Are You 21st Century Skills Ready? Check Out this Teacher Technology Bucket List!

A very special thanks to Crechena Wise, Principal extraordinaire of Tetzlaff MS in ABC Unified for sharing this post with me.  Are you 21st Century Ready?

The Common Core standards require use of technologies. As more districts acquire more learning technologies and apply new strategies to comply, teachers are required to integrate new tools into their classrooms for learning and assessments. What do they need to know?

Brian Byrne – curriculum associate for elementary math in Stamford PS, CT, devised the Teacher Bucket List . “This is what I consider should be the bare minimum a 21^st century teacher should be knowledgeable about and utilize during instruction time with students. The list is in particular order.”

New Web 2.0 tools emerge all the time, and those educators at the cutting edge will find them, test them out, and spread the word about the useful ones to colleagues, who will further refine the list of what works for their students and under what circumstances.  At some point, use of these tools will reach critical mass as they become easy to use, transparent, and an essential component of schoolwork.  Educators will use sound pedagogical judgment to determine which tools – web-based and traditional – are best to use for student learning and when and how to use them.

Teacher Technology Bucket List

A 21^st century teacher should be able to:

1.     Create a Twitter account to communicate with all classroom stakeholders.

2.     Understand how to search for, download, use and remove apps.

3.     Scan a document and save it as a PDF.

4.     Attach a file to an email, post, etc.

5.     Create a blog and update it frequently with relevant information.

6.     Provide a place for students to create digital portfolios.

7.     Use the basic functions of Excel

8.     Put together a quality PowerPoint or Prezi presentation

9.     Understand how to operate and use their interactive whiteboard to enhance lessons

10.  Provide ground rules and expectations for students regarding digital citizenship

11.  Upload pictures from a camera and then use them within various platforms

12.  Support students in being creative and presenting their information in various ways

13.  Upload a video to YouTube

14.  Skype or videoconference

15.  Use Delicious.com and Pinterest to find teaching resources for the classroom.

16.  Collaborate with students via Google Drive

17.  Use a community forum like Edmodo

18.  Speak their language: know understand, and speak with kid-friendly language when appropriate.

19.  Experiment with comfort; accept that students may know more than you occasionally

20. Build a network by participating, sharing, and learning constantly.