ReplyDeleteIn my computers class, I try to fight that by teaching skills through step-by-step tutorials, but then building in room for students to make it their own. They learn the process, then they add their own creativity and flavor, so it is not just, “Did you follow directions,” it is, “What did you create with it?”
I have also seen a steep decline over the last ten years in students’ ability to connect ideas and think critically about what information means. A few years ago, during a purpose of government unit, I had students compare the Declaration of Independence to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech. Even though Dr. King pulls language straight from the Declaration and both are about oppressed people pushing for rights, students still struggled to see the connection.
More recently in computers, I had 8th graders design a personal brand logo, basically a logo that represents who they are. You would have thought I asked them to solve world hunger. One student genuinely asked how they were supposed to know what to include about themselves. When I asked about their favorite things, they answered, and then asked what that had to do with the assignment. That moment told me a lot, they are used to tasks that have one right answer, not ones that require them to think, connect, and create.
That is why I keep coming back to critical thinking and creativity as the “Cs” I want to protect. AI is not going anywhere, but neither is the need for students to actually understand, make connections, and bring something original to the table. My job is to keep designing learning that makes them slow down, think, and create, even when the easy button is right there.
In TED talk, the 4 C's were critical thinking, creativity, communication, and collaboration. I see some teachers constantly working and doing their jobs and then on the flip side some that are not taking their jobs seriously. That was something that always frustrated me. I would work hard on communication with the kids and try to get them to express themselves and be able to think and talk to others.
ReplyDeleteI thought Jim's video was very eye-opening! Upon hearing that statement, I had to pause the video and reflect. Students are drilled to follow classroom rules, show respect, raise their hand to speak, etc.....Students had to do things a certain way. When it comes to learning actual content, if it wasn't an interest to the student they didn't put forth the effort. I guess I think we focus to much on drilling "rule following" into the students rather than embracing the learning that goes on in the classroom without barriers. Upon reading the 4 C's, I think 'critical thinking' is really important. We need to encourage students to think for themselves and to think deeper through meaningful conversations in the classroom..again without super strong boundaries but still stay in the realm of being respectful to everyone's opinions and ideas.
ReplyDeleteFor me — I think the idea is pretty accurate. The past generations have been able to rely on one set of information and thought they’d stay in one career. The way the world and technology changes now, we and our students will likely be adapting and changing careers through our lives.
ReplyDeleteI see this in my family where older members do not feel they should have to retain info about new technology. They put the load on me to continue to do tasks for them instead of learning to do it. This learned helplessness is just as bad in some older generation as it is in the younger generation.
In my classroom, I find that critical thinking is essential. The English classroom is very centered on the ability deep dive and reflect. I want students to extend their understanding from our reading to their experiences and outlook at the outside world. It’s important.
It is disappointing to hear that students are "well-schooled" but poorly educated. It is very sad, and even more so , wrong, that these children are not getting the education they deserve. It is also frustrating to hear, as I give my all when it comes to teaching. We cannot drop the ball as teachers, because these kids are our future!
ReplyDeleteIt inspires me to keep working as hard as I do. The students can see my dedication, and I hope that they will mimic this hard work, in whatever area they choose to work in one day.
I think critical thinking is extremely important. I want children to use their brains to make smart educated decisions- not AI. I have my students critically think in health class OFTEN. I do this by giving them real life situations , and seeing what solutions they come up with.
In Future Ready Schools, Jim McKenzie says students are well-schooled but poorly educated. That statement makes me reflect on the difference between covering content and truly preparing students for life. It reminds me to focus on meaningful skills, not just completing standards. The “C” I choose is Collaboration. As an early childhood special education teacher, I work with many team members, so it’s essential that we stay on the same page. Through regular communication, shared goals, and consistent strategies, we ensure students receive unified support. I also encourage peer interaction and cooperative play so students learn how to work with others—an essential life skill.
ReplyDeleteHearing Jim McKenzie say that today’s students are well-schooled but poorly educated makes me reflect on how much emphasis is placed on completing assignments, passing tests, and checking boxes, sometimes at what seems to be the expense of developing deeper skills and real-world readiness. It inspires me to focus on helping students not just follow a curriculum, but build the skills, confidence, and critical thinking they need to navigate life and goals beyond high school. Of the 4 C’s, I would say that I focus most on collaboration and communication in my work. Working to collaborate and create opportunities for staff, students and families to work together is critical. I work to model collaboration by connecting students, staff, families, and community resources to find answers collectively. By emphasizing teamwork and shared problem solving, students have the opportunity to learn skills that extend far beyond the classroom.
ReplyDeleteI find this statement to be true. I feel like so often that teachers fall into a rut and are just checking boxes as they teach. Did you teach the standard for the day? Check. Our students' scores show because of that. Our students' parents then think this is the way education should be and they too fall into that expectation. We need a wake up call. This inspires me to keep adding more hands on activities, more project based learning opportunities, more real world activities that make sense to students to my classroom. We need to challenge students but in a way that is fun, engaging, innovative and inspiring to them. We need to understand that what we GET to do as teachers is incredibly important and should never be taken lightly.
ReplyDeleteCollaboration is a skill that students need in all areas of their lives. This is why I focus on it so much in my classroom. My students work together in pairs or small groups often where they have to discuss and collaborate on different questions or problems. I also group students together in pods often so they are able to collaborate as small groups and work together as a team. Sometimes I strategically place students in different situations so they are given the opportunity to learn how to manage different personalities. When this is the case, I am always sticking close and monitoring the situation to make sure it is a positive situation for everyone involved. In order for students to grow or refine their skills they just need the opportunity.
