Defining the skills as I understand them:
Survival Skill #1: Critical Thinking and Problem-Solving-->Critical thinking involves being able to approach problems from a different angle based on what you know so far of how that problem resulted in the first place. Tony Wagner says, "We need to approach problems and challenges as a learner as opposed to a knower" (p.17). I interpret that to mean that you are open-minded and willing to learn new information, approaches and strategies in order to come up with a different, and informed, solution to a challenge.
How would I incorporate this skill in my classroom? The common core task performance tasks that students have to solve during math time consist of students having to use critical thinking and problem-solving skills in order to be able to successfully solve those math word-problems. For that reason, it is very easy for me to commit to developing this survival skill in my students. I will measure my success by the amount of students who will finally be able to solve these math tasks without my assistance. Right now they can solve them, but with lots of scaffolding.
Survival Skill #2: Collaboration Across Networks and Leading by Influence-->I interpret this survival skill to mean that students possess digital citizenship when collaborating on-line through different platforms where they have the opportunity to communicate with each other in a respectful and constructive way. To lead by influence means to be so passionate about what you are doing, that others want to take your lead and follow your example to also be involved in whatever it is you're modeling just by you being so passionate about it. You are so passionate and respectful in your endeavor that you don't have to tell others what to do. You just become an influential figure that others are more than happy to do what they see working for you.
How would I incorporate this skill in my classroom? Once we get the iPads, students will have an opportunity to display digital citizenship skills and develop their leadership skills to become influential amongst their peers. I am definitely able to commit to developing this skill amongst my students because it is a must if they are going to be using iPads. I will measure my success by the amount of cyber-bullying that happens or doesn't happen.
Survival Skill #3: Agility and Ability-->I interpret this skill to mean that the student can easily adapt to last-minute changes as well as possess a set of skills in order to be a flexible employee in the future. Students who possess this survival skill cannot limit themselves to a specialty. They cannot claim to be an expert in just one thing. They have to have the flexibility to adapt to the demands of this fast-changing society and develop the new set of expected skills on-demand so that they do not find themselves out of work.
How would I incorporate this skill in my classroom? We currently have classroom jobs for every student in the classroom. Although I know that some of them are better at certain jobs than others, they must all have the opportunity to develop a different set of skills so that at any given moment they can carry out that responsibility if needed. I will measure my success by how confident each student feels in carrying out a task that is normally out of their realm.
Survival Skill #4: Initiative and Entrepreneurialism-->I interpret this skill to mean that a student who possesses this skill is proactive and uses their leadership skills to be innovative, creative and think outside the box. I had a student last year who used to pay really close attention to the math lessons so that later, while walking in line to the cafeteria, he could share with me his proposal for a new project using the iPods integrating math. I would always approve of his proposals because it met all the requirements. I'm not too sure if I could commit to this survival skill because I'm not sure yet how I would develop this skill within each student. If I would implement this survival skill I would measure it by how often students would "seek out new opportunities, ideas, and strategies for improvement" (Wagner, p.32).
Survival Skill #5: Effective Oral and Written Communication-->I interpret this skill to mean that a student can be effectively understood whether they are communicating through spoken language or written language. Students must be very diplomatic, respectful and sensitive towards other people regardless of whether they are communicating in person or through written language.
How would I incorporate this skill in my classroom? I can commit to this survival skill in the classroom because our students need to develop communication skills, both written and spoken, in order to be responsible and contributing members of society. I would measure my success by how clearly and eloquently students can communicate through their written work and oral delivery of their presentations.
Survival Skill #6: Accessing and Analyzing Information-->I interpret this survival skill as meaning that the student is able to sift through a tremendous amount of information and decide what is useful for their purpose depending on their objective, purpose or goal. I can commit to this survival skill because it is essential that students be able to navigate through the many resources that the web has to offer and decide what to spend their time on and what is not worth their time. I can measure my success by providing different resources to my students doing a quick "check for comprehension" to see if the students can determine which links are useful in meeting their objective and which are not relevant to the task at hand.
Survival Skill #7: Curiosity and Imagination-->I interpret this survival skill to mean that the child can use the knowledge that they possess to springboard off of it and create something completely new, while asking the type of questions that inspire others and expand their imagination. I can commit to this survival skill because part of NGSS is to teach students to ask questions that generate curiosity and intrigue the imagination.
How would I incorporate this skill into my classroom? Through science lessons where we practice generating questions that inspire students to look forward to the next topics and arouse their curiosity, I can foster this seventh survival skill.
I am choosing to add Empathy as another survival skill because I feel it is very important for students to be able to put themselves in someone else's shoes if they are going to interact with individuals globally. Part of the Design Thinking Process includes that students develop empathy so that they can fulfill their audience's expectations. If they do not understand their audience, then they will not be able to communicate effectively and have that special and important connection. I would incorporate this survival skill into my classroom because I find it easy to integrate into every subject area. I can definitely commit to integrating this survival skill into my lessons this school year. We are also practicing the 7 Habits by Stephen Covey at my school, so it will be in alignment with current behavioral expectations.
