A large part of Wagner's book was dedicated to explaining his seven essential survival skills. My seven survival skills would include many of Tony Wagner’s, but I believe he left out Balance and Precision which are both important as well. To me, initiative and entrepreneurialism are outcomes of curiosity and imagination, and accessing and analyzing information are aspects of critical thinking and problem solving.
1. Critical Thinking and Problem Solving – In the workplace as well as outside of it, adults need to be able to critically assess information they are given in order to make decisions. Everything from product endorsement to political messages to data for their job will need to be critically evaluated before it can be used. Problems come up in every area of life at one point or another and students need to be able to find relevant information and create solutions.
2. Collaboration – No man is an island in today’s workforce. Most jobs require that employees work in teams and discuss options, solutions, problems, and results as well as split the job appropriately given your team members.
3. Agility and Adaptability – Being rigidly attached to an idea or a solution is undesirable in employees. In the workforce, things change moment to moment and students need to be prepared to work under changing circumstances and “go with the flow”.
4. Effective Oral and Written Communication – Every job requires that you communicate effectively and politely with, at the very least, your boss. Often you are also required to communicate with coworkers, and sometimes you need to be a representative of the company you work at to the public. This requires written and oral communication skills.
5. Balance – Many students are pushed to take on too many academic responsibilities. Often in the work place you hear about burn out because someone has taken on too much in too short of a period of time. I believe that it is important to teach students how to balance their lives so that they can enjoy life and avoid getting burnt out on whatever career path they eventually choose.
6. Curiosity and Imagination – In the workplace today, it is not enough to just follow directions. Employers want employees who are self-starters and can anticipate the next steps. This requires curiosity, and students need to cultivate the skill of asking questions and deciding which are useful paths to follow before they leave school.
7. Precision – Could also be labeled attentiveness or attention to detail. In a world where we are trying to move away from multiple choice answers and move towards open ended questions and partial credit, it is easy to lose sight of the importance of precision. Especially in mathematics. Employers are looking for candidates that can give precise information, not generalities, and not information with “few” errors in it that could potentially cause a disaster with their product or services.
Incorporating these skills into my classroom looks a lot like common core math. It looks like giving open ended problems without given data a-la Dan Meyer, and it looks like letting students struggle and work together in groups. It looks like setting an example of balance for my students and talking individually with students who have not found balance in their lives yet. This year I am incredibly busy and while I am slowly shifting the culture in the classroom I took over, it is slow progress. Because of this and the fact that I just listed balance as an important life skill, I can commit to incorporating at least two more problems a-la Dan Meyer into my curriculum this year. I can also commit to giving students at least one problem where they are asked to find a solution to a problem that will require creativity and imagination. I will measure my success by if I create these problems and bring them into my classroom as well as the reception my students give the problems. If the problems are met with strong resistance every time, I am not doing a good enough job of changing the culture in my classroom.
1. Critical Thinking and Problem Solving – In the workplace as well as outside of it, adults need to be able to critically assess information they are given in order to make decisions. Everything from product endorsement to political messages to data for their job will need to be critically evaluated before it can be used. Problems come up in every area of life at one point or another and students need to be able to find relevant information and create solutions.
2. Collaboration – No man is an island in today’s workforce. Most jobs require that employees work in teams and discuss options, solutions, problems, and results as well as split the job appropriately given your team members.
3. Agility and Adaptability – Being rigidly attached to an idea or a solution is undesirable in employees. In the workforce, things change moment to moment and students need to be prepared to work under changing circumstances and “go with the flow”.
4. Effective Oral and Written Communication – Every job requires that you communicate effectively and politely with, at the very least, your boss. Often you are also required to communicate with coworkers, and sometimes you need to be a representative of the company you work at to the public. This requires written and oral communication skills.
5. Balance – Many students are pushed to take on too many academic responsibilities. Often in the work place you hear about burn out because someone has taken on too much in too short of a period of time. I believe that it is important to teach students how to balance their lives so that they can enjoy life and avoid getting burnt out on whatever career path they eventually choose.
6. Curiosity and Imagination – In the workplace today, it is not enough to just follow directions. Employers want employees who are self-starters and can anticipate the next steps. This requires curiosity, and students need to cultivate the skill of asking questions and deciding which are useful paths to follow before they leave school.
7. Precision – Could also be labeled attentiveness or attention to detail. In a world where we are trying to move away from multiple choice answers and move towards open ended questions and partial credit, it is easy to lose sight of the importance of precision. Especially in mathematics. Employers are looking for candidates that can give precise information, not generalities, and not information with “few” errors in it that could potentially cause a disaster with their product or services.
Incorporating these skills into my classroom looks a lot like common core math. It looks like giving open ended problems without given data a-la Dan Meyer, and it looks like letting students struggle and work together in groups. It looks like setting an example of balance for my students and talking individually with students who have not found balance in their lives yet. This year I am incredibly busy and while I am slowly shifting the culture in the classroom I took over, it is slow progress. Because of this and the fact that I just listed balance as an important life skill, I can commit to incorporating at least two more problems a-la Dan Meyer into my curriculum this year. I can also commit to giving students at least one problem where they are asked to find a solution to a problem that will require creativity and imagination. I will measure my success by if I create these problems and bring them into my classroom as well as the reception my students give the problems. If the problems are met with strong resistance every time, I am not doing a good enough job of changing the culture in my classroom.