That statement kind of hits home because you can see it, kids are really good at playing the school game, but not always great at thinking for themselves or applying things in real life. It makes me want to be more intentional with what I’m doing in PE and in the weight room so it’s not just about the workout or the game, but stuff they’ll actually use. The “C” I’d pick is communication because it’s a big part of what we do every day. If kids have a choice to sit and have a conversation with their peers or to scroll on their phones many of them would choose scrolling. Kids have a difficult time having conversations with each other. What I have tried doing in my classes is to build that in with partner work, group lifting, and having kids give each other feedback so they’re talking, encouraging, and holding each other accountable.
ReplyDeleteI believe the "C" that I feel is most important to work on in my classroom is creativity. Creativity allows students to use their own minds to solve problems by imagining how to fix the world. When we had over creativity we see so much inside our students and how they view the world and that they can even teach teachers a thing or two. When we stifle creativity, we crush spirits and students just comply with what we are teaching. It's when we give them a prompt and let them run with it is when they truly learn.
ReplyDeleteJim McKenzie, in his TED talk “Future Ready Schools”, indicates today’s students are well-schooled, but poorly educated. How does this statement make you feel? What does it inspire you to do? Choose one of the 4 Cs from this video. How do you ensure this “C” is a part of your students’ education.
ReplyDeleteWell, to be honest, this statement doesn't make me feel very good. Especially when I'm killing myself every day to find ways to make anything I teach feel relevant. I'm not entirely sure how I'm supposed to teach kids to be ready for jobs that don't even exist yet.
The "C" I focus most on is critical thinking, because critical thinking isn't a school skill, it's a life skill. High schoolers rarely think critically about anything and so challenging them to do so feels vital. I would also argue that I model and encourage cognitive flexibility (which isn't one of the 4Cs but does start with C...) to try to convey the message that one must stay open minded to make any progress at all.
Jim McKenzie, in his TED talk “Future Ready Schools”, indicates today’s students are well-schooled, but poorly educated. How does this statement make you feel? What does it inspire you to do? Choose one of the 4 Cs from this video. How do you ensure this “C” is a part of your students’ education.
ReplyDeleteIt makes me feel sad to think that our students and kids are poorly educated. I am a person who has always enjoyed learning knew information and I feel like technology has taken away some of that enjoyment because now it's all at their fingertips and they really don't have to work for learning information anymore. I wish we could bring some of the enjoyment back into learning. It inspires me to make learning fun and interesting for my students.
I am really big into collaboration. I think working together with others is such an important life skill. To be able to work with anyone in your class and to do it respectfully is a skill that I work on almost daily in my class. PE allows me to teach students how to work together in a competitive setting and it is my goal to teach them to do this in a respectful way.
The statement from the video really makes me reflect on current educational practice. It leaves me both concerned and motivated. While schools are often successful at teaching content and routines, we may not consistently develop real-world thinking, problem-solving, and adaptability skills. It inspires me o focus more on building future-ready skills instead of just delivering information.
ReplyDeleteOne of the 4 Cs that stands out to me is critical thinking. In my social sciences classes, critical thinking is a huge component of what we do. I regularly ask students to analyze complex questions about historical events. However, AI has made this more challenging, as students can quickly access or generate responses without engaging deeply. Because of this, I need to redesign these tasks so they are grounded in in-class discussion, current analysis, and application of learning from the lesson rather than traditional take-home responses. To support this, I use open-ended questions, document-based activities, and require students to explain and defend their reasoning rather than memorize answers.
Jim McKenzie, in his TED talk “Future Ready Schools”, indicates today’s students are well-schooled, but poorly educated. How does this statement make you feel? What does it inspire you to do? Choose one of the 4 Cs from this video. How do you ensure this “C” is a part of your students’ education.
ReplyDeleteI don't love the quote. I get it, but I find it too simplistic. On one hand, I hear that students don't know where Iran is or can't identify West Virginia and on the other hand I hear critiques of how useless it is to memorize anything today because you can just look it up. These statements contradict each other... HARD! To function and have an intelligent conversation about a current topic, you have to have a general understanding of the world around you and how different pieces fit together. You can't stop to look up basics about geopolitical things mid sentence. Sure we can look stuff up, but actually knowing stuff allows us to put it all together. We need the basics AND we need to think and apply them at the appropriate times.
It inspires me to take facts and get the students to now dive in and apply them to critical thinking situations. Facts aren't a dead end. We need to apply them. Critical thinking about legal situations using the facts from different Supreme Court cases is something that love to do. Critical thinking IS the key, but its hard to do if you don't have some basic facts stored to memory.
I think there is a lot of truth to the notion that students are well schooled, but poorly educated. School can be a game, and if you know how to play the game well, you are going to score well. As an health teacher, I can have my students for multiple years in a row. I have experienced first hand the memorization loss that can happen over a matter of years or even months. When I ask my 8th grade students questions that require them to retrieve information they learned in 6th grade, they struggle. When I ask that same question to my 6th grade students, they are able to answer with confidence. This just goes to show that my students do a great job memorizing for my class but the information leaves them when they leave me. As a result, focusing my lessons more on critical thinking skills has become a greater point of emphasis for me. I want my students to leave me with the skills that they need to live a healthy lifestyle.
ReplyDeleteThe statement is a reminder that following rules is not the same as actually learning. It makes me feel like we prioritize compliance over curiosity. It's easy to train kids to be good at "doing school" rather than being ready for life.
ReplyDeleteIt inspires me to stop asking students to just memorize processes and start asking them to solve real problems. I want to shift the focus from worksheet answers to understanding how information connects to the world.
I choose Critical Thinking. I ensure this is part of their education by moving away from "yes or no" questions. I give them scenarios with no single right path and ask them to defend their reasoning. I want them to look at information, question it, and figure out how to apply it themselves.