The Seven Essential Survival Skills I have come up with after reading Tony Wagner’s book The Global Achievement Gap are as follows:
As far as my classroom, I am really transparent with what we do. We are doing this assignment to learn history, but the way in which we do this builds x, y, and z skills. I do a lot of these seven survival skills in my daily practices, and again I stress that these skills are important regardless of what path students want to follow after high school.
- Curiosity and Imagination
- I feel that the most important element in learning is curiosity. As an educator it is important to foster curiosity and play on the imagination of students.
- Motivation and Initiative
- Finding what the interests of students, and discovering what they find motivating is key in designing lessons and activities. As long as you can keep the students interested, you should keep them motivated. Which, in turn, fosters student initiative.
- Collaboration and Learning by Influence
- As much of a disaster group projects have a reputation for being, I think regular group work is a great way to alter that reputation.
- Agility and Adaptability
- It is far too easy to get stuck in a track in school. As long as you don’t give students the chance to get too comfortable, they won’t. Changing groups, changing assignments, and changing expectations will build a stronger
- Effective Communication
- Written and oral communication skills are skills that are required in every walk of life. By building those skills inside the classroom, they will flourish outside the classroom as well. This only prepares them for college and careers.
- Critical Thinking and Problem Solving
- The answers are not always going to be black and white, especially in the post high school world. So by keeping the students on their toes, and always expecting a little more, they build their bank of critical thinking and problem solving skills.
- Assessing and Analyzing Information
- Students should be able to take that extra step, and operate at the next level. It is one thing to be able to regurgitate information. That is half the battle though, show me what you can do with the knowledge and information you now have.
As far as my classroom, I am really transparent with what we do. We are doing this assignment to learn history, but the way in which we do this builds x, y, and z skills. I do a lot of these seven survival skills in my daily practices, and again I stress that these skills are important regardless of what path students want to follow after high school.