Tony Wagner speaks of the "Global Achievement Gap" which is the gap between what students are learning in school and the seven skills he feels students need for the future:Critical thinking and problem-solving, Collaboration across networks and leading by influence, Agility and adaptability, Initiative and entrepreneurialism, Effective oral and written communication, Accessing and analyzing information, and Curiosity and imagination. As we look as teachers on how we are engaging students in their learning, these core competencies are skills that need to be infused in our lessons. Through inquiry based teaching and strategies used with SmartLearning, students are constantly working toward developing these skills while learning the outcomes. High inference tasks, creating criteria, and feedback loops give students the authenticity and ownership in the task they are working on and the freedom to explore and represent their knowledge in a variety of ways. Teachers take on the role of "guide by the side" as they support each learners needs in order for them to be successful. Below is Tony Wagner's video on the "Global Achievement Gap".
As a teacher, I have worked hard to develop these skills in my students, giving them ownership in their learning. Check out the examples below from our science class:
Simple Machines
As an instructional coach, I find we are also constantly developing these competencies within ourselves. Through reflective conversations, we can keep these skills in the forefront of our planning, along with curricular outcomes to be effective designers of learning and tasks that enhance and build competency skills that our students will need in the future. How do your teachers build core competencies in students?
