LEADERSHIP
In this lesson on Leadership, students are active participants in evaluating the leadership styles of two different elementary school principals over the course of a school year. Students are able to create their own definition of leadership and outline the characteristics they feel strong leaders possess. Students are then able to compare and contrast the leadership styles they see in the two principals against their own descriptions. Students are then asked to evaluate someone in their own lives about their leadership qualities. This lesson plan offers opportunities at several points for differentiation and the inclusion of Web 2.0 technologies. For example, students could use Flipgrid to record their thoughts on Leadership characteristics and respond to their classmates.
DIGITAL LITERACY
The ability to determine the quality of a web resource is an important digital literacy skill for high school students to possess (click on the lesson kit PDF). This lesson begins by having students think about where they get their information online and what traits could possibly make those resources good or bad. Students then review five strategies they can use to review websites to determine their quality of information. Through the application of these five strategies, students gain practical experience evaluating a predetermined list of websites. This lesson plan can be adjusted to meet a variety of student needs and to also include a variety of Web 2.0 tools for students to share their findings.
ENTREPRENEURSHIP
This lesson (free to register) introduces students to entrepreneurship and its characteristics. Throughout the lesson, students are active participants in the study of entrepreneurship through several different forms of technology use. Students also have many opportunities to collaborate with their peers during the learning process. This lesson is easily adjustable for differentiation needs and the inclusion of a variety of Web 2.0 tools to allow students the opportunity to present and share their newly-acquired knowledge with others.
COMMUNICATION
This lesson plan allows students to proactively practice communication skills via situations they may encounter in real life. Student experience is scaffolded through guiding questions. Accommodation strategies are already suggested for both accelerating the learning of higher-level learners and providing intervention supports for developing learners. 21st Century Learning could be further addressed by adding digital communication scenarios to prepare students for effective communication on a variety of digital platforms.
PROBLEM SOLVING
A place-based approach makes this lesson particularly applicable and relevant for students by allowing them to select a practical problem within their own school to solve. Once a problem is selected, students are guided through structured problem-solving steps to begin attacking the issue and formulating a proposed solution. Unique features of this lesson include opportunities to explore a variety of innovative problem-solving strategies such as crowdsourcing, behavioral-change theories, and positive deviance, opening the door for cross-curricular connections.
TEAM-WORKING
Self-evaluation is the hallmark of this team-based lesson. This lesson could be a great starting point for a series of lessons on teamwork as it would offer students the opportunity to yield a self-assessed baseline measure of their own performance in a team. After learning more about teamwork, students could then reassess themselves using this measure to gauge their own growth on this vital 21st century skill.
EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE
Self-awareness is a foundational element of emotional intelligence. This resource provides multiple lesson plans aimed at developing self-awareness. Specifically in the "Workplace Skills" lesson plan, students explore a variety of soft skills that will be relevant in their future careers. One of the main activities in this lesson promotes self-awareness and self-monitoring of skill development as students begin to see the connection between soft skills used in the school setting and required in the workplace. Students will gain insight into how their level of commitment to current pursuits may impact their future career.
GLOBAL CITIZENSHIP
A vital component of becoming an informed global citizen is developing awareness of social issues impacting individuals outside of one's own sphere of experience. Learning about famous change-agents on the global stage can draw students' attention to the various issues they sought to address in improving the lives of their people. This lesson exposes students to the work of Cesar Chavez, Gandhi, and MLK Jr. and fosters discussions of how to be a global change-agent.
