21 Century Fluencies PD

I’ve just spent a weekend at school with Lee Crockett, on the 21st Century Fluencies Project.

I was struck by his opening comments, his commitment to Wilderness School and the importance he placed on visual media and active learning.

21 Century Fluencies Project is a huge initiative that the school is undertaking and being one of the leaders it is exciting to be a part of this opportunity, to experience and create relationships and connections with teachers and students to make learning relevant in a changing world.

I wanted to know more about his ideas on visual, multi-sensory learning, as this has been a possibility that I have been exploring through making my own videos.  However, it was his comments on active learning that really resonated with me.

To be an effective leader I wanted to immediately experience how the Fluencies can make a difference. This week my Year 8 English class is looking at the message behind the media and identity.

So I changed the traditional role of teaching an explanation of the topic to being a facilitator of learning. I began with showing the video ‘Walk on water (Liquid Mountaineering). Followed by the ‘elevator pitch’ with the stopwatch to get students ‘pitching’ in the role of the makers of Walking on water explaining how they used identity to sell their product.

Yes, I stood back and watched, listened and then the students shared their ideas with the class.  Adopting the role as a facilitator made the environment more student focused, engaging and creative.

Finally, in groups the student wrote: a word, a phrase and a sentence on how the media related to identity.  These were then shared on our display board. Now, they were ready to do their individual written response.

21CentBlog

As a leader I now have a story to share with staff about how I started using the Fluencies. I am testing to see how the Fluencies work first hand. This is just the start of a journey not only about the 21 Century Fluencies, but also about being an effective leader and contributing to a school that wants to make a difference and connect with students in a changing world.

To get started with the 21 century Fluencies project I suggest checking out the 21 Century site and become a committed sardine to get the weekly blog. It is a time saving way to connect with teachers and discover innovative ideas.

What do you think of the 21 Century Project and the Sardine blog? Love to read any comments.

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4 Comments
  1. Love how you integrated the thinking routines together with your work on the fluencies. I think this is going to be a powerful combination to elicit the best out of our girls.

    • Thanks Steph, what I am thrilled about with the Fluencies is how they embrace technology such as flipping. Have a look at the Atomic Learning site for quick instruction on iMovie. I made a trailer in minutes after watching 3 quick Atomic videos. Have a look.

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