Route 21

Napoleon Dynamite knows that skills are important. "Girls only want guys who have great skills, like numb-chuck skills, bow hunting skills, and computer hacking skills." Perhaps if Napoleon were to revisited the issue of skills today, he might find out that in order to survive in the highly competitive 21st century, he he may need to rethink his priorities.

If you are like Napoleon Dynamite, then it is time for you to revisit what "skills" are important in allowing your students to succeed future jobs. If you haven't done so already, do yourself a favor and check out The Partnership for 21st Century Skills website. So many of us find ourselves wanting to become more aware of how we can more effectively teach the "digital natives" that come into our classrooms each day, but are often left wondering how to do so, and most often, where are the resources?

This website is a great place to begin, as it is an excellent resource for anyone wondering what 21st century skills are. By simply studying the framework for 21st century skills, one will quickly find out that 21st century learning is not just about blogs, wikis, and podcasts, but also about career and life skills, learning and innovation skills, and of course core subject skills.

The Partnership for 21st Century Skills website also offers a resource to its users, called Route 21. From the Route 21 page, one is able access all types of helpful information, on varying levels of subject matter. So if you are interested in figuring finding a resource in a particular standard, Route 21 may be able to help you out. Or, if you were hoping to increase your students knowledge in one of the specific skills areas, you can narrow down your search to match your skill. You can also find out what your state is doing (or not doing) to create 21st century thinkers. This page offers you all sorts of information, in hopes of giving you some of the resources that perhaps you don't already have.

My school district uses The Partnership for 21st Century Skills website as a starting point for teachers wondering how to reach the millennial students in our classrooms. We especially focus on the framework for teaching, because we strongly feel that these are the skills our students will have to have to be able to compete for jobs in the 21st century. In one of our several committees dedicated to better serving the technological needs of our students, we often refer to the 21st century framework as a starting point for what we should do next.

Because my school district follows the suggested framework, students in our district will hopefully leave high school feeling prepared for the next stage of their life. Several years ago we began using the Everyday Mathematics curriculum, which many parents had a hard time dealing with, because of the many challenges that each unit touches on. However, now that several of the students who were the pilots or pioneers of the system are in high school, the district is seeing high gains in student retention and ability in math classes. In my opinion, the same will be said of students, who are currently using 21st century skills in the classroom. These students are going to gain experiences that will allow them to compete in the competitive real world that awaits them.

Napoleon Dynamite's skills may get him the girls; however, they are not likely to prepare him for the 21st century, where the job market is constantly changing, and increasingly getting more competitive. If his teachers had access to The Partnership for 21st Century Skills website, perhaps his skills list would have been different?