Building and maintaining relationships is at the top of my list. Students must be able to work along side others, to collaborate with those on their team, to have someone to share with. When students trust educators they begin to flourish, learn, and grow like never before.
Teaching students the life skills of empathy and compassion will allow them to get along in our diverse society. They must be able to understand the feelings that their fellow citizens may experience in order to live and work alongside others in our world.
Listening is a key component to success. Not just listen with an answer or next statement in mind, but really listen. Listening to understand, then formulating a response that is worthy of sharing. Listening so that the person you are speaking with knows you care what they are saying.
Critical thinking is important in today's world. Learning to think critically, to move your thoughts and actions up the Bloom's Taxonomy ladder will empower students to have a voice at the table.
Students need to be given the opportunity to have authentic learning experiences, to choose their path to problem solving. Students learn best by doing, hands on activities. We should facilitate, then get out of the way and let the learning happen.
Creativity and innovation are also on my must teach list of skills. Our world is changing at a very fast pace, students will need to be able to creatively think on their feet. They will need to be innovative in our competitive world.
Our world is changing, the essential skills we must be teaching our students are changing, we must learn and grow as educators alongside our students.
Teachingly,
Mrs. Hime
