after the bell

When I began teaching high school physics in the late 1980s, I wanted to introduce my students to the way that electronic data collection techniques, i.e. using computers and probes to collect and analyze data, were changing how scientific investigations were designed and carried out.  Despite the fact that I was communicating with colleagues each night on an AOL discussion board, I had no idea of the changes these computers would bring about once they were connected. 

This leads me to ask the question:  Despite the pressure you as new teachers feel to teach the “same old,” what is your vision about what is important to teach in order to prepare students for the 21st Century? 

This question is buzzing around in the ed-tech blogosphere, partly in response to Carl Fisch’s video, “Did You Know.”  A new video, “A Vision of Students Today” by Mike Wesch, drives home the antiquated nature of what is going on in higher ed classrooms, but there is little hope that what is going on in K12 classrooms is any more promising. 

I believe that in order to be a transformational teacher, you need a vision of what you want to teach that transcends your discipline’s  “standards” and leads you to dedicate some instructional time to what you think students will need to thrive and flourish.  Given the exponential changes that are occurring, what will you teach that gives your students this power?