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This site was designed by teachers to assist colleagues in planning and delivering effective 21st century instruction in West Virginia Classrooms. It enables educators to quickly access 21st Century Content Standards, Learning Skills and Technology Tools for WV Schools, as well as other resources that exemplify rigorous and relevant instructional design and delivery.

"Today as I was wading through my bookmarks I came across this resource which I have saved awhile ago. This is a chart featuring what its author called 21 things every 21st century teacher should do this year. This chart is created by Sean Junkins based on a blog post by Carl Hooker. I went through the ideas suggested here and thought of providing you with some good web tools to apply to some of these ideas. The tools I am sharing are based on posts I have published in this blog. "

"The terms "fail forward and computational thinking" are trending recently, but what does that really mean? Computational thinking is a method of reasoning that teaches students how to solve real-world, complex problems with strategies that computers use. Computational thinking and the Design Thinking Process are frameworks for problem-solving to help address the need for 21st century skills across our nation's K-12 school system. To make 21st century skills easier to comprehend and teach, Tata Consultancy Services and Discovery Education have teamed up to introduce "Ignite My Future In School," a free resource offering professional development, educator guides, model lesson plans, and curriculum connector resources that provide educators and students with 24/7 support. Aligned to national standards, "Ignite My Future in School" provides teachers, including Learning Leaders, with exclusive, cost-free, professional development experiences across the country and the initiative inspires educators to adopt a transdisciplinary approach. As part of Ignite "My Future In School," we've identified seven effective thinking strategies to equip young innovators with valuable problem-solving skills:"

"3 Steps To Start Learning How 2 Learn"

"There is a lot of thoughts and ideas about what learning in the 21st century is supposed to look like. Most likely you are constantly bombarded with books, workshops, keynote presentations, webinars and good old lectures (yes, even on the topic of modern learning…) that remind you that it is time to upgrade traditional teaching and learning."

"Technology is changing not only the instructional methods we use to teach our students, but it is changing the classroom and learning experience. Digital learning communities - virtual spaces where students can collaborate, assist in each other's learning, and build relationships - are integral to 21st century learning. With it being January and a time for New Year's Resolution, we thought these apps might be something to try out in the new year! To support teachers, this month's Roundup is a compilation of App Ed Review's favorite learning communities apps that support students asking and answering questions, collaborating on work in real time, and creating their own lessons."

"Regardless of what we call them, the 21st century skills represent a type of skill that is not traditionally connected to standards and skills our students are evaluated on. Even though we know these types of skills are imperative to success in the workplace, in relationships, and in life-they are still seen often as "nice to have" instead of "need to have" for our students."

"Do we facilitate 21st Century means of Acquiring Knowledge?"

[Infographic] The Right Ways to Be a 21st Century Educator

"I wish geometry was taught in this way when I was in school. Curriki's new Project-based Learning (PBL) high school Geometry course is now available. For so many students, it's difficult to make a real-life connection between math and their everyday lives. By adopting a Project-Based Learning (PBL) approach, students learn that geometry is not only theoretical, but practical and necessary. Students will move beyond a basic understanding of concepts to an enjoyment of discovery. This free Geometry course not only leverages the popular PBL "active" approach but is also aligned to Common Core State Standards. Thom Markham, Ph.D., President of PBL International, is the designer of the course. He notes that Project-Based Learning points us toward the future of education. "It's a proven method for integrating the 21st century skills of communication and teamwork into the delivery of core subjects.""

"Recently on westXdesign-via scoopit-we found an interesting graphic about naming 12 principles of collaboration. Collaboration is among the most-often promoted fluencies of 21st century learning (along with creativity and communication). However, there are very few frameworks or models that exist to support the development of better collaboration forms. As it is, in many K-12 learning environments, collaboration is limited to teacher-created grouping, or more scattered project-based learning groups that converge on a single project and thus a single goal. The following principles of collaboration (seemingly created for businesses but clearly applicable to learning) push that idea a bit further-with some important emphases on the individual, including:"

"Critical thinking is the engine of learning. Within this complex process or so many other relevant themes that contribute to learning: creativity, analysis, evaluation, innovation, application, and scores of other verbs from various learning taxonomies. So the following infographic from Mentoring Minds is immediately relevant to all educators, and students as well. It's a bit of a mash of Habits of Mind, various 21st century learning frameworks, and the aforementioned learning taxonomies, promoting collaboration, problem-solving, and real-world connections (standard "critical thinking fare" with Habits of Mind-sounding phrases such as "Open-Mindedness.""

"We Needed to Talk about 21st Century Learning....So We Did!"

"Increasingly, educators are acknowledging and welcoming the relative advantages of social media into the teaching and learning process. From creating school Facebook pages to connecting students with experts via Twitter, social media has taken root as a legitimate classroom learning and communication tool. The highly linguistic nature of social media allows us to create and consume ideas and information unlike ever before. Much attention has been given to composing an articulate blog post and condensing our messages to 140 characters or less. However, effective use of this 21st century technology requires that we not only become proficient in textual communication, but also in our ability to express ourselves and interpret others' ideas through visual literacy. "

"Project Tomorrow®, the national education nonprofit organization that annually facilitates the Speak Up National Research Project, conducted a special Speak Up survey in Spring 2012 for college students in teacher preparation programs. Since 2007, Project Tomorrow has collaborated with Blackboard Inc. to create a series of annual reports that focus on key trends in the use of technology to increase student achievement, teacher productivity and parental engagement. This new report, "Learning in the 21st Century: Digital Experiences and Expectations of Tomorrow's Teachers," is the latest in the series and provides new insights that will inform college and university based teacher preparation programs as well as the induction and professional development processes within K-12 schools and districts. Tomorrow's teachers may have the keys to finally unlock the potential of technology to transform teaching and learning, but much depends upon their experiences in their preparation program and how well future school leadership can support their expectations for essential technology tools and resources."

"The list of mind blowing videos covering the topic of 21st century education and learning is growing bigger and bigger. There are actually some clips that I think every teacher should watch if not twice then at least once. These videos are not only an inestimable source of inspiration but are also a good resource packed full of great ideas on where education is right now. "