Survival Skill #1: Critical Thinking and Problem-Solving-->Critical thinking involves being able to approach problems from a different angle based on what you know so far of how that problem resulted in the first place. Tony Wagner says, "We need to approach problems and challenges as a learner as opposed to a knower" (p.17). I interpret that to mean that you are open-minded and willing to learn new information, approaches and strategies in order to come up with a different, and informed, solution to a challenge.
How would I incorporate this skill in my classroom? The common core task performance tasks that students have to solve during math time consist of students having to use critical thinking and problem-solving skills in order to be able to successfully solve those math word-problems. For that reason, it is very easy for me to commit to developing this survival skill in my students. I will measure my success by the amount of students who will finally be able to solve these math tasks without my assistance. Right now they can solve them, but with lots of scaffolding.
Survival Skill #2: Collaboration Across Networks and Leading by Influence-->I interpret this survival skill to mean that students possess digital citizenship when collaborating on-line through different platforms where they have the opportunity to communicate with each other in a respectful and constructive way. To lead by influence means to be so passionate about what you are doing, that others want to take your lead and follow your example to also be involved in whatever it is you're modeling just by you being so passionate about it. You are so passionate and respectful in your endeavor that you don't have to tell others what to do. You just become an influential figure that others are more than happy to do what they see working for you.
How would I incorporate this skill in my classroom? Once we get the iPads, students will have an opportunity to display digital citizenship skills and develop their leadership skills to become influential amongst their peers. I am definitely able to commit to developing this skill amongst my students because it is a must if they are going to be using iPads. I will measure my success by the amount of cyber-bullying that happens or doesn't happen.
Survival Skill #3: Agility and Ability-->I interpret this skill to mean that the student can easily adapt to last-minute changes as well as possess a set of skills in order to be a flexible employee in the future. Students who possess this survival skill cannot limit themselves to a specialty. They cannot claim to be an expert in just one thing. They have to have the flexibility to adapt to the demands of this fast-changing society and develop the new set of expected skills on-demand so that they do not find themselves out of work.
How would I incorporate this skill in my classroom? We currently have classroom jobs for every student in the classroom. Although I know that some of them are better at certain jobs than others, they must all have the opportunity to develop a different set of skills so that at any given moment they can carry out that responsibility if needed. I will measure my success by how confident each student feels in carrying out a task that is normally out of their realm.
Survival Skill #4: Initiative and Entrepreneurialism-->I interpret this skill to mean that a student who possesses this skill is proactive and uses their leadership skills to be innovative, creative and think outside the box. I had a student last year who used to pay really close attention to the math lessons so that later, while walking in line to the cafeteria, he could share with me his proposal for a new project using the iPods integrating math. I would always approve of his proposals because it met all the requirements. I'm not too sure if I could commit to this survival skill because I'm not sure yet how I would develop this skill within each student. If I would implement this survival skill I would measure it by how often students would "seek out new opportunities, ideas, and strategies for improvement" (Wagner, p.32).
Survival Skill #5: Effective Oral and Written Communication-->I interpret this skill to mean that a student can be effectively understood whether they are communicating through spoken language or written language. Students must be very diplomatic, respectful and sensitive towards other people regardless of whether they are communicating in person or through written language.
How would I incorporate this skill in my classroom? I can commit to this survival skill in the classroom because our students need to develop communication skills, both written and spoken, in order to be responsible and contributing members of society. I would measure my success by how clearly and eloquently students can communicate through their written work and oral delivery of their presentations.
Survival Skill #6: Accessing and Analyzing Information-->I interpret this survival skill as meaning that the student is able to sift through a tremendous amount of information and decide what is useful for their purpose depending on their objective, purpose or goal. I can commit to this survival skill because it is essential that students be able to navigate through the many resources that the web has to offer and decide what to spend their time on and what is not worth their time. I can measure my success by providing different resources to my students doing a quick "check for comprehension" to see if the students can determine which links are useful in meeting their objective and which are not relevant to the task at hand.
Survival Skill #7: Curiosity and Imagination-->I interpret this survival skill to mean that the child can use the knowledge that they possess to springboard off of it and create something completely new, while asking the type of questions that inspire others and expand their imagination. I can commit to this survival skill because part of NGSS is to teach students to ask questions that generate curiosity and intrigue the imagination.
How would I incorporate this skill into my classroom? Through science lessons where we practice generating questions that inspire students to look forward to the next topics and arouse their curiosity, I can foster this seventh survival skill.
I am choosing to add Empathy as another survival skill because I feel it is very important for students to be able to put themselves in someone else's shoes if they are going to interact with individuals globally. Part of the Design Thinking Process includes that students develop empathy so that they can fulfill their audience's expectations. If they do not understand their audience, then they will not be able to communicate effectively and have that special and important connection. I would incorporate this survival skill into my classroom because I find it easy to integrate into every subject area. I can definitely commit to integrating this survival skill into my lessons this school year. We are also practicing the 7 Habits by Stephen Covey at my school, so it will be in alignment with current behavioral expectations.